Windows update has killed my Rog Strix twice now? "CRITICAL_PROCESS_DIED" Boot loop

[jumpingperon]

Hi, I have a 2022 ROG Strix G733ZW that I've had since early 2022.

In February this year one night when shutting down the laptop for the day, I noticed stuck on shutdown, screen was black but lights buzzing frantically and I got impatient and shut it down.. I should note that there was an update pending in Windows but I chose not to install it, just a regular shutdown. I shut it down manually by the button and then the next morning I enter boot loop hell, the only way of getting a response other than 'we're trying to repair' and then ending back up at the options menu for fixing the problem was Safe mode which would give the blue screen of 'CRITICAL_PROCESS_DIED'.  

 I tried everything to repair it, all the startup options, going into Command Prompt to do the bootrecord repair, SFC, DDIM iirc and all the other relevant commands I could find for this boot loop error, even repairing windows fails to work (where you reinstall it but it keeps your old files). Chkdisk showed the disk is fine (and still works just fine) So I decided to just get a new SSD and install a fresh copy of windows.So now I had a working computer and could still access my old files, problem solved...

Well today the SAME thing has occurred, an update that I didn't ask to install was pending, I didn't cold shutdown the laptop and I wake up this morning with it trying to install an update and it ending up in the same boot loop.

I'm at my wits end, why is this happening? To me it seems there must be a reason it is happening, does anyone know what? I thought maybe firmware for the SSD after doing a search but I checked both my SSD's (Samsung NVME's 970 and 980 pro is the newer drive) and both are up to date, coud it be the BIOS clashing with windows update?

I am going to create a partition on my drive and install a fresh copy of windows as I need to get on with my work but the problem is what if this happens again, I need a solution of sorts, what am I missing, is this just terrible Windows Updates or could there be something wrong on my end? The laptop pretty much works fine since the fresh windows, no issues. I scanned the new disk with chk dsk and it showed no errors, though SFC scan now did mention corrupt files(as it did with the old disk the first time this happens) but it says that every time i run the scan and I'm guessing it's something to do with the windows update corrupting files?

Any suggestions? Thanks.

[Anbby_ROG]

Since the CRITICAL_PROCESS_DIED error is often related to faulty drivers, hardware issues, or corrupted system files, and based on your description, it does appear to be connected to the system update causing a boot loop. We recommend updating your BIOS to the latest version and, after reinstalling Windows, temporarily pausing Windows updates to avoid triggering the issue again. Once the system is stable, you can manually choose which updates to install.

Additionally, please check for and remove any unnecessary third-party startup programs to see if there is a conflict between specific applications and the updates. We also suggest creating a system restore point and backup image so that if the issue happens again, you can quickly restore your system and minimize data and time loss.

We hope this information is helpful. Thank you.

[inge70]

This happened because the Windows update was aborted during shutdown because you had turned off your device, meaning you held the power button for 10 seconds to turn it off.

This caused Windows to become confused and system files were obviously corrupted.

If you have the option to create a USB flash drive with Windows, you can use a repair install to clean up the entire process.
Or you can try accessing Windows' advanced startup settings and using the command prompt (run as administrator) and DISM commands:
Dism /Online /Cleanup-Image /CheckHealth
Dism /Online /Cleanup-Image /ScanHealth
Dism /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth
(Run these commands one after the other. An internet connection is important for the last two commands)
to repair your Windows installation.
If all else fails, the only option is probably to reset Windows.

[jumpingperon]

Thanks for the response guys.

I just had went with a reinstall and luckily I didn't need to format the whole drive and I could backup stuff from the old windows folder once the new OS was installed.

"This happened because the Windows update was aborted during shutdown because you had turned off your device, meaning you held the power button for 10 seconds to turn it off."

I suppose that makes sense but it doesn't add up for the second time this occurred, the computer had shut down properly.

Unfortunately for me, this issue has reared it's head again today for me though without the specific 'CRITICAL_PROCESS_DIED' error, it's just a blank 0x00012c error with no words but seems to be exhibiting similar problems.

I really should have created a restore point but I'll just have to reinstall again but this doesn't answer why and what is occurring?

Today it just happened as I was using the laptop. I hadn't installed anything new or any updates (I turned them off) and I'd left it for a bit as I was processing some AI stuff and I came back and suddenly Windows explorer kept crashing after I opened it from the task bar, it would shut the circle as if it was loading but it would just close again and again so I was like oh oh and decided maybe just to restart and then BSOD loop begun.

What on earth could be causing this? I ran SFC Scan now which said it found corrupt files and that it will repair them on restart and it doesn't, it just goes round and round and I ran disk chk and it shows the disk is fine.

I disconnected all peripherals and monitors to see if its hardware but nope same issue.

Could it be the RAM? I'm sceptical but I'll run a memtest.

Any suggestions of what to look at? I can't have this happening every few weeks.

It does get put through its paces daily, I have intense music production programs and then AI programs running often too so it does take a beating though I typically have the power mode on balanced so it is not going full pelt, rarely do I let it go full pelt and that's only for short bursts.

The only thing I noticed this time due to it happening when I was using it was that when I opened taskman I noticed Windows Defender Anti malware process bobbing up and down, maybe irrelevant but hmm, I tried all the alternate start modes aswell like safe mode, anti malware disabled etc .

The BIOS appears to be up to date also (I guess I updated it at some point in myasus when the update came available)

Is this possibly just this version of Windows corrupting files? and I'll be at the mercy of Windows?

I can't get into Windows at all with or without safe mode so I can't run DISM. I tried running it from command prompt launched before boot but it gives error 87 as if it can't run outside of windows. However I have access to the computer with my Ubuntu USB stick so I can see the files and I checked the logs files and in the srrt folder it showed a DSIM log file that had ran so i'm not sure whats going on.

I'm going to do a memtest just now

Thanks.

[jumpingperon]

One thing I should add is as I mentioned I have my laptop running on balanced but for the past while I've been using GHelper, i can't remember exactly since when but at least since the first time these issues happened, aside from windows being updated its one of the only different things I can think of going on with my system as far as hardware 'tweaks' go. I switched to it as I was sick of bloated Armoury crate and I haven't tweaked Ghelper just running Graphics on ultimate and general power on Balanced as I mentioned but I wonder if somehow this could be working differently from Armory Crate somehow and causing issues? 

Bit of a long stretch and probably way off but I thought I'd mention it, I'll go back to Armoury Crate if it is possible Ghelper has been involved..

cheers.

EDIT: Well, I managed to copy the windows event viewer log files to my other laptop and have a look at some of the logs including CBS log and it appears from what I can see that Windows was updating itself again, smh and there is mention of

"Volume C: (\Device\HarddiskVolume3) requires an Online Scan. An Online Scan will automatically run as part of the next scheduled maintenance task. Alternatively you may run "CHKDSK /SCAN" locally via the command line, or run "REPAIR-VOLUME <drive:> -SCAN" locally or remotely via PowerShell."

"

A corruption was discovered in the file system structure on volume C:.

The exact nature of the corruption is unknown. The file system structures need to be scanned online."

In 2 events shortly before I restarted and explorer was acting strange, it did do a brief scan at the first restart but then just went in to the loop.

Also more specifically it mentions the BCD around this time too:

"The access history in hive \Device\HarddiskVolume1\EFI\Microsoft\Recovery\BCD was cleared updating 64 keys and creating 4 modified pages."

I suspect it might have damaged the BCD, in many guides I've read they mention a way of fully rebuilding the BCD which I've been relucant to do but I have no choice, I will try it tomorrow and I hope it fixes it and this has all just been the update messing up the BCD.

[Anbby_ROG]

Thank you for sharing the details of the situation you're experiencing. Based on your description, the system may have suffered from file corruption or a conflict with third-party tools.

You may try running a MemTest to rule out any hardware-related instability.

If you have already backed up your data, we recommend performing a clean installation rather than an overlay installation to ensure the system is free from any residual issues. After the clean install, please install only the official drivers and tools to avoid potential conflicts between third-party utilities.

We also recommend creating a system restore point immediately after installation for easier recovery in the future.