Refresh, Reset and Restore not working in WinRE for 8.1

praxeologue

New Member
Messages
2
Hi all. 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.

I'm not especially computer savvy. 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. Anyone able to provide some insight or maybe help me with 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.

Thanks in advance.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    windows 8.1 Update 1 Pro 64bit
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Pavillion H8-1202
    CPU
    I7-2600 @ 3.4 GHz
    Motherboard
    PEGATRON
    Memory
    8 GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    NIVDIA GeForce GT 520
    Sound Card
    Realtek ALC656GR CODEC
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Samsung SyncMaster S22B350
    Screen Resolution
    1920X1080 32 bit color
    Hard Drives
    Samsung 850 EVO SSD 500GB
    Keyboard
    Razer Blackwidow Ultimate 2013
    Mouse
    Logitech M510
How do I follow option 5 if I can't get into windows? I cannot boot into windows as I get stuck on the "choose your keyboard layout" screen. I have a product key on the original packaging of the windows 8 DVD that I bought, but it won't work for some reason.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1
The option 5, key finder, only works if you are able to boot into Windows normally. Are you able to boot into the computer as it stands now?

When you do a reinstall, the product key has to match exactly, it is possible to mistake a 0 for an O as an example. The DVD you purchased was it an Upgrade version or a Full Version?
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    windows 8.1 Update 1 Pro 64bit
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Pavillion H8-1202
    CPU
    I7-2600 @ 3.4 GHz
    Motherboard
    PEGATRON
    Memory
    8 GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    NIVDIA GeForce GT 520
    Sound Card
    Realtek ALC656GR CODEC
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Samsung SyncMaster S22B350
    Screen Resolution
    1920X1080 32 bit color
    Hard Drives
    Samsung 850 EVO SSD 500GB
    Keyboard
    Razer Blackwidow Ultimate 2013
    Mouse
    Logitech M510

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.
Can you pull up Task Manager at bootup ?
 

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
Drive error in system tray ?? I suppose I haven't seen this since a system will normally boot into the Recovery if there is a problem.

Any chance a Virus is involved?
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 x64
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Home Grown
    CPU
    i7 3770K
    Motherboard
    ASUS P8Z77 -v Pro, Z87-Expert
    Memory
    16 G
    Graphics Card(s)
    EVGA GTX 680 Classified (2)
    Hard Drives
    Kingston SSD 240 GB
Back
Top