I attempted to upgrade my desktop PC from Windows 8 (Pro, x64) to Windows 8.1, using the "Update via the Windows Store" download method. The update failed, and now I can't use the PC. I cannot find any way to repair the Windows 8.1 installation; nor can I find any way to roll back to the old (functional) Windows 8 installation. I've searched the web for answers, and chatted with MS Support staff, and still no resolution yet. Any assistance to regain a functional system would be greatly appreciated.
Details
The PC is a decent spec box. No longer high-spec, but still well above the minimum requirements:
- 6Gb DDR3-1333 RAM
- Intel Core i5-750 CPU
- 256Gb SSD drive as the primary Windows system partition (C:) with plenty of free space
- 1Tb HDD as a second partition for User data (D:) with plenty of free space
- DVD drive (E:)
- NVIDIA GTX260 graphics card
- Logitech USB keyboard
- Logitech USB optical mouse
- An older webcam & printer that required some manual driver updates to function on Win8 (everything else worked out-of-the-box).
The PC was running Windows 8 Pro (64-bit, clean install) without any issues, for at least four months prior to the upgrade. Before that, it was running Windows 7 (x64, probably Ultimate but I forget) again without any issues.
All Windows versions are legit MSDN installs (I am a subscriber). I've also seen other install issues in this forum related to ZoneAlarm - I have never installed ZoneAlarm so that is not a factor here.
The Win8 to Win8.1 Upgrade
- A couple days prior to the upgrade, I enabled Client Hyper-V on the box. Did all the restarts & everything, and it looked like it worked successfully. Windows 8 still functioned as expected afterwards. I never got around to setting up an actual VM though. Probably a red herring; just mentioning it in case it could be relevant.
- Immediately before doing the upgrade, I manually snapped a System Restore point.
- Installing the upgrade seemed to take an incredibly long time. I think it is supposed to restart a couple of times... it was maybe six hours or so between the first and second restart.
- After the second restart, it flashed an error message for a split second. I was able to catch the message (on a subsequent restart) by filming the monitor & freeze-framing. The message is "Fatal error C0000022 applying update operation 2 of 758 (amd64_ava...)". I'm curious why this is dying on and amd64 file, for an Intel chip?
- After flashing that message, it proceeds to a screen where it says "Getting Windows ready. Don't turn off your computer". I left it on that screen for at least 12 hours, but it never proceeded or changed. Strong suspicion it has locked up at this point.
- Subsequent restarts just result in it locking up at the same point.
- Loading the WinRE from the original Windows 8 install disc does not help. The snapped restore point can't be found; and the "Startup Repair" option fails with the message ""Startup Repair couldn't repair your PC". The logfile SrtTrail.txt states "Root cause found: The operating system version is incompatible with Startup Repair" which seems to indicate the system now thinks it is 8.1, not 8.
- Loading the WinRE from a Windows 8.1 install disc (MSDN) does not help. The snapped restore point can't be found; and the "Startup Repair" option fails with the message ""Startup Repair couldn't repair your PC". The logfile SrtTrail.txt states "Root cause found: Boot status indicates that the OS booted successfully" which doesn't seem like a helpful error message.
How can I get a functional OS back (either finish the upgrade, or roll it back)? What additional diagnostic steps could I perform that would assist in finding & fixing the root cause here?
A minor version bump of an OS should not brick a functional system! I would prefer not to do a full clean install as that would mean days of reinstalling & reconfiguring all my other (non-app store) apps, settings, etc... but if there is no other option, it is a last resort. Of course if it comes to that, I may as well just try Linux instead...