Major Boot Manager issues. Help!

2TallinVA

New Member
Messages
7
Here are the some of the symptoms;


1. Can't boot into Windows 8.1 on Dell XPS 8700.
2. OS Refresh fails.
3. OS Restore points fail.
4. OS Automatic repair fails.
5. Restart Options fail (i.e. Safe Mode, Boot debugging mode).
6. Command Prompt fails (can't find any administrator accounts).


Trying to avoid performing a factory restore due to loss of personal data. Hoping to boot using a USB flash drive and repair the boot partition issues. Any suggestions on the best way to obtain the necessary boot software and repair utilities would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows Vista Business 32-bit
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Custom Build
    CPU
    Intel Core 2 Duo E6750
    Motherboard
    GIGABYTE GA-P35C-DS3R
    Memory
    4GB - Kingston HyperX PC2 6400
    Graphics Card(s)
    EVGA Nvidia GeFroce 8600 GTS
    Sound Card
    Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Xtreme Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Samsung 226BW
    Hard Drives
    Seagate Barracuda 7200.11
    PSU
    PC Power and Cooling S61EPS 610W
    Case
    Antec Nine Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower
    Cooling
    ZALMAN CNPS9500 AT 2 Ball CPU Cooling Fan/Heatsink
    Internet Speed
    50 Mbps down/5 Mbps up
    Browser
    Chrome
    Antivirus
    Avast Free, Windows Defender, MalwareBytes

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 10 Pro X64
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Lenovo IdeaCenter K450
    CPU
    Intel Quad Core i7-4770 @ 3.4Ghz
    Motherboard
    Lenovo
    Memory
    16.0GB PC3-12800 DDR3 SDRAM 1600 MHz
    Graphics Card(s)
    Intel Integrated HD Graphics
    Sound Card
    Realtek HD Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    HP h2207
    Screen Resolution
    1680x1050@59Hz
    Hard Drives
    250GB Samsung EVO SATA-3 SSD;
    2TB Seagate ST2000DM001 SATA-2;
    1.5TB Seagate ST3150041AS SATA
    PSU
    500W
    Keyboard
    Wired USB
    Mouse
    Wired USB
    Internet Speed
    3GB Up, 30GB Down
    Browser
    SeaMonkey
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender; MBAM Pro
    Other Info
    UEFI/GPT
    PLDS DVD-RW DH16AERSH

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows Vista Business 32-bit
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Custom Build
    CPU
    Intel Core 2 Duo E6750
    Motherboard
    GIGABYTE GA-P35C-DS3R
    Memory
    4GB - Kingston HyperX PC2 6400
    Graphics Card(s)
    EVGA Nvidia GeFroce 8600 GTS
    Sound Card
    Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Xtreme Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Samsung 226BW
    Hard Drives
    Seagate Barracuda 7200.11
    PSU
    PC Power and Cooling S61EPS 610W
    Case
    Antec Nine Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower
    Cooling
    ZALMAN CNPS9500 AT 2 Ball CPU Cooling Fan/Heatsink
    Internet Speed
    50 Mbps down/5 Mbps up
    Browser
    Chrome
    Antivirus
    Avast Free, Windows Defender, MalwareBytes
Thanks so much Ztrucker. That link also leads to how to create a bootable flash drive. Exactly what I need. Now, if I could find a utility to inspect and fix the issue(s) outlined above. I suppose that I could start with chkdsk /r on the C: drive.
Your only option is going to be just doing a full install if everything else has failed. Sounds almost like a Drive or RAM failure. The only tool that may help, would be Windows PE. https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/hh825110.aspx
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Linux Mint 17.2
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Toshiba Satellite C850D-st3nx1
    CPU
    AMD E1-1200 APU with Radeon (tm) HD Graphics 1.40 GHZ
    Memory
    12GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    AMD Radeon™ HD 7310 Graphics
    Sound Card
    Realtek HD
    Monitor(s) Displays
    LCD
    Screen Resolution
    1366 x 768
    Hard Drives
    Crucial M500 240GB SSD
    Mouse
    Logitech M525
    Internet Speed
    45/6 - ATT U-Verse
    Browser
    Google Chrome
    Antivirus
    None needed. It is Linux.
    Other Info
    Arris NVG589 Gateway; Router - Cisco RV320; Switch - Netgear GS108 8-Port Switch & Trendnet TEG-S50g 5-Port Switch; Access Points - Engenius ECB350, Trendnet TEW-638APB; NAS - Lenovo ix2-4; Printer - Brother HL-2280DW; Air Print Server - Lantronix XPrintServer

    A/V UPS - Tripp-Lite Smart 1500LCD 1500 Va/900 W.

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 10 Pro X64
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Lenovo IdeaCenter K450
    CPU
    Intel Quad Core i7-4770 @ 3.4Ghz
    Motherboard
    Lenovo
    Memory
    16.0GB PC3-12800 DDR3 SDRAM 1600 MHz
    Graphics Card(s)
    Intel Integrated HD Graphics
    Sound Card
    Realtek HD Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    HP h2207
    Screen Resolution
    1680x1050@59Hz
    Hard Drives
    250GB Samsung EVO SATA-3 SSD;
    2TB Seagate ST2000DM001 SATA-2;
    1.5TB Seagate ST3150041AS SATA
    PSU
    500W
    Keyboard
    Wired USB
    Mouse
    Wired USB
    Internet Speed
    3GB Up, 30GB Down
    Browser
    SeaMonkey
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender; MBAM Pro
    Other Info
    UEFI/GPT
    PLDS DVD-RW DH16AERSH
We were able to create a bootable flash drive. After changing the BIOS setting to boot up using the USB flash drive first, the PC booted up successfully. I was then able to get to the command prompt and backup the user data files.

I then went back into the BIOS and changed the boot order back for the internal HDD. I rebooted and ultimately started a PC Reset (Factory restore). After the reset process reached 4%, I received a message that the reset failed. A subsequent restart then gave me a BCD File error message 0xc000000d "The BCD File is missing information". The following restart yielded, as I can best recall, "No boot partitions found on the internal HDDs". And, I could no longer see the UEFI firmware menu, just the BIOS (A06). After changing the boot order and booting up on the flash drive, I could see that many files apparently had been marked for deletion on the C: drive as the User profiles were not shown. At one point, the flash drive had become the C: drive and the HDD was X:. But that later cleared up. After getting the C: prompt for the HDD I issued the following commands Bootrec /fixmbr, Bootrec /fixboot, Bootrec scanos and Bootrec rebuildbcd. After trying to once again boot up on the internal HDD, I got a different variant of the BCD File error, 0xc00000098 "The BCD File doesn't contain valid info for the OS".

I have read in another part of the forums that leads me to think that maybe my next step is to issue these commands==>diskpartlist volume NOTE: Note the volume letter where the Windows OS is installed.
exit
bcdboot [drive letter]:\windows

Thoughts, please? Thank you.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows Vista Business 32-bit
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Custom Build
    CPU
    Intel Core 2 Duo E6750
    Motherboard
    GIGABYTE GA-P35C-DS3R
    Memory
    4GB - Kingston HyperX PC2 6400
    Graphics Card(s)
    EVGA Nvidia GeFroce 8600 GTS
    Sound Card
    Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Xtreme Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Samsung 226BW
    Hard Drives
    Seagate Barracuda 7200.11
    PSU
    PC Power and Cooling S61EPS 610W
    Case
    Antec Nine Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower
    Cooling
    ZALMAN CNPS9500 AT 2 Ball CPU Cooling Fan/Heatsink
    Internet Speed
    50 Mbps down/5 Mbps up
    Browser
    Chrome
    Antivirus
    Avast Free, Windows Defender, MalwareBytes
Your only option is going to be just doing a full install if everything else has failed. Sounds almost like a Drive or RAM failure. The only tool that may help, would be Windows PE. https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/hh825110.aspx

Thanks Broe23:

Looks like some kind of hard disk failure after all. I've ordered a Crucial MX200 SSD to replace the HDD and Dell is sending a recovery disk with Windows 8.1 on it. Thank you.
 
Last edited:

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows Vista Business 32-bit
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Custom Build
    CPU
    Intel Core 2 Duo E6750
    Motherboard
    GIGABYTE GA-P35C-DS3R
    Memory
    4GB - Kingston HyperX PC2 6400
    Graphics Card(s)
    EVGA Nvidia GeFroce 8600 GTS
    Sound Card
    Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Xtreme Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Samsung 226BW
    Hard Drives
    Seagate Barracuda 7200.11
    PSU
    PC Power and Cooling S61EPS 610W
    Case
    Antec Nine Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower
    Cooling
    ZALMAN CNPS9500 AT 2 Ball CPU Cooling Fan/Heatsink
    Internet Speed
    50 Mbps down/5 Mbps up
    Browser
    Chrome
    Antivirus
    Avast Free, Windows Defender, MalwareBytes
Please let us know how you make out.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 10 Pro X64
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Lenovo IdeaCenter K450
    CPU
    Intel Quad Core i7-4770 @ 3.4Ghz
    Motherboard
    Lenovo
    Memory
    16.0GB PC3-12800 DDR3 SDRAM 1600 MHz
    Graphics Card(s)
    Intel Integrated HD Graphics
    Sound Card
    Realtek HD Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    HP h2207
    Screen Resolution
    1680x1050@59Hz
    Hard Drives
    250GB Samsung EVO SATA-3 SSD;
    2TB Seagate ST2000DM001 SATA-2;
    1.5TB Seagate ST3150041AS SATA
    PSU
    500W
    Keyboard
    Wired USB
    Mouse
    Wired USB
    Internet Speed
    3GB Up, 30GB Down
    Browser
    SeaMonkey
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender; MBAM Pro
    Other Info
    UEFI/GPT
    PLDS DVD-RW DH16AERSH
Did the Dell have Windows 7/MBR originally? If so, when installing Windows 8, does the HD have to be reset to GPT?
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 7 Pro 64bit [MS blue-disk set]
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    2 Acers & 1 Antec[?]
    CPU
    i7 in 2 Acers, i5 in desktop
    Motherboard
    Desktop w/Gigabyte
    Memory
    Two w/16GB, 1 w/8GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    Laptops GameWorthy; Desktop maybe GameWorthy
    Monitor(s) Displays
    flatscreens; 2 are BluRay worthy
    Screen Resolution
    1368x768; 1600x900
    Hard Drives
    1TB internals; 2 ext usb WD 1TB HDs
    PSU
    what's PSU?
    Cooling
    Regular plus external fans
    Keyboard
    desktio w/PS2
    Mouse
    desktop w/PS2
    Internet Speed
    DSL middle level [160?]
    Browser
    from Netscape 0.9 to FF 36
    Antivirus
    well-balanced, well-configured mult-layered defense is best
    Other Info
    From MS-DOS 3.3, MS-DOS 6.22, from Windows 3.1 to WFW 3.11 to Windows 95-98SE, now to Windows 7 Pro.
    Security for now: Windows 7 Firewall, Emsisoft AM, MSE [scan-only], SpywareBlaster, Ruiware/BillP combine
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