After update, failed to load, couldn't fix

bigyeti

New Member
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2
After Windows 8.1 downloaded and installed an update and also SQL Server 2012 SP1, I restarted it and then it no longer booted. The BIOS splash screen would pop up, then the screen went black and nothing else happened. Even the hard drive activity stopped.
I booted from the Windows 8 DVD and chose Troubleshooting and tried Automatic Repair and System Restore, neither of which worked. I then chose Refresh Your PC. However, it then said the drive was locked and I should unlock it before continuing. I used Diskpart to clear the attributes of the volume but that didn't help.

In the end, I did a reinstall without formatting the disk. Once I booted it up properly, I had a look in the Windows.old folder and all of my documents, pictures and other work are missing.

Firstly, is there any way I can roll back to the original install so I don't have to spend a full day installing everything again, and if not, how do I recover all my files?
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1
Did you back up first?
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    ME, XP,Vista,Win7,Win8,Win8.1
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Other Info
    Notebooks x 3

    Desktops x 5

    Towers x 4
I didn't have the opportunity. But I thought the files would be moved to windows.old so I could get at them. I can recover a lot of files, but it appears that my Box account hadn't been syncing for a couple of months it seems, but I've got a good few files off there. It's just the more recent work. Plus all the game saves for my Steam games are gone.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1
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