2012r2 boot loop

[MkII]

Hi

 

After installing Windows updates one of our servers has gone into a boot loop. It hosts the PDC and print server on Hyper-V. We get the Win logo for a few minutes and then it dies.

 

The server is an HP PL DL585 with 64Gb ram. It fails the memory test at 32Gb but I wonder is that's a limitation of the onboard testing software. There's an error 1st boot after the memory test: "a critical error occurred prior to this power up" and that's it.

 

Any suggestions on what to try?

 

Thanks

[Michael]

I suspect there's a problem with the system RAM somewhere. Depending on how its populated, you should start to power down, take out sticks and see if it'll boot.

 

It's more than likely going to be 8GB or 16GB DIMMs, as 32GB DIMMs are still somewhat pricey, but you never know!

[MkII]

Nailed it Michael

 

Swapped out half the ram (16 x 2Gb) - luckily the right half 1st time! And we're in business. Holiday job testing these other 16 sticks to see which is faulty.

[Michael]

Great stuff

[MkII]

PDC didn't some back up... stuck at 5%.

 

Recovered it using dism.exe /image:C:\ /cleanup-image /revertpendingactions from the command prompt in recovery. Deleted pending.xml and created an empty pending.xml file in C:\Windows\winsxs and re-booted reverting changes.

Edited May 16, 2017 by MkII
Added file location