From: winstonmvp@gmail.com   
      
   Ed Cryer wrote on 2/3/2026 9:41 AM:   
   > Paul wrote:   
   >> On Tue, 2/3/2026 6:52 AM, Ed Cryer wrote:   
   >>> Ed Cryer wrote:   
   >>>> Paul wrote:   
   >>>>> On Mon, 2/2/2026 1:30 PM, Ed Cryer wrote:   
   >>>>>> Some recent update has crashed one of my Windows 11 systems. I got   
   >>>>>> it fully updated to 30.01.26. Firstly Explorer stopped working; and   
   >>>>>> then the whole system crashed and wouldn't load. I couldn't even   
   >>>>>> carry out a Repair with a Win11 disc.   
   >>>>>> I rescued the thing with a Macrium Reflect disc, but the problem   
   >>>>>> was there on my latest backup. And so I had to restore to an   
   >>>>>> earlier time, wherein I've paused updates for 5 weeks.   
   >>>>>>   
   >>>>>> It's working fine now, but I'd rather have updates working and be   
   >>>>>> up to date.   
   >>>>>> Could it have been 242H?   
   >>>>>>   
   >>>>>> What would you experts do in this situation?   
   >>>>>>   
   >>>>>> Ed   
   >>>>>>   
   >>>>>>   
   >>>>>   
   >>>>> Normally, one of the stop codes is "Inaccessible Boot Volume".   
   >>>>>   
   >>>>> This one reports "Could not mount Boot Volume" which is a different   
   >>>>> error, and there is no Stop Code number on the screen, making   
   >>>>> further research rather difficult.   
   >>>>>   
   >>>>> Most of the feedback so far on the web, is whining and not useful   
   >>>>> responses for users such as yourself.   
   >>>>>   
   >>>>> The current response from Microsoft, indicates that the December update   
   >>>>> is what set up the failure chain, and the January update is simply   
   >>>>> harvesting whatever time bomb December managed to inject.   
   >>>>>   
   >>>>> *******   
   >>>>>   
   >>>>> I have been known to do a side-by-side install on computers.   
   >>>>>   
   >>>>>       +-----+-----------+-----------------+----------------+   
   >>>>>       | MBR | ESP FAT32 |  Win11 24H2     |  Win11 24H2      
   |   
   >>>>>       +-----+-----------+-----------------+----------------+   
   >>>>>   
   >>>>> Do that installation with the network cable disconnected, punch the   
   >>>>> button to delay updates as you see fit.   
   >>>>>   
   >>>>> There's no guarantee this will work, but it does leave   
   >>>>> the install on the left, frozen. Whether any materials   
   >>>>> in the ESP (system partition, what the OS uses to boot)   
   >>>>> are sane, who can say, and the side-by-side install   
   >>>>> may choose to not edit the ESP at all. You may still   
   >>>>> need to boot from the DVD and use the troubleshooting   
   >>>>> command prompt, while you rebuild the BCD file.   
   >>>>>   
   >>>>> But do I have some fancy step-by-step procedure for this particular   
   >>>>> mess ?   
   >>>>> Not really. You could say "not expert enough" or something.   
   >>>>> But, I can tell you, that I WOULD have something to turn   
   >>>>> this back into a computer, quicker than you can blink. I can   
   >>>>> reach across the room, there are at least half a dozen SSDs   
   >>>>> that will boot this computer right now. I can pour a coffee   
   >>>>> and go back to web surfing, just like that. That's not bragging.   
   >>>>> That's a WARNING TO MICROSOFT HOW QUICK THE TRANSITION IS!!!   
   >>>>> I can be a Windows Free Shop in 3...2...1... Done.   
   >>>>>   
   >>>>>      Paul   
   >>>>>   
   >>>>   
   >>>> This is the screen I got;   
   >>>> https://i.sstatic.net/b5T4o.jpg   
   >>>> If people are whining about being put in a similar position, then I   
   >>>> sympathise with them. Neither F1 nor F8 worked.   
   >>>>   
   >>>> Has your web feedback indicated that MS are going to repair the error   
   >>>> soon? I don't mind waiting a while until they do so.   
   >>>>   
   >>>> The computer involved is a little Geekom mini. And now that it's   
   >>>> running again it passes all the usual tests; DISM, sfc and a full   
   >>>> 5-item checkdisk.   
   >>>>   
   >>>> Ed   
   >>>>   
   >>>   
   >>> Copilot tells me that the likely culprit is KB5074109; and that MS has   
   >>> ongoing problems and is investigating. A fix has not yet been released.   
   >>> In the meantime he (it or she or they (How the dickens does one   
   >>> address an AI bot?)) recommends the solution I've applied; restore and   
   >>> pause updates.   
   >>> Alternatively, you can update and then uninstall that KB, and then   
   >>> pause updates.   
   >>>   
   >>> Ed   
   >>   
   >> You have to be careful with the LLM-AI (large language model - not   
   >> really artificial intelligence).   
   >>   
   >> When you phrase a question, you have to give it a minimum of information.   
   >>   
   >> Now that I've written a sample solution in the other post,   
   >> let's ask the AI for its opinion.   
   >>   
   >>    "My Win11 Home computer will not boot and shows error c000000f as   
   >> the reason.   
   >>     What do you recommend as a method to fix this ?   
   >>    "   
   >>   
   >> Part of the CoPilot answer is, to use the Command Prompt from the   
   >> installer DVD   
   >> in the Troubleshooting section, and issue   
   >>   
   >>     bootrec /fixmbr   
   >>     bootrec /fixboot   
   >>     bootrec /scanos   
   >>     bootrec /rebuildbcd   
   >>   
   >> In my case, I erased the BCD file that those commands would "repair"   
   >> and did this instead. I wanted a fresh clean BCD made from scratch.   
   >> A scratch cake.   
   >>   
   >>     bcdboot C:\Windows /s W:      # There is a procedure to assign   
   >> letter W: to the ESP partition...   
   >>                                   # This   
   can also refill the ESP   
   >> partition with files! Technically,   
   >>                                   # this   
   command adds partition C: as   
   >> an OS tile in the boot menu.   
   >>                                   # But   
   we're pretending this is a   
   >> brand new OS, with no files at all.   
   >>   
   >> We're focused on the same sort of root cause, that the BCD   
   >> boot menu file (a registry-type file so it is binary), is   
   >> the cause of the problem. This is not the same as the "cannot mount   
   >> something"   
   >> error others are seeing. Yours is not the "January 2026 problem".   
   >>   
   >> If you feed the AI too much information, instead of correcting you,   
   >> it sometimes just melds your text right into the answer. That is why   
   >> we try not to give it too much text to be doing that.   
   >>   
   >> The hard part, when crafting questions, is giving enough "hints" to   
   >> constrain the question, without giving so much text it just cheats   
   >> and feeds your text right back at you. That's bad.   
   >>   
   >> If I copied "War and Peace" into the question window, it would write   
   >> a condensed version of "War and Peace" into the answer section :-)   
   >> But War and Peace would be too many input tokens, so the process   
   >> would bomb out on a timeout. There are limits to how long your question   
   >> can be. Including feeding it program source and asking for comments.   
   >> If you give it the *URL* of a github source file, it can and will read   
   >> that.   
   >>   
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)