I'm having a major issue with my computer after a recent Windows Update. I'm disabled, so I took my machine to Geek Squad for help. After the update, my computer got stuck at 0% for hours, and when I tried to restart, I got a Blue Screen of Death (BSOD) saying that winload.efi is missing. I managed to boot once after using Windows Installation Media, but soon after, restarting led to either a hang on the manufacturer logo or the same BSOD.
2 Answers
I suspect a faulty storage drive might be the issue here. If it just got replaced recently, it could still be problematic. If the drive is a Samsung 990, check to see if there are any firmware updates or health checks you can do to rule that out. Just because it’s ‘healthy’ reported by programs doesn't guarantee it’s not causing these boot issues.
It sounds like you should start by checking for dump files. These are crash logs from the BSOD. If you can boot into Windows or Safe Mode, navigate to C:WindowsMinidump and see if there are any dump files there. You can zip that folder and upload it to a file sharing site like catbox.moe or mediafire.com, as those seem to work lately. Multiple dump files would be great for analysis, so make sure to check if any exist. You can also configure Windows to create small memory dumps by following guides online for better troubleshooting.
I checked, and the drive is still healthy according to my programs. But I'll definitely look into any firmware updates.