Solved Cannot refresh or reset 8.1

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thesystmwilfail

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Hello, I recently had to use the reset option on my pc because I was crashing alot, and for some reason system refresh and system restore failed, and reset was my only option. Now, it worked, and i have since discovered the cause of my previous crashes (drivers), but I wanted to know if the reset had fixed the issue of refresh not working...well now when i try to refresh, it says my os drive is locked, and if i try to reset it says i'm missing a required partition...my pc is running fine since i sorted out my drivers, but i do not like the fact that my recovery options are not functioning, as i may have to use them in the future.

Any ideas on how i can get them to work would be greatly appreciated =)

some random, possibly helpful, info:
8.1 is original os on pc, it was not upgraded from another version
pc has 2 hard drives, 1 SSD with the OS and 1 HDD for storage
drives/volumes are not read only
user files such as Videos, Music etc along with desktop were stored on HDD before reset (still are)
before resetting, Drive letter assignments were C: for SSD D: for optical and E: for HDD, after resetting D: was HDD and E: was optical (suspect the missing partition has something to do with this reassigning of drive letters)
When I performed the reset I only applied it to the SSD, not the HDD

One side question; I built the pc myself, i have a win 8.1 install disc, but I got an OEM key, does this mean i cannot do a clean windows install because i already used my key?
 
Last edited:
Thanks for your replies =)


Will the USB recovery drive work without the partition? Is it possible to recreate the recovery partition?
I have no problem doing a clean install to fix this, but can I, since I have 8.1 oem and have already used supplied key for the original install?
 
UPDATE: i have created usb recovery drive, (the option for the copying the recovery partition was grayed out) still get same locked os message when trying refresh, and same missing partition message when trying reset. As far as i can tell, this just gives me access to the same options as booting to my install disc
 
UPDATE:
followed instructions here: https://www.winhelp.us/restore-windows-re.html#recovery
was able to create recovery drive and copy partition to it (used the second method)
still same problems when trying refresh or restore
have tried different BIOS settings regarding storage boot options and UEFI priorities
I discovered refresh and restore both work if i boot into recovery environment and then use install disc, but if i boot right to the disc, or to the usb drive, (as i had to last time, because i could not boot into windows) it gives the same 2 errors
 
Last edited:
Hello,

If you still cannot user both features on your PC, then run the setup do a clean install with complete format instead.
 
I need a little more information..

Have you been able to do a refresh or reset with any media or by any means?? Have you??

I ask because one of the methods you used was to use the install.wim from the setup media.. This may have over written the factory install.wim

From command prompt(admin) type one command at a time

reagentc /info
diskpart
list disk
list volume
select disk 0
list partition

post a pic of cmd window
 
Thanks for your replies =)
KYHI, I was previously able to (forced to actually) successfully perform the reset option after booting to my disc. After resetting, I am unable to reset or refresh after booting to any media, unless i boot into windows and restart in advanced start up (ie recovery environment). After booting into advanced startup, reset and refresh options work normally.
Screenshots:
Screenshot (1).png
Screenshot (2).png
As you can see, disk 0 is my hdd, do i need to repost diskpart screenshot from my ssd?
Also i should mention, my 8.1 install is MBR, not GPT (kinda only because i did not know enough at the time to properly set my bios to boot uefi when i did my install)
 
Last edited:
yes, please post
diskpart
select disk 2
list partition

But, you do not have a recovery images partition.. Just a 350MB recovery Tools partition - so yes you can only refresh and reset with the setup media inserted into a drive
 
Screenshot (3).png
So just to clarify, if i boot directly to my install disc, reset and refresh do not work
I am only able to refresh/reset by first booting into windows, and then restarting in advanced start up, booting directly to install disc does not work
My concern is that if i ever run into a situation where i can not boot into windows i cannot reset/refresh
i have previously had this exact problem, i was unable to boot into windows, and booting to my install disc allowed my to reset
so i'm confused; how was i able to reset by booting to disc before, but not now?
also, why does it tell my my disc is locked when i try to refresh from the install disc?

thank you for your time and replies =)
 
because you registered the setup media's install.wim as per a how to guide
 
but the only reason i followed that guide was because my recovery options already were not working after i performed the reset =(
sorry if this is like some super obvious thing, i'm pretty new to this stuff


so is there a way to fix it or am i looking at a clean install?
 
you do not have a recovery IMAGE partition.. thus nothing for refresh/reset recovery to refer to..

this program will allow you to make custom recovery images



PS edit - preforming a clean install does not create a recovery image partition - the recovery image partition is created by the OEM
 
ok i sort of get it, but here's the thing: I built the pc, i installed the os, i don't remember specifically setting up recovery options, (thought windows did that on it's own) but i was still able to reset when booting straight to disc??? Edit: and now I can't?
 
you did not reset by booting to disk...

you reset from within windows with the disk inserted into a drive
 
recimg is a windows command (non-GUI program) that creates a customrefresh.wim (custom recovery image)

the program I uploaded allows you to easily create and manage the custom refresh images
 
but i wasn't able to boot into windows...
i booted to the disc from the boot menu at start-up
ah well i will give that program a shot
gonna mark this solved
thanks again =)
 
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