Maintenance :: Win 8.1 - Refresh Recovery Not Working
Mar 25, 2014
I'm currently running 8.1 and wish to effect a Refresh Recovery but when I enter disc when requested it states 'Not Valid'.
I purchased PC with Win 7Pro but in the time frame that allowed free upgrade to Win 8 Pro. I upgraded by downloading and installing - however I also purchased the Official upgrade discs 32/64 bit from Microsoft and received them some weeks after upgrade took place. I have since auto upgraded via App Store to 8.1 and I now wish to use Refresh Recovery but no matter which disc I insert Win7/8 it states invalid.
A month back I accidentally deleted the wow6432 node from my registry under system_user. I believe this is the root of all my problems. Once I did that, my toshiba c885 D 64 bit would not boot. I forced the computer to shut down and pressed f12 to get to the system recovery options. I then restored to a point before my blunder. Well, my laptop worked for a while and then magically the screen goes black and will not reboot. I did sestem restore a few more times since I could get a little bit of work done in between restoring and the screen turning black again. After I was fed up with having to run system restore every other day, I decided to run system refresh to keep my files but reset everything else. After restoring I am getting the same problem and find myself again running system restore every other day just to keep working.
My questions are if I completely reinstall windows 8 and start from scratch, will this definitely solve the problem? I thought system refresh would have worked, so I'm not sure. Also, are there any other available options for me to fix my computer without starting from scratch?
I've got a Samsung NP550P5C laptop with the following specs :
-i5-3210M -6 GB RAM @ 1600 MHz -1 TB HDD @ 5400 rpm -2 GB nVidia GT650M with Optimus -Windows 8 Single Language 64-bit
It came with Recovery partitions. Now using the Samsung Recovery application I had copied my recovery files to another external HDD alongwith a backup of C drive. Now all these are in some weird extensions. I refreshed my PC and then the problems began. The problems were :
-No Fn key working -Samsung recovery did not recognize factory condition recovery point,i.e,Factory reset option was gone. -The backup on external HDD was showing up on Samsung Recovery, but after clicking on it, it would go on a restart and recovery never happens.
I have read the tutorial (Refresh Windows 8 - Create and Use Custom Recovery Image) . Would I not get the same result if I created a Disk and Partition Backup using a program like Acronis or Easeus? That way I hope to keep all my initial system, personal files and third party applications.
I have made a System Image & a Custom Recovery Image on my Asus Vivotab but I cannot get the system to recognize them on a USB Hard Drive.
I got into this by testing the Refresh Custom Recovery Image. The system did not find the image as the system allocated a different drive letter so I have basic Refresh. I have found my way to the Administrator Command but cannot find RECIMG on either the x: or C: drives. Do I need a Path Command from System32?
I also have a System image on a USB Hard Drive but cannot get the system to find it. I have tried putting the files folders in the root directory but the system still does not recognise them.
I recently did an update of my machine from Windows 8 to Windows 8.1. The update process did not show any errors or warnings and by the time it finished I was under the impression that everything went smooth.
After the update I was testing the environment and discovered that one of my desktop applications stopped working, I went to the developer's website and indeed I found there is a known issue with their software on 8.1 and to solve it, I had to completely uninstall the software and then install it once more. So I went to Programs and Features in order to do so and to my surprise the Uninstall button was missing from the interface. Right-clicking an item and selecting uninstall from the menu gives a warning message suggesting that the application might have already been uninstalled and asks if I wanted to remove the application from the Programs list. However, clicking OK or Cancel just closes the message box and nothing happens.
So I went and tried to Refresh My PC; Once I clicked Refresh My PC the verification process started and indeed it told my that some system files are missing and that it should take care of it provided I insert my Windows disc. Now since its an OTA update from Win 8 to 8.1 I thought that MS knows that some people will not have a physical copy of 8.1 and so I inserted my Windows 8 Pro System Builder disc hoping it would work, but sadly as you might have guessed, it did not. It told me that I needed the 8.1 recovery disc.
Now I have been looking everywhere for a recovery image to download and use to fix my problem, everywhere I go it suggests that I make my own copy. But how am I supposed to do that if my Windows is faulty and has missing files. I really don't wanna go back to Windows 8 and re-upgrade to 8.1. I have a monitored internet bandwidth and I cannot go and download the 3 GB 8.1 update once more.
How can I repair my 8.1 machine?
I came across this article describing how to get an ISO image for 8.1 with a Windows 8 product Key. However, entering my Windows 8 Pro System Builder (OEM) key in the box fails and tells me that the key I entered is not for this product.
Just recently I was using my computer when an error appeared saying I had a drive error that needed to be fixed. I clicked the error in the system tray and then the computer restarted in order to fix the drive error. Well, I went into an "automatic repair" but then it froze on the "select your keyboard layout" screen. I then tried the "refresh your PC" option, but it wouldn't work saying that the hard drive was locked. I then tried to restore the PC to a restore point but it wouldn't let me do that either. As a last ditch resort I tried to use the "reset your PC" option which I gather is just a guided reformatting of the hard drive but it wouldn't let me do that either, saying that the required partition wasn't there. I took it into a PC repair place and they said the hard drive needs to be wiped, that the registry is corrupted or something along those lines. When booting from the windows 8 CD I tried to go into the installation menu and it won't even accept the product key on my package.
All I can really access is the command prompt. I guess I just need to reformat the hard drive and perform a clean install of windows. How to do this reformatting? I've never done it before and don't want to screw it up. I'm not worried about saving data on the computer, nothing really important on the drive that isn't already backed up on my laptop.
My PC started off on Win 8 and I upgraded to Win 8.1 .
I want to do a completely fresh installation. I do not mind going back to Win 8 and redownloading Win 8.1 afterwards.
My problem is that when I go to PC Settings > "Remove everything and reinstall Windows", I get the error: "Insert media. Some files are missing. Your Windows installation or recovery media will provide these files."
I have a partition on my computer "HP_RECOVERY (F:)". It states 1.24 GB free of 10.6 GB. When I open it, it contains a folder called "Recovery" and "HP_WSD.dat" -- the .dat file is 1 KB. When I open the folder, it says that it is empty (hidden folders and files are set to be shown). If I look at the folder properties, it states that it contains 1 file, 2 folders. The size is 69 bytes.
I have not touched this recovery partition ever since I got this PC. I have, however, run a partition software before because I split my (C:) into (C: and D:). I do not know if this may have somehow corrupted my recovery partition.
What is the best way for me to quickly and cleanly format my PC without losing my registration key? I do not have a copy of Win 8 or Win 8.1 on a CD or USB.
I opened up cmd as admin and typed in "reagentc /info" and it output this:
Code: C:WINDOWSsystem32>reagentc /info Windows Recovery Environment (Windows RE) and system reset configurationInformation: Windows RE status: Enabled Windows RE location: ?GLOBALROOTdeviceharddisk0partition3RecoveryWindowsRE Boot Configuration Data (BCD) identifier: 8fc8db37-7d80-11e3-91ec-faa553f3f5b4 Recovery image location: Recovery image index: 0 Custom image location: Custom image index: 0REAGENTC.EXE: Operation Successful.
i have had to result in reinstailling windows 8 from scratch since neirther my saved system image worked and the refresh and restore options dont work.
I have had this system image problems happen twice, when i go to restore the image i get an error saying that the image was made on a different OS varient. E.g it was made of a 32bit system and im reimagaing a 64bit os. However this is not the case.
When i brought windows 8 i had the 32bit OS but i have upgraded to the 64bit OS and the reimage was done on a 64bit OS. I only have one PC so it nots likely that it was from a different PC.
Also when i go to the refresh option, i get an error saying that the drive is locked. how it was locked and how to unlocked it.
I installed Windows 8 Through my windows DVD and now want to make it so I don't need the Windows Installation Disk or any USB Recovery key. Is there any way to make a refresh AND reset partition and image.
My WEI score is better in 8 than in seven...How to Update or Refresh the Windows Experience Index (WEI) Score in Windows 8 and 8.1 32 bit developer preview w/2 Gb ram in VMware workstation 8 Windows 7 specs in the usual place.
everything was OK until I went to download updates from HP 1Gb worth and then restarting the computer to find I had no wireless recognition, and it seems the downloads didn't download. after a long session with HP and a system restore to before this fiasco, the wireless is back working, but when playing solitaire the fn and z won't let me undo which is a nuisance. also I now have the annoying red alert from the HP assistant wanting me to download.
My desk top was working when I turned it off yesterday, i turned it back on this morning to discover it got stuck on the start menu screen, so I turned it off and turned it back on (it apparently was having this issue a few days ago when a friend was using it, he reset it several times). When it turned back on and I logged in, the screen kept flickering between the desk top and what i assume is the start menu. It won't even load the desktop/start bar icons.
I've tried booting in safe mode and the same problem but it gave me an error message,I/O unexpected error 0xc00000e9. so i decided to boot from a recovery USB, and now its telling me that the media isn't valid. I don't want to wipe it as it has valuable documents on it.
tldr, I broke 8.1 and my recovery isn't working.
I have another windows 8.1 machine that I used to create the recovery USB.
I buy new asus X550CC-XO028H ultrabook with windows 8 preinstalled.I upgrade windows 8 to 8.1 over windows store.I get many erros in event viewer.So now need restore windows 8 from recovery partition.Install all programs and upgrade to 8.1.But i cannot to do this.Windows 8.1 cannot find system image.I try this this manual System Image Recovery - Restore Image on Computer in Windows 8 Asus manual also say recovery same [URL] .....
1. Restart your Notebook PC then press F9 during POST. 2. Wait for Windows to load the Choose an option screen then tap Troubleshoot. 3. Tap Advanced options. Notebook PC E-Manual 4. In the Advanced options screen, select System Image Recovery. 5. Choose an account you would like to recover using a system image file. 6. Type your account password then tap Continue. 7. Select Use the latest available system image (recommended), then tap Next. You can also choose Select a system image if your system image is in an external device or DVD. 8. Follow the succeeding steps to complete the system image recovery procedure.
How fix to work recovery partition.All original asus partitions are untouched. [URL] .....
Using the sfc command, I found some corrupted windows files but it was unable to repair them... Is there any way I can repair the files without having to reset or refresh my computer and lose everything I installed?
I found something called DISM, but when I used it, it said unable to find source files or something... I found my recover partitions, but they don't have drive letters. Anything I can do?
Recently was running a backup program and suddenly I get the Windows 8 blue error screen (the one with the mocking '' icon) and system dies. I turn on and it seems to booting very slowly then it proceeds to do the pre login screen installation of updates. After half an hour or so and with updates on around 70%, system dies again. Now when I turn the machine on it appears to alternate between either hanging for ever on the Windows 8 loading screen or attempting to run an 'Automatic Repair' which invariably results in a blank screen and no fix.
Having read several 'Automatic Repair loop' posts on the net, it appears I need to load the recovery disc and run repair or restore programs from there. Of course the CD I made failed (crappy disc?) so I had to search my original licence email and use the provided link to download and create a new installation disc from a working machine. This disc loads and gives me the option to install Win 8 (presumably a fresh install with loss of files) or a troubleshoot menu. Running the automatic repair option results in a rather inane 'Couldn't do it' message and gives a blank path to a log file. The system restore option prompts me to 'Restart and select operating system before trying this' and i'm not sure how to do this as no such option is given at boot.
When I installed my copy of windows 8 using a dvd, It installed a recovery partition during the installation. This partition allowed me to do things such as create a recovery drive, and use startup repair, all without needing to insert an installation disk. For some reason, this recovery partition is no longer working. I can't create a recovery drive without being told to insert installation media, and there are no troubleshooting settings when I launch "advanced startup". I noticed this after I deleted all of the bcd bootloader entries in easybcd, and tried to create a recovery drive. I don't know if deleting those entries could have affected windows but I think it might have something to do with it.
The recovery partition is still there, and the files in it are still there.
I pay a used laptop Sony Vaio SVF 143100c from china , they install windows 8 Enterbrise and no other software or drivers
when I check I found a recovery volume on the hard disk I assign this volume and copy all the recovery content to external Hard disk, size is 18 GB
and the product key is valid for Win 8 RTM CoreCountrySpecific OEMM,
I don't have a Recovery Media disk or usb to return to Factory condition, how to create a recovery disk to access tis image and re install tis laptop to Factory condition
I have a the Dell 15R SE 7520 which came preloaded with windows 8 . Recently I upgraded to windows 8.1 . My questions are -
1. What should I create - a rescue disk or a recovery disk ? 2. If I create a recovery disk, will it recover my windows 8.1(not windows 8) in case my OS gets corrupted . 3. I also couldn't find the product key for my OS. So , If someday I have to repair my laptop using my recovery disk ,it will not stay genuine?
New to Windows 8 - setting up a couple computers .Can I use one external HDD for the backup as well as for the recovery? I mean, it seems when I set up the first one a week ago, there was an option in the recovery section of control panel to create something for disaster recovery. (Create a recovery drive) I think it said everything on the drive would be erased when it was created. Now that I've created it on a 250GB HDD, I am wondering if I can do my backups on there as well? Or is this recovery drive supposed to be a dedicated flash drive or something like that?
How to make a Widows 8.1 DVD disk that works as a recovery disk.What your actually making is an Windows 8.1 Enterprise Evaluation installation disk. When the disk boots up, you select repair disk instead of install. This will give you access to all the repair programs as well as system image recovery option.
All you have to is, go to this webpage (Download Windows 8.1 Enterprise Evaluation) and download the ISO for Windows 8.1 Enterprise evaluation. This will let download the ISO file. Warning, this file is 3.7 gig big and takes a few minutes. After that simply burn to disk. When you boot this disk, just choose repair instead of install. Just note, that like all install disk it takes time to load. 2 minutes and 20seconds on my machine.
Im running windows 8.1 pro x64. I just did a clean install and very foolishly I let the file history back up my data instead of doing a manual backup like I usually do.
I tried to do a recovery and it didn't show any recovery dates other than yesterdays date which was when I did the clean install
My computer used to be named Desktop and it had my name as the User. After the during the install I decided to name computer Office with my name as the user instead. I figured maybe changing it back to desktop would do the trick but it didn't work. I even assigned the backup drive the same letter it was prior to clean install.
I can see all my data on external I wouldn't mind just manually moving it back but theres a couple problems with that. First of all every file has now the time stamp right into the file name which is annoying but also for some stuff theres multiple copies with different time stamps.
No matter what I try I cant get the recover files to recognize theres a back up there.
I am trying to get a handle on how these 2 functions are related. I assume the Recovery disk would be needed if you can't boot to the computer (assume the OS needs to be present) and does the Recovery disk replace the boot files that may be damaged and then after you get booted up I assume the System Image (is that is referred to as a "backup")?? would be ran to get the computer back to the working order when the Image was taken. Assume that the Recovery disk would take place of the OS installation disk if it were not available and you couldn't just reinstall the OS and so you could load the Image.
After refreshing my windows 8, i noticed that my second drive i.e recovery disk (D: winretools) is no longer visible in my computer. My laptop model is Dell inspiron 15R
I created a custom refresh image the day before upgrading to 8.1. I am having shut down and sleep issues with windows 8.1 that I don't have time to troubleshoot any longer and I wish to go back to win 8 for now. I went to check that my image was there and active and this is what i get:
It showed successful when I created it? I can find in in the location that is it supposed to be:
and:
Now I'm stuck. I don't want to use the factory image and reinstall everything, and I can't cope with the bsods and hangs when trying to sleep or shutdown ( I have tried every option in that massive thread about windows 8.1 not sleeping ) ...
I recently bought a Dell Windows 8 desktop. I upgraded the desktop to Windows 8.1. I want to create a recovery drive using a DVD rather than a flash drive. (I understand Microsoft wants you to create recovery onto a flash drive rather than a DVD. Not sure why.)
I found several places on the net which discuss just how create recover onto a DVD. They suggest that I do a search on "Windows 7 file" and this will display an option to click on "Windows 7 File Recovery" ... and that will lead me through the steps to create my recovery onto a DVD.
Problem is "Windows 7 File" is not found. How do I get this onto my Windows 8.1 system?
I have Windows 8 PRO, one PC with 5 users profiles.
Before I change to using either of the above WIN tools, I'd like to know if "they" backup ALL users at once and if the backup can be done unattended, meaning the PC is obviously ON, has a scheduled backup task to run, but ALL users are logged OFF?
The two 3rd party utilities I've tried only backup if you are logged on and only backup each user individually, so there are 5 different tasks!
I've jumped straight from XP where I could backup ALL in one go. I s'pose there are "tighter" file restrictions with 8
