Windows update Stage 3 of 3 reboot loop.

61schilbe

New Member
Hello,
I am having problem with the windows Vista 64 bit that is stuck in a Stage 3 of 3 reboot loop. I tried using the f8 key upon restart, no luck. My system restore disk of 4 years would not run. HP does not keep factory restore disk after 2 years. I did some research and found the problem is 2 files, located in c:\windows\sxs. They are pending.xml and cleanup.xml. They need to be delete in the cmd mode. Since I can not get there, I removed the hard drive from the computer and added to a laptop as a secondary drive. I still could not delete them. They were protected files. How can I delete them? Also, the hard drive is starting to fail. Can I copy the factory recovery file/folder to new hard drive once it is set up?
If the file can be move, then I will not worry about the re-loop.

Mark


 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    HP Pavilion Elite M9400t
    CPU
    2.66ghz
    Memory
    4 GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    XFX Force 8GB ram
    Sound Card
    Creative Sound Blaster X-FI Titanium
    Monitor(s) Displays
    19" 22"
    Hard Drives
    360gb, 500gb, 2TB
    Case
    Tower
    Keyboard
    wireless
    Internet Speed
    100gbs
If you Take Ownership then you should be able to delete those 2 files.
If you do get your system to boot I would make a backup image using Macrium Reflect or Easus ToDo Backup Free in case the drive does fail you can image to another drive. Or check out drive cloning free software. Some products are better than others when it comes to restoring onto a bigger HD(and I assume you'd buy bigger if it's cheap again to do so instead of getting the exact same size HD.)
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    HP Pavilion m9515y
    CPU
    Phenom X4 9850
    Memory
    8 GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    Some Radeon Cheapie with 512 MB Ram
    Monitor(s) Displays
    CRT
    Screen Resolution
    1280x1024
    Hard Drives
    750 GB SATA 3G
    2 SIIG Superspeed docks w/WD Caviar Black Sata II or III
I have had this happen before and the procedure listed should fix the problem. If you are nervous about deleting the files you can rename them. After that windows should complete the update and boot up normally.

If you know that you are having trouble with your hard drive do like miles suggested and backup the hard drive now. That way when it does fail you can restore the image created to a new hard drive. You should even be able to use the software to copy your files from the bad hard drive to a new one but it is a good idea to have a separate copy. Keep in mind that if you already have corrupted files the imaging software won't be able to fix them. You will need specialized software to fix the files and although the software can be expensive it might not be able to recover your files. Off hand I don't know of any software to recover corrupted files only deleted files.
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • Operating System
    Windows 8.1 Industry Pro x64
    Manufacturer/Model
    HP Pavillion Elite HPE-250f
    CPU
    Intel i7 860 Quad core 2.8 ghz
    Memory
    8 gb
    Graphics Card(s)
    ATI Radeon HD 5770 1 gb ram
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Alienware 25 AW2521HF
    Screen Resolution
    1920x1080 &1680x1050
    Hard Drives
    1 TB x2
    Other Info
    https://www.cnet.com/products/hp-pavilion-elite-hpe-250f/
  • Operating System
    Windows 2012 R2 Data center/Linux Mint
    Manufacturer/Model
    Dell Poweredge T140
    CPU
    i3 9100 3.6GHz, 8M cache, 4C/4T
    Memory
    8GB 2666MT/s DDR4 ECC UDIMM
    Screen Resolution
    1680x1050
    Hard Drives
    1 TB & 360 GB x2
    Other Info
    https://www.dell.com/en-us/work/shop/productdetailstxn/poweredge-t140?~ck=bt

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Lenovo Thinkpad T400
    CPU
    Intel Mobile Core 2 Duo P8700 @ 2.53GHz
    Motherboard
    LENOVO 64734VM
    Memory
    2.00GB Single-Channel DDR3 @ 531MHz
    Graphics Card(s)
    Intel Mobile Intel 4 Series Express Chipset Family
    Sound Card
    Conexant 20561 SmartAudio HD
    Monitor(s) Displays
    15 inch
    Screen Resolution
    1280 x 800
    Hard Drives
    1x 180GB Intel 530 series SSD
    1 x 120GB Hitachi 5400rmp
    1 x 650GB Western Digital Elements 5400rpm
    1x 1Tb Western Digital Elements 5400rpm
    Internet Speed
    Medium for New Zealand
    Other Info
    Weakest part of my computer is the graphics chipset.
    Only ever used a laptop.
    Also use USB Freeview TV Card
    Lenovo Docking Station
    External Speakers
    Other bits a pieces as needed
Back
Top