Windows 11 update woes (from 22H2)

pstrg · Feb 25, 2023

AMD Ryzen 5600G (Radeon Vega embedded GPU) | ASRock MB550M Pro4 [2.30 BIOS] | 16 GB memory (Crucial)

Windows Update (for a while), Microsoft PC Health Check and Windows 11 Installation Assistant all say the system is ready.
Ran chkdsk /f c: before trying to update | Ran sfc /scannow which said no problems.

Tried four times - each time got SYS_THREAD_EXCEPTION_NOT_HANDLED blue screen with no further information.
After each attempt the updater tries to correct but fails then removes changes to the computer.
Freshly installed the very latest drivers (video, chipset) from AMD site after the 3rd failure.

How to have a clue about what (driver?) is causing the issue?

p.s. c:\Windows\minidump has a single file with timestamp 2022-03-07 - so, not related to update attempts.

quartzdoll · Feb 25, 2023

Get fresh win 11 iso, drop it in ventoy usb and install from scratch (fresh install after wiping hdd). Do not use windows assistant. You can download direct iso from Microsoft website itself. Optionally you can also download from Wzor links on twitter. Wzor iso gives you all in one iso (home, pro, enterprise).

Scott · Feb 25, 2023

Try running the Windows 10 Update Troubleshooter.

DigitalGoat · Feb 26, 2023

Although Ventoy can be useful in some circumstances it is not needed here and could just add a layer of confusion if it doesn't work.
Download the Microsoft Media Creation tool and run it from your desktop, it requires a USB flash drive (16GB should be fine) or can create an ISO.
You can use it to either install from clean (delete all pertitions on the target drive first) or update your current Windows with the option to keep files and apps if you want.

kelper · Feb 26, 2023

Here is a list of things to try first. Let's not throw the baby out with the bath water!

6 Ways to Quickly Fix System Thread Exception Not Handled BSOD - MiniTool Partition Wizard

This article tells you how to avoid data loss from system crash caused by system thread exception not handled and gives you 6 solutions to fix this error.

www.partitionwizard.com

It's for 10 but should apply equally to 11.

pstrg · Feb 26, 2023

@Scott "Troubleshoot could not identify the problem"

pstrg · Feb 26, 2023

@quartzdoll - Isn't that a very radical solution? I would have to reinstall everything afterwards; that's not the main problem, though: each and every program has its set of configurations which would have been lost and so on.

quartzdoll

quartzdoll · Feb 26, 2023

pstrg said:
@quartzdoll - Isn't that a very radical solution? I would have to reinstall everything afterwards; that's not the main problem, though: each and every program has its set of configurations which would have been lost and so on.

quartzdoll

If we want clean and faster working OS, we must do a clean installation. I always do a clean install of OS once in 6 months or so. Whats big deal to install every app / game again ? Yes those configurations should be set again for all apps , games and it takes 1 or 2 days. If you are using pc for years itself can't you spend 2 days ?

DigitalGoat · Feb 26, 2023

quartzdoll said:
If we want clean and faster working OS, we must do a clean installation. I always do a clean install of OS once in 6 months or so. Whats big deal to install every app / game again ? Yes those configurations should be set again for all apps , games and it takes 1 or 2 days. If you are using pc for years itself can't you spend 2 days ?

I disagree with this, a clean install is not always the answer, I have a few systems that were first setup with a clean install of Windows several years ago and work perfectly fine with no slowdown, there is also no guarantee that the same or similar issue will not re surface after a clean install as the OP installs thier apps and drivers.
In this case there is obviously something incompatible, hardware or more likely software, with the system preventing the upgrade that needs identifying and removing/ disabling temporarily or even switching on.
The BIOS may need looking at/ adjusting/ updating.
The OP can try to run sfc /scannow and maybe also run Dism.exe /online /Cleanup-Image /StartComponentCleanup /ResetBase and/ or the command DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth to see if that helps.
The CBS logs might reveal the cause of the problem as well.
There are several other methods the OP can try to see if the problem can be resolved first without the nuke it approach.

quartzdoll · Feb 26, 2023

DigitalGoat said:
I disagree with this, a clean install is not always the answer, I have a few systems that were first setup with a clean install of Windows several years ago and work perfectly fine with no slowdown, there is also no guarantee that the same or similar issue will not re surface after a clean install as the OP installs thier apps and drivers.
In this case there is obviously something incompatible, hardware or more likely software, with the system preventing the upgrade that needs identifying and removing/ disabling temporarily or even switching on.
The BIOS may need looking at/ adjusting/ updating.
The OP can try to run sfc /scannow and maybe also run Dism.exe /online /Cleanup-Image /StartComponentCleanup /ResetBase and/ or the command DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth to see if that helps.
The CBS logs might reveal the cause of the problem as well.
There are several other methods the OP can try to see if the problem can be resolved first without the nuke it approach.

Instead of doing all these procedures, a clean install let you know if the problem is with drivers or corrupted files. Some of our apps / games / tuning apps will mess up with services, registry and system files. That is usual case in most of the problems. Only clean install is solution for it. I have my opinion and you got yours.

kelper · Feb 27, 2023

You could try both!
Do a complete image back up with Macrium Restore. Take a screenshot or photo of Device Manager
Do a clean install
Check Device Manager to see if any devices are missing or drivers not loading.
Restore the backup. Do not get any drivers from Intel, Realtek or any third parties yet.
If Windows Update cannot find certain drivers, add then ONE AT A TIME until the problem returns.

pstrg · Feb 27, 2023

@kelper proposal seems to be sound, despite being laborious - I would have to be able not to need that computer for quite a while. In fact, I've already done a Macrium backup beforehand. Will keep you posted on any decision.

pstrg · Feb 27, 2023

@quartzdoll position is easy to understand: a computer and its OS plus drivers and programs is a very complex system - to start from zero is the best way not to have problems.
However: a fresh install each six months? What would Amazon, Azure, Google, IBM, Oracle etc. sysops think of that? Thousands and thousands of fresh installs twice a year would make hell look like a very paisible place. OK, mostly Linux, but who says it's entirely flawless?