Windows update failed. Stuck in KERNEL_SECURITY_CHECK_FAILURE loop, error codes 0xc0000001, 0xc0000098, SrtTrail.txt and unable to reset.

My laptop automatically tried to do a windows update and it failed.

Since then I haven't been able to get into windows. I got the message "your device ran into a problem and couldnt be repaired. Click or press enter to see other recovery options. Couldnt connect to the network log file: D:\WINDOWS\System32\Logfiles\Srt\SrtTrail.txt ".

Initially my laptop kept automatically going into the Windows Recovery Environment. I've tried a few different things that others have suggested on online forums (such as the command prompts "chkdsk C: /f /r ", "sfc /scannow ", "bootrec /fixmbr ", "bootrec /fixboot ", "bootrec /scanos "). None of these seem to have helped. I've also gotten the error codes 0xc0000001 and 0xc0000098. I spoke to someone from Microsoft online chat team and they advised doing a custom installation, but advised that I could lose my personal files. So we decided to try to reset my PC using the reset option in the Windows Recovery Environment and chose the option to save my personal files. The reset didn't work, I got the message "there was a problem resetting your PC. No changes were made."

Then, I followed advice from one of Dell's websites and booted into F12 --> diagnostics, and ran the check. No hardware issues were found. I also ran the pre-boot system performance check and "all tests passed" with result code "2000-0000" and validation code "101189". I also, following their recommendation, accessed the screen that comes up from pressing F2 upon restart, and clicked "restore settings".

Now everytime I turn the computer on it keeps going to a blue screen with stop code "KERNEL_SECURITY_CHECK_FAILURE", then it'll restart itself and keep coming back to that same screen.

I've since gone back into the F12 --> OS SupportAssist Recovery and received the message "Download SupportAssist OS Recovery Image your computer has experienced an isue with its operating system to repair and recover your os, use BIOSConnect to get help. From here you will be able to download the supportassist os recovery image from dell.com, restart your system, launch the image, and get back up and running." With a pop up message below that saying "BIOSConnect please use a wired network / internet interface. Connect network cable to system / usb network adapter and restart to resume the recovery". I don't have a cable to connect so I wasn't able to do this.

Has anybody got any advise on what I can try? Most of my files are backed up, but there are a few that aren't that I'd really like to backup before doing anything that might delete my files, if at all possible!

It might be useful to add that I had an issue in the past with a Windows (24H2?) update which I think the message was "We couldn't update the system reserved partition". I used a work around at the time, but went back to the previous Windows version. And I've avoided updating Windows since then.

Responses(5)
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DELL-Daniel V

Community Manager

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223 Posts

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February 26th, 2026 20:34

Unfortunately, its looking like you'll have to reinstall Windows, so data will likely be lost. What's interesting is that we're trying to boot off of the "D" drive, typically the initial default boot partition is on the "C" drive. Windows doesn't really care what letter you assign to your boot drive just as long as the boot path is correct. Now if you made this change, then we can disregard that and I'd work on getting a network connection to reinstall Windows with the OS Recovery tool.

However, if you did not make this change, then do you have 2 hard drives installed? If so, did you install Windows on both of them? Are we booting into the wrong hard drive? Again, the typical boot drive users use would be C and not D. Additionally, if you ran commands like "chkdsk C: /f /r", then it wouldn't have done anything to the D drive since the command is saying to check a C drive. If we do have 2 hard drives, I'd check the boot configuration in the BIOS, you may be going to the wrong drive. What model of XPS are you using as well? That could help clear up the hard drive situation.

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Gbird23

1 Rookie

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5 Posts

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February 26th, 2026 20:50

@DELL-Daniel V thanks for responding!

I only have one hard drive installed. I think I might've changed the letter when fixing the previous Windows update issue, but not 100% sure. How do I check what letter is correct?

My laptop is the XPS 15 7590.

DELL-Daniel V

Community Manager

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223 Posts

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February 26th, 2026 21:08

@Gbird23

So if you only have 1 hard drive, then I wouldn't be concerned about the boot configuration. Windows is able to recognize the D drive but is just going to a BSOD. If you loaded the BIOS defaults, then it may be worth checking our your SATA Operation in the BIOS as well. Sometimes switching between AHCI and RAID On can let you boot. If you can get back into the recovery options, then you could try running commands in the command prompt again, just make sure to specify it as a D drive rather than C. Otherwise, the commands won't work. If you do manage to get to recovery options, you could also try to boot into Safe Mode to see if you can extract your data. If you can, then from there you'll want to reinstall the OS.

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Gbird23

1 Rookie

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5 Posts

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February 26th, 2026 21:35

OK, checking now and the SATA Operation has the AHCI currently ticked. I've switched it to RAID On instead. But still struggling to get into the Windows Recovery Environment. Just keeps booting into the blue screen with stop code "KERNEL_SECURITY_CHECK_FAILURE".

Does any of the following information help?