I have recently Dual Booted my Computer with Win 7, XP and Windows 8.1.
I now cannot boot into Windows 8.1
I installed Easy BCD and was able to make a bootloader but i can only boot into Win 7 and XP
I have removed a Linux Distro from my dual boot, it was running GRUB2 as the bootloader and now I need to repair windows to get the bootloader fixed and overwrite GRUB with the normal loader.
However for whatever reason, it is notoriously difficult to do this without a disc or having made a backup drive within windows before things went tits up.
Is there a simple way to install a recovery disc onto a USB, boot from USB and then repair?
I tried to install ubuntu 13.04 x86 on my 16 GB flash drive using the pendrive program. When i restarted my laptop and selected boot from usb drive i then selected install ubuntu on my dva2 using ext4 and "/" on mount. After finishing the process i restarted my laptop and i was keep booting in ubuntu os without even asking me if i wanted to boot in windows. I then removed usb from laptop and the only os that exists is ubuntu. The only thing i noticed is that in the partitioning menu earlier where i selected the 16 GB flash drive, it also said Windows 8 loader next to it something that was a bit strange since my windows was installed on my 240 Gb ssd. I enter in ubuntu without usb and i can see all my files from windows desktop. Is there any possible way to recover my windows?
View 9 Replies View RelatedI have Windows 8.1 installed and then I installed Windows 7 afterward and now the system is using the Windows 7 bootloader as opposed to the Windows 8.1 bootloader. What I want to do is get set the Windows 8.1 as the default bootloader.
View 4 Replies View RelatedI have (perhaps I should say had) a multi-boot system. Originally I installed my 6 Windows OS's and then installed my two favorite Linux distros. I like the ability to customize the Grub menu which Linux gives me. Unfortunately Grub did not detect all 6 of my Windows installations but one of the boot options it did detect took me back into my original Windows menu which showed all 6 of the Windows systems. So that's the setup which I have been using successfully for the past few months. (One boot menu which boots into another). Today my Windows boot menu has become unusable and probably corrupt.
At first I had the problem that I was only able to boot into Windows 8.1 (no windows menu at all). Then I used EasyBCD which I had inside Windows 8.1 At first EasyBCD indicated an inability to load any boot file at all. Subsequently after rebooting into 8.1 a few times more I tried it again. It then showed a boot menu but with only Windows 8.1 listed. I subsequently was able to use the add operating system function to add all the other Windows systems again. I then clicked save to save the new configuration. Now I do see all six Windows systems at boot but neither of them, even Windows 8.1 will boot. Where I should start to get back into one of these six Windows operating systems so that I can possible use the EasyBCD repair function to access the others. I think I had EasyBCD installed inside each Windows OS At the moment I am dependent on Linux alone for Internet access. I trust this is clear.
As nothing in Linux has changed, I assume I need to fix the problem from the Windows side of things. I do have that one option when I get into that blue Windows 8 style boot menu to "change options" I thought EasyBCD would have restored the Windows 7 style text boot menu but it did not. Other than that I have the various Windows installation disks and a Win7 repair disk as well as various full partition backups on an external hard drive. What do do about a corrupt bcd file without being inside Windows, and I don't know much about EasyBCD. Would a refresh/reset of Win 8.1 from the install disk be a good way to start? I did get the message of "files missing" when I tried to do a system recovery drive while inside Windows 8.1 today, so there are issues with that OS.
I have the blue win 8 bootloader with my os's but this is what it says when I choose Ubuntu
View 3 Replies View RelatedI have a new XPS L521X that came with Windows 8. I hate Windows 8 so I decided to install a generic copy of Windows 7 the other day. I'm now having issues with Windows 7 and would like to factory restore the system, but since windows 7 overwrote the MBR, I am not able to access the Dell recovery. The hard drive still has the PBR Image partition, I just don't know how to boot from it. How I can boot into the Dell recovery and restore back to Windows 8? Is there some sort of UEFI boot option I can just add in the BIOS?
View 11 Replies View RelatedFinal steps in my recovery process. I'm running a Windows 8 recovery disc off of a USB, and I'm trying to restore, refresh, reset, anything at this point.
But I go into all the troubleshooting options and advanced options and it doesn't allow me to "choose a target operating system" as nothing appears such as my Windows 8.
I'm on an Asus laptop, I've backed-up my files to an external hdd, so at this point I just want to get my laptop running again.This all started with the "automatic repair loop" to which I've used EasyRE to purchase a recovery disc, backed up my files, and now I'm at this point where I can't finalize the process.
Also how should I be booting from a USB properly?I hold F2 on start up, switch to "Boot" and set "Launch CSM" to Enabled. Then switch to "Security" and set "Secure Boot Control" to Disabled. Then restart and hold Esc for the Boot menu and boot from the USB.
I'm willing to do whatever to simply reset my laptop. Tried everything that I've found, text in that black command box (I'm really not too flash with computers) like the chkdsk and it all came out fine. It's just when I go to try to recover/restore/reset ANYTHING when I've booted from the USB it tells me there isn't an operating system to do so from.
the hard disk of a Samsung Ultra 5 crashed. I have got a new hard disk. How do i restore windows 8 and Samsung drivers to the new hard disk? My friend has an exact notebook. How do i copy the recovery partition from his pc and use it on mine?
View 9 Replies View RelatedI used to use Windows Easy Transfer to backup my settings and files before reinstalling/reimaging...etc - now that doesn't exist, and File History really doesn't cut it when it comes to apps and settings.
A system image really won't work either, as I need to reinstall windows 8.1 on a new system with different partitioning...etc.
Are there any Windows 8.1 native tools that will do it? If not, are there any freeware apps that perform the equivalent?
I have checked out Paragon Backup and Recovery (more all-or-nothing) and D7 (freeware version doesn't have automated restore - but it does create registry dumps...hmmm) but neither seems to work as simply/well as WET used to.
I have tried just saving the User profile folder, but unfortunately, that doesn't save anything that's in the registry (outlook profiles, app settings...etc).
my OS is Windows 8.1 64-bit. It boots just fine, but I suddenly found out that something wrong happened with my BCD store. Tried more workarounds but none worked. The last I found How To Restore Windows 8 Boot Options Menu ended on bcdedit error mentioned below. The problem indicates with following signs:
- bcdedit /enum prints error "The boot configuration data store could not be opened."
- bcdboot C:windows prints error "BFSVC Error: BcdOpenSystemStore failed with unexpected error code, Status
= [c000015c]"
- msconfig's boot tab shows empty OSes list (nothing on the tab is clickablle)
- the same with System Properties, Advanced tab, Startup and Restore dialog (OS dropdown has no entries)
- Trying to enter diagnostic boot by Shft + Restart doesnot seem to offer full recovery menu. It boots to GUI boot menu offering Continue or Troubleshooting, Troubleshooting submenu offers Manage UEFI options (this brings me to BIOS setup after reboot) and Shut down. No manage boot options, no other choices.
All of this point me to that my booting configuration is somehow ill (I wonder a bit that Windows still can start).
I have a USB HDD for my laptop (About 1TB). If worse comes to worse, is it possible to restore from System Image that I create on that USB HDD, or does it have to be a USB flash drive?
View 8 Replies View RelatedFactory reset on windows 8.
My son decided to reset his windows 8 laptop to original factory settings, during the reset process his mom decided it was taking to long and turned off the laptop.
Now when its turned on it shows the message "restoring your computer", this message will then change to "diagnosing your computer", the screen will then go blank and it start all over again.
I can boot it from a USB drive, but when I click on "repair" i get an error message that it cant repair the computer. When i try to run restore from the USB I get a similar message.
is there anyway to run the system restore from the DOS prompt?
I'm mostly a Linux user, but I recently bought a laptop with Windows 8 on it. After a few days dual booting I decided it wasn't for me, so I decided to delete the windows partitions and usa just Linux. I would like, however, to keep the recovery partition, so to be able to easily reinstall Windows again if I felt like I needed to, but I'm not sure what partitions should I keep. Here's a picture of my hard drive partitions as of now:
Do I need more than the restore partition? Can I get rid of the boot one? What about the recovery one? And the one flagged msftres?
I have dual booted my lappy with win7 ultimate and Windows 8 pro using vhd.i have installed windows8 on vhd,but due to that i can't use the fast start and system rating in Windows 8.so i want to restore my Windows 8 vhd to my hardisk. I have 4 partitions on my hardisk i can use any one of them to recover win 8.
View 3 Replies View RelatedHere is my situation:
-I have now installed and using two sata hard drive (Drive C "500GB" for OS and other programs and Drive D "1TB" for Games and other Documents)
-I also have SYSTEM IMAGE created before and saved it on my external hard drive.
Now I want to RESTORE that SYSTEM IMAGE saved on my external hard drive to the Drive C "500GB"
My asking is HOW TO DO IT CORRECTLY:
>Should I disconnect/unplug the SATA Cable for the Drive D 1TB before I proceed with the system image restore?
(By the way I have no problem with the procedures on how to do the system image restore)
>OR is there a RISK if I just continue with the system image restore with both SATA CABLES for both HDD not removed?
I would like to reinstall Win 8 on my ASRock UEFI motherboard in the UEFI mode. I have Win 7 OEM and the downloaded Win 8 Pro upgrade. I have the Win 8 Pro upgrade burned to an ISO disc. I also have the hard drive backed up to Acronis 2013 and have an Acronis WinPE rescue disc to boot with to restore.
Several questions.
(1) If I convert to UEFI and format the drive to GPT, will Acronis restore to the GPT (from MBR)?
(2) If Acronis won't restore, will converting to UEFI/GPT affect installing or activating the Win 7 OEM and/or the Win 8 Pro upgrade (I assume I'll have to install Win 7 and then upgrade to Win 8).
(3) Will a UEFI system read other hard drives that are MBR formatted?
Is it possible to create restore discs that return the PC back to factory state (just out of box, never turned on)?
View 6 Replies View RelatedI have 10 computers with identical hardware that all have their own oem license. What I want is to have the same setup on all 10 computers. What I remember from previous Windows versions is that you had to activate Windows individually with its own oem key for every computer you restored with a preferred disk image. From what I read the product key procedure is a bit different in Windows 8 and that the key is stored in the bios? The activation should also be handled automatically by Windows, is that correct?
So what I really wonder is: Do I still have to activate every restored pc manually or will Windos 8 do this for me?
A second related question: Are there any imaging/cloning software that can be set up to promt me for a new computer name in the restore process?
Although I have been able to make a full disk image using the built in "system image" option, I can not find any way to restore it. The recovery options only point to system restore and refresh PC. I'm navigating to <control panel> and then <file history> to access the recovery options. I can not find any restore from system image option anywhere.
Am I missing something, or is it deliberately missing in the Enterprise editions ? If so is there any way I can restore the backup image ?
I am selling my Acer acer m5-481pt-6644 and want to do a factory image restore so the buyer can set it up for themselves.
I have done plenty of image restores on Win 7, but always gone all the way through.
Can I turn the laptop off at some point before I fully set it up, so the buyer will get to set it up for themselves?
My computer has been running fairly slow lately, and I want to do a full system restore. I've done this on my old Windows 7 computer with no problems, but I can't seem to do it with Windows 8.1.
My laptop didn't come with an installation disk, Windows 8 was already installed when I got it. And I can't seem to make a recover partition drive.
I bought a Windows 8 laptop, ASUS Q500A, and reformatted it with Windows 7.
I went into the BIOS and used "Restore Defaults" and now all Boot Option Priorities are deleted.
Each time I boot the laptop, it automatically goes to BIOS (or UEFI).
I tried inserting the Windows 7 disc so I can access Startup Repair or Command Prompt but it freezes before it could get anywhere even when I tried it with an external CD/DVD drive.
I cannot get the laptop to boot to the hard drive or CD drive at all,
how I can reset the boot option priorities so it will be boot to the hard drive again.
I have Dell XPS 8300 and made a set of dvds when I got the machine. I don't remember if I made them before or after a Dell tech deleted my recovery partition.I have since made a Win 8 dvd from the downloaded iso file and using the library, moved to Win 8.1.
I am asking if there is a way I can restore or obtain the recovery partition.I have the original Win 7 cd, the 2 dvds I made when I got the pc and the Win 8 dvd I created.If the recovery partition is not in the Win 7 dvds(as I said above) is there any way to get that partition back?
When I moved from Win 7 to 8 with the disc I did not see any opportunity to create this recovery disc. I thought if I selected 'custom' after 0 unallocated space, then 'drive options adv', 'new' and 'apply' it would be automatically created.I never saw anything like that so just 'next it' to Win 8.
P.S. I have a Dell Laptop which is similar to the desktop and it has the recovery partition.
Since a few days, I owned a new WeTab to play around with different tablet operating systems.
I'd like to install Windows 8, Android and Ubuntu in parallel and use the new GUI bootloader from Win8 to choose what to boot.
I started with installing Win8 and installed EasyBCD to modify the bootloader. A little test configuration shows the correct function of it.
When I start to intstall Android the fist time, everything was fine, but after installing ubunto the Windows 8 Bootloader turnd from GUI to text mode.
also
bootrec /fixmbr
bootrec /fixboot
common Win8DVD repairoptions
can switch back to GUI mode
is there a trick to get the GUI back, because without Keyboard on the tablet it's quite hard to select an option :)
Ad. Info:
WeTab with 80GB SSD, 2GB RAM
Partition:
sda1 ntfs 350MB Windows Bootloader
sda2 ntfs 20GB Windows Partition
sda3 ext2 200MB /boot for Ubuntu
sda4 extended partition
sda5 swap 4GB /swap for Ubuntu
sda6 ext4 20GB / for Ubuntu
sda7 ext3 4GB / for Android
Destroyed bootloader?
bootrec /fixmbr and /fixboot do nothing in my case
when I installed it (Windows 8 32 Bit DP), I now don't have the option to select Linux on my Boot (Linux Wubi Desktop 10.10) and with Windows 7 I did.
View 4 Replies View RelatedI have a Dell XPS 8500 win 8.1. I recently installed Linux Mint 17 on an external HD which booted from GRUB. I now removed Mint 17 ok but I'm left with a reference to 'UBUNTU' in my bootloader. I'm unable to remove this reference. this reference to UBUNTU prevents me from booting from a LINUX USB. I think I need to repair the bootloader but can't and I have tried all sorts of.....FIXBOOT, FIXMBR. etc.
View 2 Replies View RelatedI was installing Windows 8 at my desktop pc.Suddenly power cut occured and it caused the compute to shut down.Then when I restarted my pc again a messege appeared saying that the installation has been corrupted and it can't be continued and it doesn't log on.After that when I tried to re-install Windows 8 the setup got stuck at the "setup is starting" window.I waited overnight for it to go and the installation to start.But it doesn't happen.I have tried to re-install several times but the same problen happens again and again.So neither I can log into my computer now nor I can re-install windows.I don't know what to do.
View 9 Replies View RelatedI am using Windows 8.1x64 in UEFI mode. My motherboard is Gigabyte H77M-D3H. My hard disk is configured to use AHCI. A few days back I needed to use system restore from my repair disk because of a system crash. To my horror when I selected System Restore from my Windows repair disk it showed-:
"To use System Restore, you must specify which Windows Installation to restore. Restart this computer select an operating system, and then select system restore."
Now I don't have multiple Windows installations but I do have Debian Linux x64 dual booted with Windows 8.1. the Debian Linux also boots in UEFI mode. Is this problem caused by the fact that I am dual booting ? Has Linux dual booted, check if you can system restore from the windows repair disk.
I can perform a system restore from the inside of the OS fine. But I need it working from the outside also. What I have tried is running diskpart from the repair disk and selecting my partition on which Windows is installed and then running system restore but this had no effect. Can I boot up windows and then select to boot from my CD ? Like, before Windows completes booting I can have the repair disk boot up or something. Could it be that I am booting my CD in legacy rather than UEFI ?
PS-: My Windows 8 was upgraded from an installation of Windows 7. But I have already deleted the Windows.old folder in C drive.
Running Windows 8 on an Inspiron 15 and the hard drive crashed (cannot boot). Of course, I did not make backup Recovery DVDs, and I am beyond the warranty period so cannot get them from Dell. However, I was able to boot the system running Linux, create a RAW image file of the OS partition, and then was able to recover my data files. Which made me wonder--are there files in separate partitions that could be recovered to create a recovery/restore disk? My goal is to replace the hard drive and reinstall Windows 8 on the new drive (assuming that the product key, which I do not have, will reactivate automatically.)
I haven't seen anything in the forums about this approach to generating reinstall disks.
My alternative, since I have been able to recover my user files, is to purchase a new laptop.