Solved! Operation a success, but patient died!

[zigzag03]

So a couple months back, I ghosted my 92yo mother's computer's hd to an ssd, which worked nicely. Now, as win7 comes to an end, I took it up to win 10, by the MS link, which did it for free which was nice, and up it all came, all the programs, data, desktop, her email (she uses Thunderbird) and I was pretty pleased with myself. The machine was booting much faster into 10, I was happy. So I rebooted it a number of times, just because invariably when I take it back to mom SOMETHING will not be quite right. And after about the 5th reboot, it stopped booting and bsod'd. So now I have an unbootable machine. I'm looking for a way to repair the install and keep the programs, specifically Thunderbird and its application data. I'm reading about DISM and SFC, but I'm not sure I can use these without being able to boot into the install. I've tried using an install dvd for 10, getting to the command prompt, but don't seem to get the syntax right for DISM. So my question is, can I used the intall disk and command prompt to actually do what DISM is supposed to do? Or should I just revisit my initial process: ghost the drive back to win7 from the original hard drive, and try the same process for the 10 update again? That way, I'll lose a couple months of email, but can probably pick them back up from webmail, which I'll be changing her to in any case. Because I didn't have a clean usb stick of sufficient size to perform the backup offered right after 10 came up, I missed that opportunity. Now I do have a sufficient stick to do that at least should I get the chance again. What think you all? tia zz03

 

[OlyAR15]

Assuming the SSD isn't encrypted, why not take it out and temporarily install it in your own computer (or use an external USB case), backup the data, then re-install Win10?

 

[Steltek]

What brand and model of SSD are we talking about here?

 

[VirtualLarry]

This sort of thing is why I prefer to image the original drive to an external HDD, before doing the Win10 upgrade.

That said, it sounds like you just had some Bad Luck, OP. Or possibly, failing RAM or disk.

 

[Steltek]

Before you do anything else, I second the motion that you should try to hook the drive up to another computer (via SATA cable or a USB adapter) and just see if you can access it -- just because it won't boot doesn't mean the data is gone. If you can get to it, it should be relatively easy at minimum to locate that important Thunderbird profile and back it up. If necessary, depending upon the model of SSD you may be able to try some data recovery software before giving it up as a total loss.

If you can get to the data and back it up, were it me I'd try to boot from the Win10 install flash drive and run a Win10 repair upgrade on the nonfunctional SSD. Then, if it works, test the living heck out of it with whatever software the manufacturer makes available.

 

[zigzag03]

I did indeed pull it and add it into one of my desktops, and there isn't a thing wrong with the drive. It worked fine, and I was able to access the thunderbird stuff. I then ghosted it back to the 7 install, repeated the upgrade process, did the system backup offered (by HP, not MS), and immediately jumped on the drivers, specifically updating the video driver. There was an issue with the usb 3 driver, well documented, and I solved that, and then put the tbird app data back in. Viola it seems rock solid after numerous restarts and updates. The machine is old, most of the 7 drivers went back to 2012, and HP offers nothing for it beyond W8, so I guess I"m lucky to have pulled it off. I'm off to give it back to her! (with crossed fingers!) Many thanks for your input, and Merry/Happy to all