W8.1 Freezing

[mrwoof]

Sorry for the break in communication, life getting in the way.
Am unable to complete the DISM Cmds & I see Win system error reporting files of 1.3Gb. To me this indicates multiple issues. As the device is deteriorating its time for me to consider my recovery plan.
I dont have a Win 8.1 disc but do have the key. Rather than use my earlier macrium image I'm considering going with a fresh install.
However your last point on W 8.1 repair disc might do. I will read the link for repair. Question, would a system image disc, in my case a W8.1 ISO 3.9 Gb. have a repair element?
Re the final solution, nuke & pave  please advise me if my procedure is sound as I haven't done this for years.
1. swap out the SSD and fit the original drive with W 8.1 OS that I replaced several months ago and kept intact  just in case!  Confirms my hardware is sound.
2. Put SSD in USB enclosure and copy data across.
3. Download & burn W 8.1 ISO to disc
4. Refit the SSD, boot to CD and install new OS
5.Apply current Acer drivers

Am unsure about fresh install on populated SSD. Does it overwrite or is there a procedure / auto to clear the SSD drive?

Thank you for the time you spent with me on this issue, for me it has been an opportunity to learn and reminded of the diagnostic labyrinth we inhabit. Got familiar again with Event viewer and CMD line which I havn't used in years of stable use.                             

[Boggin]

I'm not sure what that system image disk is unless you are wrongly describing it, but you can download an 8.1 ISO from https://www.microsoft.com/en-gb/software-download/windows8ISO

I don't know if this includes the options to create a bootable DVD or USB as the Win 10 ISO download does, but you can use Windows own DVD/USB Burner Tool which will give you the option of DVD or USB in which case you would select Save on the download.

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=56485

You could also use your Macrium image to restore your SSD with or put your HDD in, bring that up to date and create an image of that and then stick your SSD back in and restore the SSD with that image.

The difference in size of the HDD to SSD could create a problem with that solution as while I've restored a new 1TB with an image from a 640GB HDD, I had to factory reset back to Win 7 from Win 10 because I ended up with about 350GB of unallocated space which I was unable to extend to C: because it wasn't immediately to the right of C: because of Win 10's recovery partition.

I think I'd go for the repair install to see if that will complete - you haven't said if the machine has stopped freezing.

Where did the product key come from ?

Where did you get the error reporting of 1.3GB of files from ?

Did you get an error message from the dism cmds and did you run a sfc /scannow which would report if there was corruption it had or couldn't repair ?

[mrwoof]

Well as the freeze in under 3 minutes continues, none of the dism / sfc Cmds could complete. I found the reference to the 1.3 Gb in ccleaner and I recovered my product key some time ago with a third party tool. As my current configuration is a clone of an upgrade (8 to 8.1) from 2014 its an opportune time to do a fresh install. I'm used to working with the 250 Gb SSD, the bulk of my data is on external drives. I'll peruse the links to MS for that 8.1 ISO next week. Now I have found a Recovery file that I generated on a USB after I bought this laptop, however I stupidly copied that file to my laptop rather than cloning it. Am I right in thinking it will not work as a result?

[Boggin]

It probably won't as it's something you would normally boot up with for it to work.

There's one other thing you could try before you go the whole hog and that is an offboot sfc /scannow.

When you have downloaded the ISO and have created the install disk, boot up with it and navigate to the Install screen to click on Repair your computer.

From there, navigate to the Recovery Environment to select Command Prompt.

At the cmd prompt enter bcdedit |find "osdevice" and use the that partition letter instead of the X I have exampled and enter -

sfc /scannow /offbootdir=X:\ /offwindir=X:\Windows

and that will check your system against the install disk and hopefully repair any corruption.

In the bcdedit cmd, for clarity that is a Pipe symbol before find and is the uppercase of \

You need to execute that cmd as in that mode it doesn't always see the volume as being in C:

[Boggin]

On reflection, with that many files corrupted, can you boot up into Safe Mode with Networking and run an antimalware scan with the free version of MBAM.

https://www.malwarebytes.com/mwb-download/

The version that is downloaded is a 14 day trial of the Premium version but you can disable that by clicking on Settings/Account Details where you'll see where to disable it.

Where in CCleaner does it give that info ?

[mrwoof]

I've attach screen shots of where I found the 1.3 Gb report & another with some detail of its contents.  RE. Malwarebytes scan, this device also freezes in Safe Mode.
I have got the W 8.1 ISO and burned to disc at this stage.
 Just seeking clarity on the Cmds you supplied:
At the Cmds prompt I enter   bcdedit |find "osdevice"  Is that with the " marks?
So when I enter       bcdedit |find "osdevice"       a list is presented and the assoiated letter with "osdevice" is what I enter for X :
sfc /scannow /offbootdir=X:\ /offwindir=X:\Windows
I tend to copy/paste your Cmds to avoid syntax errors with spaces etc.

Earlier you sent me a link :
https://www.intowindows.com/how-to-repair-windows-8-1-installation/

Is this the interface I'm to expect ? I don't see reference to Recovery Environ in this guide.
Today I'm busy and wont have enough dedicated time to begin / complete the process, so forgive me if I go quiet till tomo.

nil desperandum

[Boggin]

When I run CCleaner I only get the same as for your first pic to clear the temp files etc. - I don't see an option for that Advanced Report except in Tools with the other option of Summary.

I have mine set for Advanced instead of Summary but not sure how you would get to that page.

I have Memory Dumps and Windows Error Reporting unchecked, but I also have an updated version of 5.49.6856

I noticed in a previous post that you said the repair program froze in Safe Mode, but I was wondering if that was because of what it was doing and thought perhaps MBAM would have run in that mode.

I remember from your msinfo32 that you also had problems running AdwCleaner, but I assume that was in normal mode.

Enter the bcdedit cmd as I've typed it with the quotes.

You can still copy & paste the offboot sfc /scannow cmd but change the X to your partition letter before pressing enter.

The Recovery Environment is what you get when pressing and holding SHIFT throughout a Restart and then click on Troubleshoot to give you the options as in the following article and is similar to when you boot up with an install disk, except you don't get the Startup Settings option.

https://www.dummies.com/computers/operating-systems/windows-8/the-windows-8-1-recovery-environment/

Ignore any buttons for diagnose & repair adds.

The later link is a walk through for the repair install which is done in Windows, but as the machine is still freezing, I'm not sure if that will run.

[Boggin]

Going back to when you said you had used a 3rd party tool to find your product key, was that MagicJellyBean or Belarc Advisor ?

If it was either then that would only give you the OEM generic product key which would not activate a repair or clean install.

If this is the case, can you run that batch file in the article I'd linked and compare what it gives you with the one you have written down and if the latter one is different to what you have written down - then take the latter one as the one to use.

Given that your machine is still freezing then I think it would be inadvisable to attempt a repair install as you could end up with nothing.

[mrwoof]

Regarding link:
https://winaero.com/blog/how-to-get-the-windows-product-key-without-using-third-party-software/

I followed instructions, placed GetProductKey.ps1 file on Desktop, after following steps and entering the location in powershell :
 Import-Module C:\Users\Desktop\GetProductKey.ps1; Get-WindowsKey
Got an unable to find msg, see atttch

[Boggin]

Did you use double quotes when you named the batch file as the article suggests -  "GetProductKey.ps1"

Edit - Hang on while I give it a try in my Win 10.

[mrwoof]

unable to use " " in renaming .psi1 file, however do you mean in the powershell like so in full address path:

Import-Module C:\Users\Desktop\Mr\"GetProductKey.ps1". Get-WindowsKey

tried that adjustment, nada see attch

[Boggin]

I got the same error as you but I saved mine to the Docs folder and used Import-Module C:\Users\KAM4\Documents\GetProductKey.ps1; Get-WindowsKey so I don't know why it worked in the article but not ours.

I'll see if I can find another method, but unless you want to do a clean install and I don't think a repair install will complete, it may be academic.

I think you are looking at either one of your Macrium images or the Reset option where you will need to reinstall any programs you will have installed.

Personally I would opt for a Macrium image.

[Boggin]

I copied & paste this cmd (Get-WmiObject -query 'select * from SoftwareLicensingService').OA3xOriginalProductKey form this article but got an error on my Win 10. https://www.howtogeek.com/206329/how-to-find-your-lost-windows-or-office-product-keys/

This could in my case be because the laptop originally came with Win 7 and the upgrade to Win 10 is digitally activated, although Speccy gives what appears to be a generic Win 10 product key.

[mrwoof]

at this point I'll swap back to my original drive with 8.1 OS and secure data from SSD in USB enclosure. Odd thing where as I used Macrium to gen a back up some time back, I'v never gone thru the process of retrieving image. I'm assuming my W81.1 ISO (file type System Image disc ) which I have on an external drive is it. hmm..

[Boggin]

No - you need to make a Macrium boot disk or USB to boot up with.

Open Macrium and click on the disk top left.

[Boggin]

Did you run the offboot sfc /scannow ?

[mrwoof]

not yet, am swapping drives..
Question, because of the freezing, can I install macrium on another W7 laptop that I'm using, generate rescue medium choosing W8.1 PE burn to disc and then back to the refitted 8.1 ssd and boot from this disc ? Confident I have located the restore image going by date.

[Boggin]

Okay but that doesn't fix your corrupt volume.

[mrwoof]

Well Boggin, finally narrowing issue down to the SSD drive. After removing it to copy the data, the same freeze occurred during the copying (Via USB) to my stable W 10 PC. So multiple reboots and got the job finished.
 Next I fitted the spinner back to the laptop, all well, then booted from the W8.1 ISO, thanks for the link,  and did a full reset. Now waiting  for the 150 updates!  As it happens my Key was accepted and there was a happy ending to this adventure.
Reading up on SSD freeze I saw this issue crops up a fair bit, users posting the following:

 "Then, although the cursor moves, everything has frozen. Clock stops, browser freezes, can only hard reset to start again"".

"Hi. Got a new SSD, WD Blue 250GB, and it constantly freezes my entire PC when transferring files to it through either download or just moving files to it from elsewhere on the PC. The freezes are seemingly random. When the freeze happens the transfer speed usually drops to 0 (sometimes it doesn't even register that and it just stops) and everything on the PC becomes unresponsive, including task manager. This forces a hard shutdown and restart using the power switch".
 A good article to add to your database:
https://www.partitionwizard.com/clone-disk/ssd-freeze-up.html

thanks again for your persistence in helping me, learning curve in vertical !!

[Boggin]

Thanks - that's something I didn't know about and would explain why it was also freezing in Safe Mode.

So were any of those settings on your machine adrift to cause your freeze ?

[mrwoof]

Nope, i7 humming, virgin install and just getting used to platter micro latency !
Happy to present you with a copy of my first ever"Catastrophic " error !

[Boggin]

not yet, am swapping drives..
Question, because of the freezing, can I install macrium on another W7 laptop that I'm using, generate rescue medium choosing W8.1 PE burn to disc and then back to the refitted 8.1 ssd and boot from this disc ? Confident I have located the restore image going by date.

I've just seen your edit on this post.

I only have Macrium on my two Win 10 laptops and each loads the drivers for that machine onto the WPE disk but I have booted one machine with the other WPE.

While it will have the details from your Win 7 machine, it should still boot to the Macrium program for you to stick your external HDD in.

[Boggin]

Nope, i7 humming, virgin install and just getting used to platter micro latency !
Happy to present you with a copy of my first ever"Catastrophic " error !

Is this what you got when copying during a freeze ?

[mrwoof]

I noticed in Windows Error Reporting in your msinfo32 there was one reported for IE and Explorer.exe.
and if necessary, uncheck the box for the IE repair.

that triggered it.
 oh how I wish I knew more

[Boggin]

So when you fitted the SSD did you set it up as per that article or did the freezes just come out of the blue ?