Unable to boot Windows 8.1- possible failure during update

Little Darwin

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I have been running my desktop system under WIndows 8.1 since release, and I started having a problem the other day.

The system seems to have hung up completely, so I powered it down (it is usually up 24 x 7 since I use it as a DVR along with my computer usage).

It seemed to be ok when it powered up, but then a bit later it asked to reboot to finish installing updates.

It has not booted since.

During reboot, it displays the Windows logo and the spinning dots for a few seconds, and then the screen blanks, and my monitor loses signal. I have left it for quite a while and it doesn't come back. After some time, it goes into sleep mode (slowly flashing power indicator), so something is going on at some level. I have powered off and back on, and removed the power cord for a minute to see if anything different happened... it doesn't.

I have tried pressing F8 and Shift-F8 during reboots to try to get to safe mode, but so far no good. Last night, I used my laptop and seem to be able to access shares, but unfortunately it appears that the things I want/need most are not shared.

The bad part is that I haven't been able to locate my recovery disc, but I will continue to look.

I bought the system with Windows 7 right before 8.0 was released, and When 8.0 came out, I got the cheap upgrade and before loading it, installed an SSD for my C: Drive, and kept the existing HDD for my D: Everything has been running well until this incident.

Any ideas on approaches that may help me to recover my system?
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Acer Aspire M3970
    CPU
    I3
    Memory
    16GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    Integrated Intel HD
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Viewsonic VX2450WM-LED
    Screen Resolution
    1920x1080
    Hard Drives
    128 GB SSD
    1 TB HDD
How to boot into Safe Mode from Windows 8 installation media, system repair disc or recovery USB flash drive? -> link
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 10
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Lenovo G580
    CPU
    Intel Core i5-3230M
    Memory
    8 GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    Intel HD Graphics 4000
    Browser
    Microsoft Edge
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender, standard user account
    Other Info
    UEFI firmware (BIOS) embedded Windows 8 product key.
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