Repair Install Windows 8

Bobshaw · Aug 29, 2015

Great... well is it possible to back up all game folders and put the files back in the original place? (sorry for all the questions)

Infact, would uninstalling recent updates fix my keyboard issue?

Brink · Aug 29, 2015

Q1) Not that I'm aware of.

Q2) It may or may not depending on what was wrong with the keyboard. It won't hurt to try though.

Bobshaw · Aug 29, 2015

Thanks for all the help. Looks like i will have to refresh

Brink · Aug 29, 2015

Sorry about that.

Bobshaw · Aug 30, 2015

Ok this might not be related to this topic but i cant even refresh my computer. It just comes up saying it was unable to do so. I cant make a recovery image either: Recimg Error _ Can't create recovery image. - Data Recovery - Systems

My computer has gone to poop

Brink · Aug 30, 2015

Looks like it's time for a clean install instead.

brokensoftware · Aug 31, 2015

Apologies for naivete about Windows.

I originally had a 32-bit XP Pro installation. When I decided to upgrade to Windows 8 Pro I used the retail 64-bit installation disk to switch my system to 64-bit mode. That worked fine and my system was then 64-bit Windows 8 Pro. When the upgrade to Windows 8.1 Pro was offered I performed that via the Store. That also went fine and I currently have a 64-bit Windows 8.1 Pro system.

When I display system information the OS is always "Windows 8.1 Pro" regardless the application (or uSoft built-in) I use to see that info.

Nowhere is the word "Upgrade" or "Update".

Reading THIS tutorial it says, for example:

If you have Windows 8.1 Update installed, then you must use a Windows 8.1 Update ISO.

(1) Given the above way I got my current OS, do I have Windows 8.1 Update or plain old Windows 8.1?

(2) The Media Creation Tool that I used to create a 64-bit Windows 8.1 Pro ISO had no options mentioning anything about "Update" or "Upgrade". If my installation is indeed Windows 8.1 Pro Update where do I get the (64-bit) Windows 8.1 Pro Update ISO?

Post-post additional question:

(3) Where in the mounted ISO is the information about what type of ISO it is? That is, is there a string or number or something in a file or somewhere on the ISO that designates what type of ISO it is?

KYHI · Aug 31, 2015

If you have windows 8.1 Pro
Update or Upgrade = not an issue

just download the newest windows 8.1 setup media >
Create installation media for Windows 8.1 - Windows Help
and use that..

brokensoftware · Aug 31, 2015

KYHI said:
If you have windows 8.1 Pro
Update or Upgrade = not an issue...

The formatting of your response continues the ambiguity - the instructions in this tutorial, 1st page, mention Windows 8.1 AND Windows 8.1 Update, suggesting that they are indeed different and require different ways to repair. The instructions then go on and mention the Pro versions as an aside, suggesting they're just like the nonPro versions. But there is no clear explanation what the instructions mean about the Update versions of either the installed OS or ISO OS; certainly the instructions do NOT say "Pro versions are never considered Update versions" or anything like that.

Your answer is appreciated, BTW, but folks like me need maximum handholding; the instructions are fairly specific with Update words which your answer essentially says "Ignore those words - you're good to go". That's what I hope is valid, what I thought was valid, but really would like the instructions themselves clarified about Windows 8/Windows 8.1/Windows 8 Pro/Windows 8.1 Pro etc etc etc - maybe something as simple as a statement like "All further uses of the word Windows will mean any of Windows 8, Windows 8 Pro, Windows 8.1, Windows 8.1 Pro. Furthermore, if you are repairing a Pro version then you do not need an Update ISO - just use the regular ISO" or whatever.

Again, thanks for the reply - all replies are always appreciated completely.

Brink · Aug 31, 2015

Hello Brokensoftware,

The difference between Windows 8.1 and Windows 8.1 Update is the later is more up to date. Think of it as the same as comparing Windows 7 and Windows 7 with SP1.

brokensoftware · Aug 31, 2015

Brink said:
Hello Brokensoftware,

The difference between Windows 8.1 and Windows 8.1 Update is the later is more up to date. Think of it as the same as comparing Windows 7 and Windows 7 with SP1.

Ahhh...okay - I was taking "Update" to mean the fact that 8.1 was the Store-sourced "update" to Windows 8 rather than an installation that came from, say, an 8.1 retail disk directly.

Instead, the definition as used in the instructions means "You have to use an ISO (or whatever) that is no older than your existing installation that needs to be repaired".

Thanks very much - all is (I think!) clear now.

====

Post=post edit:

Looking at the information from the ISO file(s) that I used the Media Creation Tool to create just a couple days ago, it says the "install.esd" (minimally) was "Created : 11/21/2014 - 1:07:26 PM". Can we assume the Media Creation Tool actually creates ISO's (etc) that are the latest (newest) so meet the needs of these instructions at the time the MCT is run?

brokensoftware · Aug 31, 2015

brokensoftware said:
...
Post-post additional question:

(3) Where in the mounted ISO is the information about what type of ISO it is? That is, is there a string or number or something in a file or somewhere on the ISO that designates what type of ISO it is?

The edit to this post has the answer to this 3rd question: http://www.eightforums.com/performa...incorrectly-parsed-post523478.html#post523478

Brink · Aug 31, 2015

brokensoftware said:
Post=post edit:

Looking at the information from the ISO file(s) that I used the Media Creation Tool to create just a couple days ago, it says the "install.esd" (minimally) was "Created : 11/21/2014 - 1:07:26 PM". Can we assume the Media Creation Tool actually creates ISO's (etc) that are the latest (newest) so meet the needs of these instructions at the time the MCT is run?

Microsoft does keep the ISO files downloaded from the tool updated, but it may take a while after a major update has been released before they are though.

brokensoftware · Aug 31, 2015

Brink said:
Microsoft does keep the ISO files downloaded from the tool updated, but it may take a while after a major update has been released before they are though.

Okay, so we should simply wait til things "settle down" before trying the repair instructions in this tutorial using an ISO (or whatever) that is created with the Media Creation Tool essentially the day we plan to follow this tutorial's instructions.

Thanks very much for the clarification(s).

KYHI · Aug 31, 2015

November is the newest updated release of windows 8.1 - has not changed in 9 months..

So to use setup media as a repair source - that is as good as it gets...

once you determine what files are being flagged as corrupt > we can move on < but somehow we still stuck at what /scanhealth reports as un-repairable files..

brokensoftware · Aug 31, 2015

KYHI said:
November is the newest updated release of windows 8.1 - has not changed in 9 months..

So to use setup media as a repair source - that is as good as it gets...

Thanks for that comment - I had/have this crazy idea that a Windows ISO being created by the Media Creation Tool should not just be what was released in November, but what was released in November modified by the 5793 fixes Microsoft released between then and now.

Apparently, my naivete is shining through, huh?

If simply the BASELINE of the ISO needs to be the same or newer than the BASELINE of the to-be-repaired OS installation, it makes things a lot more straightforward than trying to anticipate Windows updates that come flying through regularly.

brokensoftware · Sep 3, 2015

Okay, I followed the tutorial steps that I had to follow (*) and, after a couple hours, had a "repaired" 64-bit 8.1 Pro OS. Looking over regular logs that existed I noticed a couple things (1) there were lots of errors and failures (for example, the Store apps are still giving errors in the event logs like:

Code:

The Appx operation 'RegisterPackageAsync' on 'Microsoft.ZuneVideo_2015.509.636.3316_neutral_~_8wekyb3d8bbwe' failed for user '[I]myemail@myisp.com[/I]' - error 0x8007064A: Cannot register the request because the following error was encountered while initializing the windows.repositoryExtension extension: The configuration data for this product is corrupt. Contact your support personnel.
.. (Error: Package could not be registered.)

and (2) at least the DISM log was weirdly different looking - perhaps a remnant of the repair rather than "new" format - here's a small sample:

Code:

...[1792] ImageUnmarshallHandle: Reconstituting wim at \\?\GLOBALROOT\device\harddisk0\partition2\Recovery\WindowsRE\Winre.wim.
[1688] Received unmount request for image with guid 2940a068-25e9-4619-8a34-8e8c72b63625.
[1688] Unmount for image at C:\WINDOWS\TEMP\e1845a69-8ec7-4a0e-a8d9-f929182e6912 complete.
〲㔱〭ⴹ㌰ㄠ㨰㔱㌺ⰳ䤠普⁯††††††††䐠卉⁍†䥐㵄㜱㈹吠䑉㠽㠲吠浥潰慲楲祬猠瑥楴杮琠敨猠牣瑡档搠物捥潴祲*桔獩洠祡戠⁥癯牥楲摤**䑃卉

And, yes, those are Chinese characters and they continue for thousands of characters at the end of the dism.log - note, however, that the regular English entries are not as expected, either, not having timestamps, for example.

Okay enough with that.

More importantly and noted just above the "pink" tutorial instructions...there are now 147 updates to install.

Gack.

So...is there a list somewhere about 64-bit 8.1 Pro updates that are suggested NOT to install? You know, like the KB3035583 Recommended update, etc.

If not, it's gonna be a rather long rest of the week recovering as I figure out which updates aren't necessary or perhaps not desirable.

====

(*) The repair install wasn't totally like the described repair install of the tutorial - for example, there was no request to input a Product Key at all nor was there a licensing agreement. Checking after all was said and done says this system is an activated Windows 8.1 Pro as it should be. It should be noted that the Windows.ISO file being used was created with the Media Creation Tool yesterday so perhaps the dialogs presented have been changed since the tutorial was written (for example, the Express Settings dialog had a considerably longer list than the one here in the tutorial).

pdef1949 · Oct 3, 2015

Has anyone been successful using this procedure to perform a non-destructive reinstall (NDR) from within an OEM Windows install? I believe a factory install DVD or an ISO file (DVD or USB drive) is needed to fix damaged or missing files.

The first time I tried this with a USB created with Microsoft Media Creation Tool it was apparently successful but upon running a malware scan, problems returned. Malwarebytes may have tagged a good file or files and I inadvertently deleted them.

When I tried again, I got numerous hangs when reaching the "Making sure you're ready to install" or else it takes hours and not minutes to complete this step. Just recently after waiting around 6-8 hours, the repair install finally started but does not appear to be successful.....Windows Explorer still does not operate properly, the icon for the Start menu in the system tray still does not work properly, and Restart and Shutdown still do not work (I have to manually shut down by killing power).

I have made the USB ISO media twice (to verify it works and was not the problem...it isn't) and I am running the setup.exe as an administrator.

BTW, I was never prompted for a license key, so apparently the embedded OEM key will work. And there are generic keys Microsoft provides when running this procedure, but since I'm not prompted I have no idea how to enter it.

takitezsdc · Dec 1, 2015

Hummm

Ok I have read this many times over and over...........because I was told there was no way to do this.

I have many third party programs on my computer that take a lot of time away from me to reinstall, for some reason I find myself having to reinstall windows every 6 months due " certain people " in my family that don't understand that they cant press on every " DOWNLOAD THIS and FREE GAME " button they see...........

So can one or many please confirm IF I do the above correctly.....then it will only reinstall windows system files basically and for the most part repair any windows problems / system files? WITHOUT having to reinstall any of the many third party programs ?

Thanks in advance........

Scott

Brink · Dec 1, 2015

Hello Scott,

Yes, a repair install will not remove any of your programs.

Repair Install Windows 8

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