Forum Discussion
Green Screen after Builder update. volsnap.sys
Im on my other computer right now, the windows machine cant get to the desktop. after an update of the insider build it gives me the GSOD says the insider ran into a problem and need to restart....
I see the same thing on 17025, it starts with 'Preparing Automatic Repair' and goes to the GSOD. Same message as Matt. Interestigly it seems to alternate between a GSOD and a GSOD. I'm on a Dell OptiPlex 990. F8 during boot doesn't get me to the Recovery options page.
Hello Kerry,
F8 for Windows 10 has been deprecated (though there are instructions on the net - it is easier to get to w/ new instructions). To get to the new boot menu hold this shift button when clicking on the power icon and 'restart'. Keep the shift key held down and before long you'll see a spankin new menu for you. You can do this at the log in or post log in.
As far as the issue - I get the exact same thing. Person who replied punted and said it was a graphics driver issue. Here is my reply in response - I hope this helps:
Hello,
Gowrisha,
My current driver for Nvidia is up to date: version 388.00 at this writing which is as up to date as you can get for a 960. Graphic driver updates are no longer the dominant issue for Windows since the decision to include them within their update scheme. Your tech article's example is slightly different from mine (see attached). As I wrote earlier, this is, per the green screen, likely because of volsnap.sys. I believe this file has more to do with software/hardware connection with the USB or storage. I also have no other pending updates except for build 17025.
The temporary fix for now for insiders if seeing this issue and their graphic driver is up to date as mine is:
1) As SOON as you get your regular windows wallpaper back up post boot try to hit Windows + X(You are working on the clock here and need to get this done before the next update and the inevitable crash happens - so do this quickly!)
2) Select Windows PowerShell Admin
3) You'll unnervingly have to wait for an 'okay' for the shell to run. As soon as it comes up let the OS know that PowerShell Admin is indeed, 'okay.'
4) Run this command ASAP from the PowerShell Admin:
net stop wuauservThis should stop the errant update service.
5) Quickly go to Settings / Update and Security. If it was in between initializing and downloading you may have to repeat step 4 because it'll just rerun wuauserv. If you have a button that says Retry, DON'T press it - the OS has temporarily given up on installing updates (this is a good thing for us). Feel free to use your machine for an unlimited time until you have to reboot and restart this entire process again.
These steps aren't the best, but at least you can use your computer for longer than 10 minutes at a time. Obviously it is a good idea to every once in a while try the update so you get the best working OS and security, but an OS isn't considered working properly if it is resetting within 10 minutes.
Hopefully Microsoft will be taking this situation seriously and working with insiders such as myself and others as to the cause to prevent this issue from reaching the common update ring.
Thank you,
Rob Milliken
When I tried this, it just keeps saying access denied - any clues?
This has kept crashing on me since Thursday when it updated automatically and I can't use my laptop which is causing major issues for me
Ian,
You think you have OWNERSHIP of your own files? HA. Seriously, MS does this so someone doesn't touch files they shouldn't and lock themselves out of the machine. Therefore the instructions I am about to give should contain some caution and come with no warranty. Definitely BACK UP your volsnap.sys to something else before replacing it. Read here how to take ownership of this file: http://www.winhelponline.com/blog/take-ownership-of-file-or-folder/ ... I find this is best done from the command line with administration privs. I did it without any special boot up into Window, just log in and get it done before your machine resets. I personally did this then copied an old volsnap.sys file (from same machine but a September volsnap in a windows.old directory) with Windows Explorer. Then I manually requested the update. I did honestly felt about as nervous as a person who is facing a firing squad because I tried this before with a different volsnap.sys from a laptop and it didn't work. Low and behold, about an hour later after starting the update, I was indeed updated and no more resets. I hope this works for you and ends up saving you time instead of wasting it. If you have an encrypted disk you may have to do more digging to get this to work (see original solution under Michelle's post on announcement of the 17025 release for more details).
Thank you,
Rob Milliken
Thanks for the great detailed response Rob! Unfortunately this doesn't help me. Neither the Shift-key nor Windows-X get any response during the eternal reboot loop. My next step is to make and boot from a WinPE disk.
Thx
Kerry
Hi Kerry,
Follow this thread for a fix: https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/Windows-Insider-Program/Windows-10-Insider-Preview-Build-17025-for-PC-is-now-available/m-p/121961/highlight/false#M571 if you haven't seen it before.
As an aside, I wouldn't give up on that how to get to that special boot menu I described earlier, it is good to know about. I'll try to be more succinct: press on the power icon. You should get restart/sleep/hibernate/go to jail do not collect... etc... (Okay, maybe not that last.) Hold down the shift button and while doing so select restart but keep the shift held down while doing so. It should restart, but boot to a special menu.
Hope it all works out!
Rob Milliken
