[SOLVED] BSOD on clipsp.sys, and Windows won't boot

[csdude55]

Hi all,

I bought this Dell Inspiron 7000 2-in-1 in January 2020. Along with the 4 year extended warranty. Very nice, very excited about the whole thing It came with Windows 10, and I updated to Windows 11 last year when the stable version was available.

I went on a trip over New Years and took the tablet with me. I only needed to use it once, though, so it mostly stayed in my bag.

Then I got home, hooked it all back up, and BRRRRAAAAAHHHHHHH! The fan was super loud, sounding like a drone in my office!

I did the usual steps, turned it off and vacuumed the vents and then used a compressed air can to blow it out and vacuum again. But that didn't help.

With the extended warranty, I went to Dell. The first thing the website recommended was running software updates to make sure it's not a software issue. So I checked for updates, and one of them is a BIOS update... scary, but it's from Dell so I trust it. I install it, the computer goes to restart, and... all Hades breaks loose.

First, the fan problem was unchanged. But worse, it wouldn't boot Windows at all! I forget exactly what it was doing, but I figured out how to get to Dell Assist (in a DOS emulator kind of area before it boots Windows) and restored to December 16, 2020. Doing that would get it in to Windows, but there was no Start button or clock, and the cursor would run continuously (implying that something was constantly running).

From there I called Dell. The tech remote accessed my computer and went through everything he could think of, but after about 2 hours he gave up. All he could recommend was a fresh Windows install!

So we hung up and I turned off the computer to keep it from running constantly. About 2 hours later I turn it on to try something, and... it won't boot at all! It goes through the Dell logo, then gives a BSOD and reboots. Over and over and over.

The BSOD error:

Stop code: SYSTEM_THREAD_EXCEPTION_NOT_HANDLED
What failed: clipsp.sys

Any suggestions on how to salvage things before I do a complete reinstall and lose 2 years of data?

 

[Colif]

On another PC, either download the media creation tool (2nd link) or the ISO (3rd link) and use it to make an installer on USB - https://www.microsoft.com/software-download/windows11

How to save info off C drive:

• on screen after languages, choose repair this pc, not install.
• choose troubleshoot
• choose advanced
• choose command prompt
• type notepad and press enter
• in notepad, select file>open
• Use file explorer to copy any files you need to save to USB or another hdd

if its windows 11, the steps are very similar - follow this guide: https://forums.tomshardware.com/faq/how-to-do-a-clean-installation-of-windows-10.3170366/

 

[csdude55]

Can you confirm whether this tool will ERASE the data on the faulty computer? I asked Microsoft and they said it would not, then I asked Dell and they said it would!

The backup tool failed for a second time, so it looks like the only way I can back anything up is to manually remove the drive, connect it to another computer as a slave, and then manually copy from the slave to a USB drive. That will void my Dell warranty, though, and take forever (!!!), so I'm really hoping that this tool will not erase everything.

 

[Colif]

Can you confirm whether this tool will ERASE the data on the faulty computer? I asked Microsoft and they said it would not, then I asked Dell and they said it would!

the USB can be used to install windows and it can also be used to help fix windows.
It depends on the process you run off it
I have shown you a way to boot off the USB installer, and get into its repair menu, and from there use command prompt to access Notepad, then use Notepads access to file explorer to copy files off the drive

The installer can also be used to reinstall windows 11 once you have all the data off it you want to save now.

you shouldn't need to remove drives to do this.