Repairing a Hosed Windows 8 Boot

XweAponX

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I'm going to post in here what I did to get my OS booting again, hope it's helpful to most people

I was watching movies while I slept. At about 6:00 this am, my VLC media player locked up and the whole OS was jammed up tight as a drum - So I was able to get it to "restart" but it locked up during restart- When it came back up it was trying to do an Automatic Repair and if found that it needed to scan the drive. So I let it, but after an hour I just said "forget it" and tried to reboot again. I was hoping that I could bypass the scan somehow, sometimes, right before it does the automated scandisk, it will give you exactly one second to cancel out of it.

But Automatic Repair kept coming up and finally I got an error message that said "Boot Volume Not Mountable".

As I have been having trouble with this drive where Windows 8 is installed, I knew I had to do a scan with GWscan, which is on my Hiren's Boot DVD.

So I did this, and it took about an hour and a half to scan through 500 GB of junk. But it fixed the disk errors and I was able to get to the Boot Choice Menu, because I have Windows 7 and 8 installed as a dual boot.

So I got into Windows 7 and I ran a full CHKDSK from there, it fixed the filesystem errors. I then checked all of the other drives and they were fine.

Then I rebooted back into Windows 8 and it ran the Automatic Repair, foudn some mroe filesystem errors, fixed them, and rebooted once more and Windows 8 finally came up.

If your drives are in good shape, you should be able to just run the Automated Repair and it will fix why Windows won't boot - Most of the time - But when there are deeper errors on the Disk, Windows 8 is not set up to check those, and if it can't mount the Windows 8 Volume, you'll simply get a Black or Blue screen of Death with only a mouse and nothing else. It's because the Boot Volume is not mounted, and the Automated Repair can't get to the tools it needs to finish the repair.

My next step is to move the entire volume to a new drive, which is easy to do for Windows 7 but I don't know how Windows 8 will take a change of hardware, it may want to be re-activated, but I've reactivated 3 times on this system, that's no problem.

I just want to ask - Is there any way to set up the Automatic Repair to give you more then 1 second to bypass a drive scan? By the time the start screen informs you that you have one second to escape out of it, it's too late to escape out of it.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8 Pro with Media Center/Windows 7
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Asus M2N-MX SE Plus § DualCore AMD Athlon 64 X2, 2300 MHz (11.5 x 200) 4400+ § Corsair Value Select
    CPU
    AMD 4400+/4200+
    Motherboard
    Asus M2N-MX SE Plus/Asus A8M2N-LA (NodusM)
    Memory
    2 GB/3GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    GeForce 8400 GS/GeForce 210
    Sound Card
    nVIDIA GT218 - High Definition Audio Controller
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Hitachi 40" LCD HDTV
    Screen Resolution
    "1842 x 1036"
    Hard Drives
    WDC WD50 00AAKS-007AA SCSI Disk Device
    ST1000DL 002-9TT153 SCSI Disk Device
    WDC WD3200AAJB-00J3A0 ATA Device
    WDC WD32 WD-WCAPZ2942630 USB Device
    WD My Book 1140 USB Device
    PSU
    Works 550w
    Case
    MSI "M-Box"
    Cooling
    Water Cooled
    Keyboard
    Dell Keyboard
    Mouse
    Microsoft Intellimouse
    Internet Speed
    Cable Medium Speed
    Browser
    Chrome/IE 10
    Antivirus
    Eset NOD32 6.x/Win Defend
    Other Info
    Recently lost my Windows 8 on my main PC, had to go back to Windows 7.
I was watching movies while I slept.

==================
to bad you couldn't patent that feat ,lol
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    win8.1.1 enterprise
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Hinze57
    CPU
    AMD FX 6100 6core 3.30gHz
    Motherboard
    gigibyte ga-78lmy-s2p
    Memory
    4gig ddr3
    Graphics Card(s)
    Radon hd5000 Series
    Sound Card
    onboard realtek hd
    Monitor(s) Displays
    19" viewsonic/ 22"Samsung
    Screen Resolution
    1680x1050
    Hard Drives
    128gig ssd Kingston
    80gig WD 10000 rpm spinner
    Case
    micro
    Keyboard
    microsoft curve 200
    Mouse
    Logitech wireless M215
    Internet Speed
    high speed 20
    Browser
    ie 11
    Antivirus
    windows defender
    Other Info
    updated enterprise apr 2/14
Heh, I have to have noise in the background. What woke me up was the lack of it. I used to be the opposite, had to have total silence. Which is impossible where I live.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8 Pro with Media Center/Windows 7
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Asus M2N-MX SE Plus § DualCore AMD Athlon 64 X2, 2300 MHz (11.5 x 200) 4400+ § Corsair Value Select
    CPU
    AMD 4400+/4200+
    Motherboard
    Asus M2N-MX SE Plus/Asus A8M2N-LA (NodusM)
    Memory
    2 GB/3GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    GeForce 8400 GS/GeForce 210
    Sound Card
    nVIDIA GT218 - High Definition Audio Controller
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Hitachi 40" LCD HDTV
    Screen Resolution
    "1842 x 1036"
    Hard Drives
    WDC WD50 00AAKS-007AA SCSI Disk Device
    ST1000DL 002-9TT153 SCSI Disk Device
    WDC WD3200AAJB-00J3A0 ATA Device
    WDC WD32 WD-WCAPZ2942630 USB Device
    WD My Book 1140 USB Device
    PSU
    Works 550w
    Case
    MSI "M-Box"
    Cooling
    Water Cooled
    Keyboard
    Dell Keyboard
    Mouse
    Microsoft Intellimouse
    Internet Speed
    Cable Medium Speed
    Browser
    Chrome/IE 10
    Antivirus
    Eset NOD32 6.x/Win Defend
    Other Info
    Recently lost my Windows 8 on my main PC, had to go back to Windows 7.
Heh, I have to have noise in the background. What woke me up was the lack of it. I used to be the opposite, had to have total silence. Which is impossible where I live.

i hear you ,i need tv on to get to sleep .have, for the last 45 years

hope you were not using a laptop and had it lying on the bed,and caused it to overheat .
also not sure where to set a time delay for the repair boot option sorry
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    win8.1.1 enterprise
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Hinze57
    CPU
    AMD FX 6100 6core 3.30gHz
    Motherboard
    gigibyte ga-78lmy-s2p
    Memory
    4gig ddr3
    Graphics Card(s)
    Radon hd5000 Series
    Sound Card
    onboard realtek hd
    Monitor(s) Displays
    19" viewsonic/ 22"Samsung
    Screen Resolution
    1680x1050
    Hard Drives
    128gig ssd Kingston
    80gig WD 10000 rpm spinner
    Case
    micro
    Keyboard
    microsoft curve 200
    Mouse
    Logitech wireless M215
    Internet Speed
    high speed 20
    Browser
    ie 11
    Antivirus
    windows defender
    Other Info
    updated enterprise apr 2/14
I looked all over, in the Task Scheduler, where all of those tasks are waiting to be implemented depending on the trigger. There has to be a setting for it somewhere. It was difficult enough to find the setting where I could set how long it shows the boot choice menu. I have that set for 10 seconds on this machine, 30 was too long, 5 is too short. I'm actually impressed with the level of sohistication that's been built in to the Auto Diag Triggers, they have covered a lot of probable causes.

But the one thing that Windows 8 cannot do is a complete S.M.A.R.T. scan of the drive - I can do this from my Motherboard actually, but I always use GWscan, GWscan is so good that Western Digital has appropriated it- It used to be a tool for Gateway Puters, I've been using it ever since I stumbled across it. Now, it is the main program to fix read element failure on WD drives.

I have even recovered drives that my mother board was telling me, needed to be replaced immediately- As long as there are no major SMART errors, a full media scan can fix a lot of problems.

Another thing to watch out for - There is a virus that, when you get it, somehow sends a fake SMART failure through the BIOS. Do not always assume that a SMART bios message means that your drive is toast - Run a virus scan first, then check for rootkits, Malwarebytes as a very good rootkit detection and removal app, and Kaspersky has TDSSkiller- Both very good apps.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8 Pro with Media Center/Windows 7
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Asus M2N-MX SE Plus § DualCore AMD Athlon 64 X2, 2300 MHz (11.5 x 200) 4400+ § Corsair Value Select
    CPU
    AMD 4400+/4200+
    Motherboard
    Asus M2N-MX SE Plus/Asus A8M2N-LA (NodusM)
    Memory
    2 GB/3GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    GeForce 8400 GS/GeForce 210
    Sound Card
    nVIDIA GT218 - High Definition Audio Controller
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Hitachi 40" LCD HDTV
    Screen Resolution
    "1842 x 1036"
    Hard Drives
    WDC WD50 00AAKS-007AA SCSI Disk Device
    ST1000DL 002-9TT153 SCSI Disk Device
    WDC WD3200AAJB-00J3A0 ATA Device
    WDC WD32 WD-WCAPZ2942630 USB Device
    WD My Book 1140 USB Device
    PSU
    Works 550w
    Case
    MSI "M-Box"
    Cooling
    Water Cooled
    Keyboard
    Dell Keyboard
    Mouse
    Microsoft Intellimouse
    Internet Speed
    Cable Medium Speed
    Browser
    Chrome/IE 10
    Antivirus
    Eset NOD32 6.x/Win Defend
    Other Info
    Recently lost my Windows 8 on my main PC, had to go back to Windows 7.
Oooohhhhhhh, that's where you went wrong. One MUSTN'T EVER stop a chkdsk right in the middle, especially in your scenario. What you probably did was affect a Windows 8 system file(s) to the point where I think the file system may have been messed up some. That's most likely why you got the boot volume issue is because of that. When you ran the Hiren's Boot DVD and repaired those disk issues, things got put back correctly. It's like if you defragged a hard drive and killed the PC's power, you may run into disk/file system errors.

In Windows 8, the automatic chkdsk can't be stopped. I'd imagine because people would blow past that screen in 7 and not let Windows do its thing. Usually most of the time, it's a small five minute inconvenience or less if the drive isn't in terrible condition. There really isn't a gap of time anymore in 8 to prevent that, much like there isn't a gap of time to hit F8 for Advanced Boot Options. The overall reasoning behind this is because of UEFI BIOS boot times are so quick and seamless, there isn't a chance to do anything at boot. That's why Windows 8 was designed around that, as you can go to PC Settings and restart to the UEFI firmware on such a PC. In the typical BIOS setup, it would just restart.

I believe you can install the Windows 7 BCD boot record over 8 and get back the old style way of Windows 7.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 Pro
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    ASUS
    CPU
    AMD FX 8320
    Motherboard
    Crosshair V Formula-Z
    Memory
    16 gig DDR3
    Graphics Card(s)
    ASUS R9 270
    Screen Resolution
    1440x900
    Hard Drives
    1 TB Seagate Barracuda (starting to hate Seagate)
    x2 3 TB Toshibas
    Windows 8.1 is installed on a SanDisk Ultra Plus 256 GB
    PSU
    OCZ 500 watt
    Case
    A current work in progres as I'll be building the physical case myself. It shall be fantastic.
    Cooling
    Arctic Cooler with 3 heatpipes
    Keyboard
    Logitech K750 wireless solar powered keyboard
    Mouse
    Microsoft Touch Mouse
    Browser
    Internet Explorer 11
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender, but I might go back on KIS 2014
Oooohhhhhhh, that's where you went wrong. One MUSTN'T EVER stop a chkdsk right in the middle, especially in your scenario. What you probably did was affect a Windows 8 system file(s) to the point where I think the file system may have been messed up some.

That's EXACTLY what happened. The Problem was, Windows 8 (as sophisticated as it actually is, I'm learning) is not sophisticated enough to detect and fix the specific problem with this disk. My intention was to halt the Auto CHKDSK, and then run it from within the System after I had repaired the drive.

Untouched, this "repair" would never have stopped. An Hour and a half even for a 500 GB HD is way too long for a chkdsk op. Also, each time Drive C was being scanned, when it got to 41% it would just halt and give me a Blue Error Screen that basically says "Windows 8 Can't fix this crap"

After I ran GWscan, I did let the Auto-Diag and Auto-Chkdsk run, but this time it finished within 5 minutes for every drive. On this machine, I have a 500 GB (System Drive), a 1 TB, and a 320 GB. It's the 500 GB, a "Blue Caviar" WD- There is nothing really wrong with it but time to time, it develops Read Errors, because I do a lot of moving stuff back and forth. I was monitoring it with Raxxo Perfect Disk, while I had Windows 7 on the machine, and that worked well, optimizing the drive, it kept it at 0% Frag all the time.

I have Windows 8 "Defrag" set to keep the drives optimised Daily, but it is not as efficient as Raxxo, I may put that back in this machine.

It would be great if I could bypass the Auto-CHKDSK, it can't fix the read element failure, I have to do that from outside of Windows.

hm:

I believe you can install the Windows 7 BCD boot record over 8 and get back the old style way of Windows 7.

You got any Documentation somewhere that shows me how?
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8 Pro with Media Center/Windows 7
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Asus M2N-MX SE Plus § DualCore AMD Athlon 64 X2, 2300 MHz (11.5 x 200) 4400+ § Corsair Value Select
    CPU
    AMD 4400+/4200+
    Motherboard
    Asus M2N-MX SE Plus/Asus A8M2N-LA (NodusM)
    Memory
    2 GB/3GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    GeForce 8400 GS/GeForce 210
    Sound Card
    nVIDIA GT218 - High Definition Audio Controller
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Hitachi 40" LCD HDTV
    Screen Resolution
    "1842 x 1036"
    Hard Drives
    WDC WD50 00AAKS-007AA SCSI Disk Device
    ST1000DL 002-9TT153 SCSI Disk Device
    WDC WD3200AAJB-00J3A0 ATA Device
    WDC WD32 WD-WCAPZ2942630 USB Device
    WD My Book 1140 USB Device
    PSU
    Works 550w
    Case
    MSI "M-Box"
    Cooling
    Water Cooled
    Keyboard
    Dell Keyboard
    Mouse
    Microsoft Intellimouse
    Internet Speed
    Cable Medium Speed
    Browser
    Chrome/IE 10
    Antivirus
    Eset NOD32 6.x/Win Defend
    Other Info
    Recently lost my Windows 8 on my main PC, had to go back to Windows 7.
I believe you can install the Windows 7 BCD boot record over 8 and get back the old style way of Windows 7.

:confused:

You can have the text menu or the big blue kiddie squares, if that is what you mean.

For a grown ups boot menu, at an elevated cmd, type:

Bcdedit /deletevalue {current} bootmenupolicy
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    7/8/ubuntu/Linux Deepin
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
Oooohhhhhhh, that's where you went wrong. One MUSTN'T EVER stop a chkdsk right in the middle, especially in your scenario. What you probably did was affect a Windows 8 system file(s) to the point where I think the file system may have been messed up some.

That's EXACTLY what happened. The Problem was, Windows 8 (as sophisticated as it actually is, I'm learning) is not sophisticated enough to detect and fix the specific problem with this disk. My intention was to halt the Auto CHKDSK, and then run it from within the System after I had repaired the drive.

Untouched, this "repair" would never have stopped. An Hour and a half even for a 500 GB HD is way too long for a chkdsk op. Also, each time Drive C was being scanned, when it got to 41% it would just halt and give me a Blue Error Screen that basically says "Windows 8 Can't fix this crap"

After I ran GWscan, I did let the Auto-Diag and Auto-Chkdsk run, but this time it finished within 5 minutes for every drive. On this machine, I have a 500 GB (System Drive), a 1 TB, and a 320 GB. It's the 500 GB, a "Blue Caviar" WD- There is nothing really wrong with it but time to time, it develops Read Errors, because I do a lot of moving stuff back and forth. I was monitoring it with Raxxo Perfect Disk, while I had Windows 7 on the machine, and that worked well, optimizing the drive, it kept it at 0% Frag all the time.

I have Windows 8 "Defrag" set to keep the drives optimised Daily, but it is not as efficient as Raxxo, I may put that back in this machine.

It would be great if I could bypass the Auto-CHKDSK, it can't fix the read element failure, I have to do that from outside of Windows.

hm:

I believe you can install the Windows 7 BCD boot record over 8 and get back the old style way of Windows 7.

You got any Documentation somewhere that shows me how?

Actually, it's best to run a disk check outside of Windows before boot, that's when system files can get moved around if they happen to be in a damaged sector/block on the disk. I would heavily doubt that disk check wouldn't have ended anytime soon, it depends on how much you have on your drive, free space, and the condition of it. I recently had a 500 gig hard drive die on me, before it did I had to spend several hours trying to run disk check on it at restart (on a different PC) to get it relatively recovered. All in all, it was futile as it just died. And did Windows say that AFTER you canceled the disk check?

You will have to experiment yourself on this one, I THINK I read before people doing that to get back their old BCD boot style. This happens if you install Windows 7 AFTER installing 8 in a dual boot situation. You will need to download EasyBCD, and install the vista/7 BCD boot record on the hard drive with 8 installed. But do this outside your normal setup, use an separate drive if you must, or a dual boot partition or triple boot.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 Pro
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    ASUS
    CPU
    AMD FX 8320
    Motherboard
    Crosshair V Formula-Z
    Memory
    16 gig DDR3
    Graphics Card(s)
    ASUS R9 270
    Screen Resolution
    1440x900
    Hard Drives
    1 TB Seagate Barracuda (starting to hate Seagate)
    x2 3 TB Toshibas
    Windows 8.1 is installed on a SanDisk Ultra Plus 256 GB
    PSU
    OCZ 500 watt
    Case
    A current work in progres as I'll be building the physical case myself. It shall be fantastic.
    Cooling
    Arctic Cooler with 3 heatpipes
    Keyboard
    Logitech K750 wireless solar powered keyboard
    Mouse
    Microsoft Touch Mouse
    Browser
    Internet Explorer 11
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender, but I might go back on KIS 2014
Heh!

You can have the text menu or the big blue kiddie squares, if that is what you mean.

I can live with or without any prettification Microsoft has dumped into even the simplest and base parts of this OS. Do you ever go to Tijuana or Mexicali? It's like Mexico, no offense to residents of that country, who like to paint their old Donkey cart and make it look new. Usually, Bright Shiny Primary Cinco de Mayo Colours. This is what Microsoft has done with Windows 8, they Painted Over the rusted stuff.

The thing that bugs the crap out of me with this Auto Repair is at least windows 7 SHOWED you some kind of progress bar even if it was just ASCII characters. Windows 8, you have to guess when stuff will finish.

(PS, thanx, I'll try this on my crap-machine)
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8 Pro with Media Center/Windows 7
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Asus M2N-MX SE Plus § DualCore AMD Athlon 64 X2, 2300 MHz (11.5 x 200) 4400+ § Corsair Value Select
    CPU
    AMD 4400+/4200+
    Motherboard
    Asus M2N-MX SE Plus/Asus A8M2N-LA (NodusM)
    Memory
    2 GB/3GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    GeForce 8400 GS/GeForce 210
    Sound Card
    nVIDIA GT218 - High Definition Audio Controller
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Hitachi 40" LCD HDTV
    Screen Resolution
    "1842 x 1036"
    Hard Drives
    WDC WD50 00AAKS-007AA SCSI Disk Device
    ST1000DL 002-9TT153 SCSI Disk Device
    WDC WD3200AAJB-00J3A0 ATA Device
    WDC WD32 WD-WCAPZ2942630 USB Device
    WD My Book 1140 USB Device
    PSU
    Works 550w
    Case
    MSI "M-Box"
    Cooling
    Water Cooled
    Keyboard
    Dell Keyboard
    Mouse
    Microsoft Intellimouse
    Internet Speed
    Cable Medium Speed
    Browser
    Chrome/IE 10
    Antivirus
    Eset NOD32 6.x/Win Defend
    Other Info
    Recently lost my Windows 8 on my main PC, had to go back to Windows 7.
Actually, it's best to run a disk check outside of Windows before boot, that's when system files can get moved around if they happen to be in a damaged sector/block on the disk. I would heavily doubt that disk check wouldn't have ended anytime soon, it depends on how much you have on your drive, free space, and the condition of it. I recently had a 500 gig hard drive die on me, before it did I had to spend several hours trying to run disk check on it at restart (on a different PC) to get it relatively recovered. All in all, it was futile as it just died. And did Windows say that AFTER you canceled the disk check?

You will have to experiment yourself on this one, I THINK I read before people doing that to get back their old BCD boot style. This happens if you install Windows 7 AFTER installing 8 in a dual boot situation. You will need to download EasyBCD, and install the vista/7 BCD boot record on the hard drive with 8 installed. But do this outside your normal setup, use an separate drive if you must, or a dual boot partition or triple boot.

What did Windows do after I cancelled the disk check? It said "Error, can't mount Boot Volume" - That was when I GWScanned it, said Read Element Failure. See the problem is, all of the little piece of S**t things Windows Needs to boot Windows 8 are no longer contained on just the drive where it is installed. This is Dual-Boot with Windows 7 and if I boot off my Windows 7 drive, it's still windows 8. So the stuff that boots Windows 8 is scattered across three hard drives on this machine.

So, when it boots, it is booting to the 320 Gigger to get the Boot Choice Menu. If I choose 8, then it moved over to my 500 GB drive. If I choose 7, it reboots, and activates the old Windows 7 Bootloader.

I had two versions of Windows 7 get crosslinked like this, a 32 bit and a 64 bit. They both booted from the same drive. Actually, the windows 8 partition on this system IS my old x64 partition.

Anyway my "Solution" from the first post, is for people who were forced to cancel the auto-chkdsk and it left them with an unmountable boot volume, using GWscan should restore enough of the drive to get it to boot, then Windows 8 can scan the rest of it.

I've found that some drive scan processes are what have destroyed my drives. That's why I fret when they take longer than about 20 minutes. I can use Hiren's Boot CD to check, better and faster.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8 Pro with Media Center/Windows 7
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Asus M2N-MX SE Plus § DualCore AMD Athlon 64 X2, 2300 MHz (11.5 x 200) 4400+ § Corsair Value Select
    CPU
    AMD 4400+/4200+
    Motherboard
    Asus M2N-MX SE Plus/Asus A8M2N-LA (NodusM)
    Memory
    2 GB/3GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    GeForce 8400 GS/GeForce 210
    Sound Card
    nVIDIA GT218 - High Definition Audio Controller
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Hitachi 40" LCD HDTV
    Screen Resolution
    "1842 x 1036"
    Hard Drives
    WDC WD50 00AAKS-007AA SCSI Disk Device
    ST1000DL 002-9TT153 SCSI Disk Device
    WDC WD3200AAJB-00J3A0 ATA Device
    WDC WD32 WD-WCAPZ2942630 USB Device
    WD My Book 1140 USB Device
    PSU
    Works 550w
    Case
    MSI "M-Box"
    Cooling
    Water Cooled
    Keyboard
    Dell Keyboard
    Mouse
    Microsoft Intellimouse
    Internet Speed
    Cable Medium Speed
    Browser
    Chrome/IE 10
    Antivirus
    Eset NOD32 6.x/Win Defend
    Other Info
    Recently lost my Windows 8 on my main PC, had to go back to Windows 7.
There is a progress shown with disk check and sometimes Automatic Repair, it shows the percentage complete.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 Pro
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    ASUS
    CPU
    AMD FX 8320
    Motherboard
    Crosshair V Formula-Z
    Memory
    16 gig DDR3
    Graphics Card(s)
    ASUS R9 270
    Screen Resolution
    1440x900
    Hard Drives
    1 TB Seagate Barracuda (starting to hate Seagate)
    x2 3 TB Toshibas
    Windows 8.1 is installed on a SanDisk Ultra Plus 256 GB
    PSU
    OCZ 500 watt
    Case
    A current work in progres as I'll be building the physical case myself. It shall be fantastic.
    Cooling
    Arctic Cooler with 3 heatpipes
    Keyboard
    Logitech K750 wireless solar powered keyboard
    Mouse
    Microsoft Touch Mouse
    Browser
    Internet Explorer 11
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender, but I might go back on KIS 2014
Yah, there is supposed to be. That is what worried me heh. That it was not showing, made me aware I needed to run an external scan.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8 Pro with Media Center/Windows 7
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Asus M2N-MX SE Plus § DualCore AMD Athlon 64 X2, 2300 MHz (11.5 x 200) 4400+ § Corsair Value Select
    CPU
    AMD 4400+/4200+
    Motherboard
    Asus M2N-MX SE Plus/Asus A8M2N-LA (NodusM)
    Memory
    2 GB/3GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    GeForce 8400 GS/GeForce 210
    Sound Card
    nVIDIA GT218 - High Definition Audio Controller
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Hitachi 40" LCD HDTV
    Screen Resolution
    "1842 x 1036"
    Hard Drives
    WDC WD50 00AAKS-007AA SCSI Disk Device
    ST1000DL 002-9TT153 SCSI Disk Device
    WDC WD3200AAJB-00J3A0 ATA Device
    WDC WD32 WD-WCAPZ2942630 USB Device
    WD My Book 1140 USB Device
    PSU
    Works 550w
    Case
    MSI "M-Box"
    Cooling
    Water Cooled
    Keyboard
    Dell Keyboard
    Mouse
    Microsoft Intellimouse
    Internet Speed
    Cable Medium Speed
    Browser
    Chrome/IE 10
    Antivirus
    Eset NOD32 6.x/Win Defend
    Other Info
    Recently lost my Windows 8 on my main PC, had to go back to Windows 7.
Thanks for he info, will be researching it as times goes by - and thanks again
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Win 10
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    pc specialist made to order
    CPU
    Intel® Core™i7 Quad Core Processor i7-4790 (3.6GHz) 8MB Cache
    Motherboard
    ASUS® H81M-PLUS: Micro-ATX, LG1150, USB 3.0, SATA 6GBs
    Memory
    16GB KINGSTON DUAL-DDR3 1600MHz (2 x 8GB)
    Graphics Card(s)
    2GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 750 Ti - DVI, mHDMI, VGA - 3D Vision Ready
    Sound Card
    ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
    Monitor(s) Displays
    iiyama 24 inch flat screen
    Screen Resolution
    1920 x 1080
    Hard Drives
    1TB 3.5" SEAGATE SSHD, SATA 6Gb/s 7200 RPM (64MB + 8GB SSD CACHE)

    2TB Seagate SATA HDD

    500Gb SATA docked
    Case
    In Win Turbo
    Cooling
    Super Quiet 22dBA Triple Copper Heatpipe Intel CPU Cooler
    Keyboard
    microsoft mutlimedia keyboard
    Mouse
    logitech corded
    Internet Speed
    152mb
    Browser
    FF, IE11
    Antivirus
    AVG Internet Security 2015
    Other Info
    16x BLU-RAY WRITER DRIVE, 16x DVD ±R/±RW

    10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT
Hello,

In my signature are 2 links about BootUI Tuner.
Check them out.

BootUI Tuner will give one boot options at startup before anything else can pop up.
If you wish to choose none of the options just press Enter to continue booting.
A picture:

bootui.png

If it wasn't for BootUI I would have a piece of scrap metal to look at.

EDIT-- It gives you about 10 or 12 seconds to make a choice.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1.1 Pro with Media Center
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Gateway
    CPU
    AMD K140 Cores 2 Threads 2 Name AMD K140 Package Socket FT1 BGA Technology 40nm
    Motherboard
    Manufacturer Gateway Model SX2110G (P0)
    Memory
    Type DDR3 Size 8192 MBytes DRAM Frequency 532.3 MHz
    Graphics Card(s)
    ATI AMD Radeon HD 7310 Graphics
    Sound Card
    AMD High Definition Audio Device Realtek High Definition Audio USB Audio Device
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Name 1950W on AMD Radeon HD 7310 Graphics Current Resolution 1366x768 pixels Work Resolution 1366x76
    Screen Resolution
    Current Resolution 1366x768 pixels Work Resolution 1366x768 pixels
    Hard Drives
    AMD K140
    Cores 2
    Threads 2
    Name AMD K140
    Package Socket FT1 BGA
    Technology 40nm
    Specification AMD E1-1200 APU with Radeon HD Graphics
    Family F
    Extended Family 14
    Model 2
    Extended Model 2
    Stepping 0
    Revision ON-C0
    Instruction
    Browser
    Opera 24.0
    Antivirus
    Avast Internet Security
That looks decent. I was finally able to get into Safe Mode after Shawn tortured me into it. Er, I mean "Tutored". I finally used BDCedit to switch both of my systems to Legacy Boot Mode. But I'll check into BootUI Tuner for futire installations.

Mostly in here, I wanted to form some kind of tutorial I could refer people to who are having certain problems that with me, indicate hard drive errors, I have finally streamlined the process. Usually it's for people stuck in Automatic Repair loops or other situations where the Boot Drive can't be found. So I shut down, boot to Hiren's Boot CD, run GWscan first, and the full scan if indicated. After that it's Mini-XP, run the full CHKDSK from there, and after that boot to Windows 8 and let it finalize the Auto Repair, which it will do after the full drive has been scanned. If a hard drive has developed too many errors for GWscan to fix, you can use Vivard instead to do a Smart Remap. I've had to use Vivard twice so far- But it is a last resort, because the program can take up to 5 hours to fully run, and it cannot be interrupted. Plus, I don't know if you can use it with an SSD drive.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8 Pro with Media Center/Windows 7
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Asus M2N-MX SE Plus § DualCore AMD Athlon 64 X2, 2300 MHz (11.5 x 200) 4400+ § Corsair Value Select
    CPU
    AMD 4400+/4200+
    Motherboard
    Asus M2N-MX SE Plus/Asus A8M2N-LA (NodusM)
    Memory
    2 GB/3GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    GeForce 8400 GS/GeForce 210
    Sound Card
    nVIDIA GT218 - High Definition Audio Controller
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Hitachi 40" LCD HDTV
    Screen Resolution
    "1842 x 1036"
    Hard Drives
    WDC WD50 00AAKS-007AA SCSI Disk Device
    ST1000DL 002-9TT153 SCSI Disk Device
    WDC WD3200AAJB-00J3A0 ATA Device
    WDC WD32 WD-WCAPZ2942630 USB Device
    WD My Book 1140 USB Device
    PSU
    Works 550w
    Case
    MSI "M-Box"
    Cooling
    Water Cooled
    Keyboard
    Dell Keyboard
    Mouse
    Microsoft Intellimouse
    Internet Speed
    Cable Medium Speed
    Browser
    Chrome/IE 10
    Antivirus
    Eset NOD32 6.x/Win Defend
    Other Info
    Recently lost my Windows 8 on my main PC, had to go back to Windows 7.
One day I got a Black screen.
That's it.

After trying to restart a dozen times I got the taskbar to appear.
I got Control Panel open & did a refresh.
The refresh didn't help.
The next time I restarted I got a black screen.
After restarting another bunch of times I finally got restarted.

I Googled the situation & found BootUI.
I downloaded it.
I restarted & chose Safe Mode & did a restore.
I could have done a restore after it restarted to the taskbar but wanted to look for other options.
I got to test BootUI anyways.

That fixed it.
It took 6 hours to reinstall lost programs.
Not counting 55 Windows Updates.

The point is, BootUI made getting into Safe Mode easy.
One key press.

F8 doesn't work for Safe Mode for me.
I suspect others have the same problem.

I really like BootUI. :)
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1.1 Pro with Media Center
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Gateway
    CPU
    AMD K140 Cores 2 Threads 2 Name AMD K140 Package Socket FT1 BGA Technology 40nm
    Motherboard
    Manufacturer Gateway Model SX2110G (P0)
    Memory
    Type DDR3 Size 8192 MBytes DRAM Frequency 532.3 MHz
    Graphics Card(s)
    ATI AMD Radeon HD 7310 Graphics
    Sound Card
    AMD High Definition Audio Device Realtek High Definition Audio USB Audio Device
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Name 1950W on AMD Radeon HD 7310 Graphics Current Resolution 1366x768 pixels Work Resolution 1366x76
    Screen Resolution
    Current Resolution 1366x768 pixels Work Resolution 1366x768 pixels
    Hard Drives
    AMD K140
    Cores 2
    Threads 2
    Name AMD K140
    Package Socket FT1 BGA
    Technology 40nm
    Specification AMD E1-1200 APU with Radeon HD Graphics
    Family F
    Extended Family 14
    Model 2
    Extended Model 2
    Stepping 0
    Revision ON-C0
    Instruction
    Browser
    Opera 24.0
    Antivirus
    Avast Internet Security
When I first installed Windows 8, I got the Black Screen of Death, on both of them. But I was able to get into Task Manager. So I re-activated from Task Manager, and it's been good on both systems ever since. I think it was because I had used an "activator" that I found somewhere. After I removed it, it booted, non-activated, so I just got a new key.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8 Pro with Media Center/Windows 7
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Asus M2N-MX SE Plus § DualCore AMD Athlon 64 X2, 2300 MHz (11.5 x 200) 4400+ § Corsair Value Select
    CPU
    AMD 4400+/4200+
    Motherboard
    Asus M2N-MX SE Plus/Asus A8M2N-LA (NodusM)
    Memory
    2 GB/3GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    GeForce 8400 GS/GeForce 210
    Sound Card
    nVIDIA GT218 - High Definition Audio Controller
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Hitachi 40" LCD HDTV
    Screen Resolution
    "1842 x 1036"
    Hard Drives
    WDC WD50 00AAKS-007AA SCSI Disk Device
    ST1000DL 002-9TT153 SCSI Disk Device
    WDC WD3200AAJB-00J3A0 ATA Device
    WDC WD32 WD-WCAPZ2942630 USB Device
    WD My Book 1140 USB Device
    PSU
    Works 550w
    Case
    MSI "M-Box"
    Cooling
    Water Cooled
    Keyboard
    Dell Keyboard
    Mouse
    Microsoft Intellimouse
    Internet Speed
    Cable Medium Speed
    Browser
    Chrome/IE 10
    Antivirus
    Eset NOD32 6.x/Win Defend
    Other Info
    Recently lost my Windows 8 on my main PC, had to go back to Windows 7.
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