BSOD unable to reset

Question

Hello, I have a Surface 3 laptop with Windows 10 installed. I was adjusting some partitions and have now got a Oxc0000225 blue screen error. I want to perform a factory reset as I already have all personal files backed up so data loss is not an issue.

I’ve followed the ‘Creating and using a USB recovery drive for Surface’ instructions and ‘Boot Surface from a USB device’ instructions provided by Microsoft. I also have a USB with Windows 10 installation media on if needed.

I’m able to select ‘Recover from a drive’ and get the black loading screen with the Windows logo. When it reaches 100% I get a blue screen saying  ‘There was a problem resetting your PC. No changes were made.’ This happens whether I choose the ‘keep my files’ option or the ‘remove everything’ option.

There is ‘System restore’ but its saying I don’t have a restore point to revert to. There is also ‘System Image recovery’ which prompts me to select a specific file, I’m not sure which file that would be and I’m unable to see any files from the USB.

I’ve tried a few things in UEFI. Under ‘Boot configuration’ I followed Microsoft’s instruction (Surface 3: Select Network > USB > SSD) ensuring that advanced options has ‘boot from USB devices’ and ‘alternate boot sequence’ enabled. Under ‘Security’ I’ve tried with secure boot enabled and with secure boot disabled. Under ‘Management’ I’ve tried ‘install from USB’ but get ‘Refresh settings request failed. 0*********_Surface Laptop 3_Microsoft Corporation.Dfi not found’.

I’ve tried troubleshooting options like uninstall updates but I get a blue screen saying ‘We ran into a problem and won't be able to uninstall the latest feature update of Windows’ and ‘We ran into a problem and won't be able to uninstall the latest quality update of Windows’. Startup repair gives me a blue screen saying ‘Automatic Repair couldn't repair your PC’.

I’ve searched these issues on google and tried some command prompts but I don’t know much about CMD so I’m struggling to understand the results or what to do with them.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Many thanks, Eli

These are some of the command prompts I’ve used.

X: \windows \system32>bootrec / scanos

Scanning all disks for Windows installations.

Please wait, since this may take a while...

Successfully scanned Windows installations.

Total identified Windows installations: 0

The operation completed successfully.

X: \windows \system32>bootrec /RebuildBed

Scanning all disks for Windows installations.

Please wait, since this may take a while...

Successfully scanned Windows installations.

Total identified Windows installations: 0

The operation completed successfully.

X: \windows \system32>bootrec /FixMbr

The operation completed successfully.

X: \windows \system32>bootrec /FixBoot

Access is denied.

X: \windows \system32>DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /scanhealth 

Error: 50

DISM does not support servicing Windows PE with the /Online option

X: \windows \system32>DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /restorehealth 

Error: 50

DISM does not support servicing Windows PE with the /Online option

X: \windows \system32>DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /checkhealth 

Error: 50

DISM does not support servicing Windows PE with the /Online option

X: \windows\system32>sfc /scannow

Beginning system scan.

This process will take some time.

Beginning verification phase of system scan.

Verification 100% complete.

Windows Resource Protection could not perform the requested operation.

X: \Windows \System32>sfc /verifyonly

Beginning system scan.

This process will take some time.

Beginning verification phase of system scan.

Verification 100% complete.

Windows Resource Protection found integrity violations.

x: \windows \system32>sfc /SCANNOW /OFFBOOTDIR=C: /OFFWINDIR=C:window

Windows Resource Protection could not start the repair service.

X: \windows \system32>chkdsk C: /r

Cannot open volume for direct access.

X: \Windows \System32>chkdsk X: /f

The type of the file system is NTFS.

Cannot lock current drive.

Windows cannot run disk checking on this volume because it is write protected.

X: \Windows System32>chkdsk D: /f

The type of the file system is FAT32.

Volume RECOVERY created 07/03/2023 12:39

Volume Serial Number is 2*****

Windows is verifying files and folders...

File and folder verification is complete.

Windows has scanned the file system and found no problems.

No further action is required.

30,518, 272 KB total disk space.

176 KB in 5 hidden files.

1,936 KB in 121 folders.

11,065,968 KB in 263 files.

19,450, 176 KB are available.

16,384 bytes in each allocation unit.

1,907,392 total allocation units on disk.

1,215,636 allocation units available on disk.

X: \windows \system32>cd %windir%\system32\config

X: \Windows \System32\config>ren system system. 001

X: \Windows \System32\config›ren software software.001

The process cannot access the file because it is being used by another process.

DISKPART> list disk

Disk# Status Size Free 

Disk 0 Online 238 GB 0 B 

Disk 1 Online 29 GB 0 B 

DISKPART> select disk 1

Disk 1 is now the selected disk.

DISKPART> LIST PARTITION

Partition# Туре Size Offset

Partition 1 Primary 29 GB 1024 KB

DISKPART> select disk 0

Disk 0 is now the selected disk.

DISKPART> list partition

Partition# Туре Size Offset

Partition 1 System  260 MB 1024 KB

Partition 2 Reserved 16 MB 261 MB

Partition 3 Primary 237 GB 277 MB

Partition 4 Recovery 1020 MB 237 GB

DISKPART> SELECT PARTITION 1

Partition 1 is now the selected partition.

DISKPART> ACTIVE

The selected disk is not a fixed MBR disk.

The ACTIVE command can only be used on fixed MBR disks.

Answer 1

I appreciate the time you have spent in trying to resolve the issue by performing the Surface data eraser. Since none of both solution works, yes, this is more like a hardware problem on your device. Your laptop needs a replacement. You may contact our live support team to check options for your device. You may reach them through web following the instructions below.

1. Go to Contact Us - Microsoft Support and select Devices.
2. Choose your preferred support method.
3. Type in the problem you need help with.
4. Look at any available solutions offered and select Contact Support.

Answer 2

Hi EW2212,

Thank you for reaching Microsoft Community. We're sorry for the trouble this has caused you.

The error code 0xc0000225 means that Windows may have been unable to start due to a hardware or software change. We appreciate the time you have spent in trying to resolve this issue. We recommend performing the Surface Data Eraser tool following the instructions provided from this article Microsoft Surface Data Eraser (Surface) - Surface | Microsoft Learn. Then reinstall Windows by performing the USB recovery image.

Let us know how it goes.

Kind regards,

Lavenia

Answer 3

Hi,

Thank you for the quick reply! I’ll try the data eraser tool and will let you know how it goes.

Many thanks,

Eli

Answer 4

Hello,

I followed the instructions regarding the surface data eraser USB but get a black screen with a blue window saying ‘Couldn't find a bootable operating system’.

I went into UEFI and tried different boot configurations ensuring that advanced options has ‘boot from USB devices’ and ‘alternate boot sequence’ enabled. I tried with secure boot enabled and with secure boot disabled but get the same result.

Would this indicate that the SSD itself is corrupt and needs replacing?

Thanks,

Eli

Answer 5

Ok, thank you for your help! :)