Nothing works not even system recovery

[soccio97]

I have an HP Envy Desktop which is two yrs old. It was purchased with Windows 8 and I upgraded to Windows 10 using the free upgrade option in early September.

Ever since I upgraded I find that everything seems to have slowed down, often stops responding and sometimes freezes. Four days ago I tried to download a new app and it just keeping going and going. After about 15 minutes I tried again with the same results. I tried a couple of different apps with the same results.

I decided to do a System Restore and choose a restore point that had been done automatically a few days before. It went through the process, which seemed to take forever. When it started to reboot, a message came up saying there was a problem and it would automatically fix the problem. It mentioned error oxc000021A at the bottom. It seemed to be going through a process and then the it said there was a problem and mentioned a WDF Violation. It said it needed to restart the machine and attempted to do so only to loop back to the original message about the error oxc000021A and then again about the WDF Violation. It did this several times and then finally froze on the page about the WDF Violation. I never saw my desktop again.

I tried several time to manually reboot only to have it freeze on the WDF Violation page. I then manually shut it down and restarted in hopes of getting to Safe Mode. I tried tapping F8, F10 and F11 with no luck. I was able to get to the HP Startup Menu which had limited choices but I did run all the available diagnostics which passed all the systems. Wanting to rule out the hard drive, I did an extensive scan which took three hours and passed.

I changed the boot sequence using the HP Startup Menu and tried using HP Recovery Disks I had received from HP a year ago to fix another problem. The PC didn't seem to recognize the DVD drive. I then created a USB Windows Recovery Drive and a Windows 10 Installation drive using my sons laptop (I hate laptops).

Using the HP Startup Menu, I changed the Boot sequence to start at the USB drive. When I installed the Recovery drive in the problem PC nothing happened. In frustration (and because I needed a beer) I left the room. 20 Minutes later my wife said the computer wanted to know the type of Keyboard (English or other). I went back and found the Recovery Drive was working. I then went through all the options one by one with the following results:

RESET (keep my files) - The drive where Windows is installed is locked . Unlock the drive and try again.
RESET (remove everything) - Unable to reset your PC. A required drive partition is missing ( I guess it means the D: partition where the system files are stored.)
RECOVER FROM A DRIVE - Unable to reset your PC. The system drive cannot be found.
SYSTEM RESTORE - To use System Restore, you must specify which Windows Installation to restore. Restart this computer, select an OS and then select System Restore. ( I can't start normally so I never get an option. I wonder if this is the whole problem)
SYSTEM IMAGE RECOVERY ; Windows cannot find a system image on this computer. Attach the backup hard disk or insert the final DVD from a backup set and click retry. ( I have my Toshiba external hard drive connected via USB. I use Acronis true Image for regular backups. I don't know why it can't find it.)
STARTUP REPAIR - (makes attempt, then) Startup Repair couldn't repair your PC.

I can get to the Command Prompt and therefore ran sfc /scannow. It says : There is a system repair pending which requires reboot to complete. Restart Windows and run sfc again. (I can't reboot normally so I can't do what it says. I did shut down and go back through the recovery menu again to the Command Prompt with the same results.
While pondering my next move the HP Recovery Manager suddenly started working, I had forgotten to take the disk out of the DVD drive. I tried to use it but it was acting crazy. After asking if I wanted to backup my files (I said yes), it asked which files (I choose the usual, Documents, Pictures, Spreadsheets, etc). It then began copying files from the D: drive which is the system partition. After saving the files to my External hard drive, it looped back to the beginning but this time it started copying files from the E: drive which was the USB Recovery Drive I created. My stuff was on the C: drive. I tried a third time but it went back to the E: drive for the files again. I cancelled it and shut down.

I'm at a loss for what to do next. I'm not a PC wiz but I can follow directions well if someone can make a suggestion.

Thanks in advance.

[Midknyte]

SYSTEM IMAGE RECOVERY ; Windows cannot find a system image on this computer. Attach the backup hard disk or insert the final DVD from a backup set and click retry. ( I have my Toshiba external hard drive connected via USB. I use Acronis true Image for regular backups. I don't know why it can't find it.)

If you use Acronis TI, why aren't you using that to restore your system? TI is not compatible with the HP recovery. You would need to use the TI boot disc. Which version of TI is it?

Wanting to rule out the hard drive, I did an extensive scan which took three hours and passed.

You mean the HP diags or the hard drive manufacturer's diags? I would have run the manufacturer's diags.

[soccio97]

Acronis TI was a download and I have no disk. As I said in the beginning, I have not seen my desktop since this began, nor do I have access to my files, control panel or drive list (This PC). I don't know offhand what version it was.

As for the Diag, I used HP I can't get to the internet to get the manufacturers diag as I can't do anything on my computer. I am using my sons laptop just to answer this.

On my PC I can get to the HP Startup Menu and using a USB Recovery Drive I created, I can get to the Windows Recovery. I listed the results of that attempt above. I can't get to or see anything else on my PC. If there is a way to get there via the Command Prompt, please let me know.

[jdc2000]

When you download Acronis, the first thing you should do is create a bootable emergency recovery disc. You might still be able to do that from the laptop. You could also download the file to create an Ultimate Boot CD. With that, you could test the hard drive using the manufacturer's diagnostics. If you can't even get into the BIOS or the system is not seeing the hard drive(s) on bootup, it sounds like a hardware problem.

Ultimate Boot CD info:
http://discussions.virtualdr.com/sho...oot-CD-5-Guide

[Midknyte]

Acronis TI was a download and I have no disk.

You would have had to create the boot disc as jdc2000 mentioned. You still didn't say which version you have.

You can follow the UBCD5 guide (link is also in my signature). Run the hard drive manufacturer's diags. If you're not sure what brand you have, boot into the BIOS and look at the HD info.

Pretty sure you mean 0XC000021A, not oxc000021A. You can try this:
https://windowsinstructed.com/0xc000...ds-to-restart/

[soccio97]

Thanks guys!! I've created the UBCD and will give it a try. I'll try to download everything else you recommended including the Acronis TI disk.

Good thing I'm retired, I have a feeling this is gonna take awhile. I'll get back to you. Thanks again.

[soccio97]

Well I did everything you suggested but I have nothing. As of this morning, I am unable to get to System Recovery through the HP Start Menu and therefore the Command Prompt.

Last night my PC would not recognize any of the USB drives and therefore the UBCD Flash Drive didn't work. When I went to change the Boot sequence, my DVD drive was no longer listed.

I tried to use the info you gave me on repairing the oxc000021A error. After reading through all 44 posts I figured it out but got different errors (87,50, 2). The last one said that DISM was not supported in Windows PE.

The only thing I get now is an attempt to boot and the following:

- Checking media presence
- Media present
- Start PXE over IPV4 (after 1.5 minutes it changes to IPV6)

After about two minutes I get :

ERROR: No boot disk has been detected or the disk failed.

I guess it off to the shop.

Thanks for your help.

[jdc2000]

That is a hardware error, so it is definitely shop time.

[soccio97]

Just wanted to update you on my status. I had to replace the hard drive. Apparently, while Windows was giving me error messages saying it couldn't do this or do that, it was in fact deleting my files. ALL my files were gone. The shop has been running a recovery program and because of the damaged drive, it is going very slow. In addition, while the PC said it was copying files to my external drive, during a recovery process, it apparently erased the primary backup set and I could not restore my files from the backup. They are confident that they will be able to get most or all of my files restored. I have decided to use two different external backup drives and alternate full backups every week or so depending on my usage and quantity of new data. The tech said this was a very strange set of circumstances (tell me about it) and a run of bad luck. Anyway, thanks for all the help and if you have any suggestions, please feel free to comment.

[Train]

A good reason to only attach USB drives only when backing up.

[soccio97]

Believe me, that lesson has been learned.