HP 15 stuck in the Repairing Disk Errors loop

[willj31]

My HP Notebook 15 (bs1xx) with Windows 10 has been stuck in the "Preparing Automatic Repair / Repairing Disk Errors. This might take over an hour to complete / reboot" cycle for days now.  We have let it run for over 12 hours to no avail.  I have tried each of the following with no luck:

- Remove battery and all attached devices - no change

- Tried to change the BIOS (v 1.18.0.0) to Legacy Enabled - no difference

- Tried to boot in Safe Mode - Never got to screen to ask which version of safe mode; simply went to blue screen, then black screen, then turns off.

- Tried to do a Soft Reset (Keep my Files) through F11 System Restore with Local Reinstall - received error message "There was a problem resetting your PC. No changes were made."

- Tried to System Restore but "No restore points have been created on your computer's system drive" message received.

128 GB Plextor PX-128 S3G hard drive test (this one is the primary)

- Smart check: passed

- Long DST: passed

1 TB ST1000LM035 1RK172

- Smart check: passed

- Short DST: passed

Really trying to keep files and not do a full reboot.  Can't understand the problem, especially since the hard drives passed their test.

What are some next steps to try?  I know there are many of these in the Support Community, but I couldn't find any where the hard drive passed the checks.

[WAWood]

@willj31 

First off, the 128GB drive is not a hard drive; instead, it is an SSD -- and the drive tests are not reliable with SSDs.

Second, this nearly always means that a recent Windows Update failed and Microsoft then tried to recover from that, but that failed, so it's trying over and over again -- and will never succeed because Windows Update got corrupted in the process.

These problems were reported with KB4532693 back in February of 2020, and more recently, with KB4556799. Unfortunately, this is NOT a new issue with Win10 Windows Updates.

First thing you need to do is see if you can restart in Safe mode -- by doing these steps: https://www.tenforums.com/tutorials/2304-boot-into-safe-mode-windows-10-a.html

If you don't know how to start using Advanced Startup Options, then read this: https://www.tenforums.com/tutorials/2294-boot-advanced-startup-options-windows-10-a.html

Then, follow these steps to reset Windows Update: https://www.tenforums.com/tutorials/24742-reset-windows-update-windows-10-a.html

If these work, when you finally reboot, you should then be able to login to a working Windows desktop.

[willj31]

Good to know that the drive tests don't work well for SSD.

I cannot even get the computer to boot to safe mode to test if the Windows update is the issue.  When I would utilize System Recovery (f11 at boot) and work until Startup Settings.  After hitting "Restart," the computer would roll to a solid blue screen and then just turn off.  I never could get the option to choose safe mode.

After trying these things, we just decided to take the computer to an HP recommended service center.  Can only try for so long.