Unified Write Filter - Maintenance Mode Stuck on Black Screen

Steve West 21 Reputation points
2021-03-05T19:07:21.087+00:00

We're investigating using UWF instead of Faronics DeepFreeze, and up until now our tests with UWF were going fairly well. But on my first test of the maintenance mode I seemingly got a bunch of updates installed, followed by a black screen with mouse cursor. No keyboard inputs work (CTRL-ALT-DEL, etc) but pressing the power button will shut down the machine. Unfortunately, turning it back on results in the same black screen with cursor. I see numerous other posts online asking about this with no resolution, and it looks like it's been going on for many months, if not years. Is there a fix for this, and if not can we get some kind of response from an official MS rep to tell us whether or not we should ever expect a fix? I'm becoming increasingly annoyed with the lack of support for these extra tools MS dangles in front of us (like Provisioning), only to supply minimal documentation and no fixes to problems. Either commit to documenting and fixing a product or just don't release it. Seriously.

Windows 10 IoT Core
Windows 10 IoT Core
An Azure subscription offering that provides the essential services needed to commercialize a device on Windows 10 IoT Core.
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Windows 10
Windows 10
A Microsoft operating system that runs on personal computers and tablets.
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  1. Jenny Feng 13,811 Reputation points
    2021-03-08T07:06:04.993+00:00

    Hi,
    There seems to be no relevant fix information at this time.
    Also, you can use the Feedback Hub app to share your problem and wait for the next update.

    If we have any updates or any thoughts about this issue, we will keep you posted as soon as possible.
    Your kind understanding is appreciated.

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  1. MikeRoz 6 Reputation points
    2021-09-17T17:16:26.657+00:00

    I just recovered from a bad UWF Maintenance mode issue. Two PCs died the same way: after the overnight maintenance they stuck on spinning dotted circle in the early boot stage. Couldn't get to recovery mode by killing power 3-4 times.

    1. I user a USB thumb drive with Windows 10 installation to get to recovery and fix the boot.
    2. I got a black screen with mouse pointer running, not taking Alt-Ctrl-Del. I RDP'd to the PC and logged in!
    3. I found a registry value that mentioned UWF Servicing and seemed to be blocking the logon screen, and removed it. Please be careful when editing Registry and make backup.
      HKCU\Software\Microsoft\WindowsNT\Current Version\Winlogon > delete Shell Reg_sz
      Hope it helps somebody to recover from the crash.
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  2. Steve West 21 Reputation points
    2021-03-05T21:52:43.797+00:00

    Further to this, since I was able to access the Event Logs remotely, I had a hunch that the computer wasn't totally broken. So on that black screen I just hit the spacebar, typed my password and hit Enter. I was logged in to the computer and now sit at the desktop. So it looks like this glitch is simply preventing the login screen from showing properly. Any thoughts on this? Edit: Interestingly, after a while with no input, the PC will lock itself and does show the lock screen just fine.

    Edit
    Here's a non-exhaustive list of what I've tried:

    • Turn off fastboot.
    • dism.exe /online /cleanup-image /restorehealth.
    • Disabling all non-MS startup programs from MSconfig.
    • Boot repair.
    • Disabling the video device and deleting the driver.
    • Uninstalling all the updates that I could.
    • Safe mode with low-res graphics
    • Disabling App Readiness in services.msc
    • Checking that explorer.exe is set as the registry entry for HKEY_Local_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon.
    • sfc /scannow
    • And a couple less-likely culprits as well.