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  1. #1
    Nidhogg
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    Windows 10 Infinite Restart Loop

    So there was a recent Windows 10 update for my laptop that pretty much broke my Lenovo Ideapad Y500. I'm not sure what the update consisted of, but it's got me in limbo.

    It started some days ago after I'd hit Update & Shutdown before going to bed. The next morning, I was greeted with Windows trying to diagnose my pc, only to fail.

    Tried restarting only to be brought back to the same blue Windows 10 diagnostics menu after what seemed to be a horrendously long restart time of 3-5 hours~.

    Went into Advanced Settings when I was able to and attempted to do a System Restore. There was one restore point available so I went ahead and took it. No dice. My laptop went 99% dim (could see faint options behind the black tinting), then it restarted itself and lo' and behold went into another diagnosis and brought me right back to the diagnostics menu. When I looked into the System Restore again, the point had vanished.

    Advanced Settings again, this time trying to restart into Safe Mode. No luck. Long restart process ensued.

    Advanced Settings again, this time trying to reinstall Windows 10. No dice. Long restart process once again.

    Trying to think of things to do right now that doesn't involved throwing my laptop out the window or taking it to a repairman. Would love to avoid factory reset if I could since there are some projects and files I'd love to try and recover.

    So, aside from my obvious wtf do you guys recommend I do...I was wondering the following:

    1. Is there any way I can essentially turn my laptop into a hard drive and access and transfer files to my external or desktop?

    2. Are there any command prompts I can utilize to force it to restart into safe mode and bypass this infinite loop?

    I'll take anything and everything I can get at this point. I don't mind factory resetting as long as I can save hours upon hours of work first.

    Save me, BG! You're my only hope!


  2. #2
    Hackey Thread Lurker since 2010
    I could have bought an 11 pull and have 1000 gems left over, but all I got was this silly title.

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    As far as file recovery goes, take out the HD and toss it in a desktop rig via SATA connections & proper power cabling. Copy all you need off of it. Of course remove it from the boot priority on the BIOS.

  3. #3
    Can you spare some gil?
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    The only option I see left for you is using a recovery USB drive or CD and attempting to perform a system repair that way.

    Short of being able to do that your best option is as was mentioned, slap in an external PC pull what you need and reimage the drive.

  4. #4
    Salvage Bans
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    Raiya Li'aurellia
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    Try and salvage what you can from it then make a fresh install of W10. Reinstall everything then create an image backup on another SSD or something so if it goes again you can flash restore it. Have to keep a backup copy of my W10 OS on another SSD on my laptop because its prone to corrupting from windows update for some reason after a few weeks. Simple restore of the backup and then a few updates afterwards saves me hours of reinstalling the OS and programs.

  5. #5
    Nidhogg
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    Thanks, gang. I'll try and find my SATA reader and compile a W10 usb install drive. I think my only issue then for a reset is finding product keys since I had gotten it as a free upgrade from W8 back in the day.


  6. #6
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    Orinthia Warsong
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    https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/soft...load/windows10 for win10 installer download program. This will make download the win10 iso and format your usb stick for it. You shouldn't have to worry about your key if you logged in with a microsoft/outlook account (it's associated with your account and hardware), though if you never did this then you should still be able to choose to "refresh" windows somewhere in the advanced options.

    This is an in-place full reinstall where it maintains your user accounts but none of the installed programs/settings, so most user files (like desktop, my docs, etc) will still be there but not something to depend on for file preservation (make backups before you do this if you can). This also means you might need to get device drivers from your laptop manufacturer, and win8.1 drivers do work in win10 if there aren't any specific to win10 (like touch pad drivers can be a bitch sometimes).

  7. #7
    Nidhogg
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    Thanks, Orinthia~

    Had to buy a new SATA reader which is arriving tomorrow. Will get to work straight away when I've got everything and will let you guys know how it goes.

  8. #8
    Nidhogg
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    Welp, thanks, folks!

    Managed to get this laptop working again and recovered all the essential project files I needed. The only thing I'm missing now are minor things like a few games here and there. Otherwise, the only hiccup I ran into was forgetting to disable a few security settings in BIOS to get the UEFI USB for Windows 10 to start properly. That only costed me some hours, but it gave me enough time to consider upgrading my desktop again. Gonna gather up some notes and details and see what I can scrounge up to turn it into a working desktop rather than a heavy paperweight.

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