Windows 8.1 PC Repair Bootable DVD Issue

[Fredisius]

Greetings Fellow HPers,

I suspect there are several of you here that have gone through this previously and I'm hoping you can help. I have an HP all in one that shipped with Windows 8. Windows was updated to current which I believe moves 8.0 into 8.1.

I am getting a BCD error on boot-up. The solution is to boot with a repair disk and let Windows 8 repair the boot issues. After several attempts I found that you cannot boot a repair CD in Windows 8 due to Secure Boot. I read a tutorial on how to disable that in the bios and have done so.

I have managed to get to the "press any key to boot from CD/DVD" message. This is not consistent as sometimes it will simply go to the light blue  BCD error notification.  When it does work the disk spins and it sounds like success is just around the corner. The windows loading circles appear and that's where things stay until the cd stopps spinning and eventually the screen just goes blank.

Prior to this bad BCD issue I ran Chkdsk.  Chkdsk found no errors other than a couple of security descriptor issues.  However I felt something was still up as I was trying to solve an issue of 100% Disk usage. As I read this might be due to the HD trying to read/ write from a bad sector I ran Chkdsk /R. It took a break at 10% and when I got back an hour later the screen was blank but the PC was on. I tried rebooting and now here I am posting.

I suspect that the drive had a bad sector or two or perhaps the boot code was damaged by a virus. One sector unfortunately was the boot area. When I ran Chkdsk C: /r I believe that windows repaired the damaged sector by deleting it and/or marking it as bad. The error message that the BCD is missing seems to support that as the computer would boot prior to Chksk /r.

I did run the HP Diagnostic from BIOS and it failed the DST short test right away. It gave me an error code - Q0AAMS-000853-QFFWW1-60U903

What am I doing wrong in not being able to boot from the windows 8 iso repair DVD?

Any links, instructions, or advice is greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Fredisius

[A4Apollo]

Hi! @Fredisius, Thank you for visiting the HP Forums! A great place where you can find solutions for your issues with help from the community!

I understand you have issue booting into your PC the hard drive on your laptop has failed with a failure ID.

Don't worry I'll try to help you out.

Did you make any software or hardware changes on your PC?

Please provide the product number of your PC to assist you better.

As you mentioned you are getting a blue screen of death on your PC the hard drive on your laptop has failed with a failure ID.

Thanks for sharing the failure ID the error message indicates an issue with the sectors or data, on the physical disks on the hard drive has gone faulty. 

Please replace the hard drive on your PC to boot back into your PC.

Since the hard drive has gone faulty it would be difficult backup data.

However, I would suggest you can try contacting best buy or Walmart and check for data backup. As they would use a third party software to backup the data.

Refer this article to know more information about hard drive issues.

Also, if you don't have a set of recovery discs, please contact HP support and get the service options.

Link to contact HP.

If the solution provided worked for you, please mark accepted solution for this post.

Hope to hear from you soon!

Have a great day! 🙂

Please click "Accept as Solution" if you feel my post solved your issue, it will help others find the solution.

Click the "Kudos, Thumbs Up" on the bottom right to say "Thanks" for helping!

[Fredisius]

Mr. Robot,

I greatly appreciate your assistance with this. The PC info is as follows:

•HP ENVY 23-c010xt All-in-One

•Product number:C1A69AV

I am most likely going to go with an SSD as a replacement. However I am curious about a couple of things on this issue. I always like to learn from problems.  I'm wondering:

1.) Why Chkdsk /F did not report any problems when the HD failed the DST in HP Diagnostics?

2.) Why did Chkdsk /R apparently trigger the BCD issue?

3.) Why does the offical Windows iso 8.1 DVD does not boot the PC into the Windows 8 install/repair program? (It boots on all our other PCs)

4.) Is there something proprietary about the HP Envy that only permits boot/repair from "official" HP media? If I replace the hard drive do I have to buy an OS through HP for it to boot/load or can I buy a Windows OS from a retailer?

5.) Is there a link or some resource that could explain that error code in more detail? I'm curious if it's just bad/corrupted data or if there is a physical problem with the drive.

I understand there are a lot of people needing help on these forums and if you can't take the time to answer these questions I understand. I do appreciate your help with this.

Thanks,

Fredisius

[mdklassen]

> It took a break at 10% and when I got back an hour later the screen was blank but the PC was on.

Was it "you" who stopped watching the computer at 10%  or did the computer itself "take a break"?'

By default, Windows "dims" the screen at 10 to 15 minutes, to reduce the power-consumption of the monitor.

Pressing the SHIFT key, or wiggling the mouse should have "un-dimmed" the monitor.

> I did run the HP Diagnostic from BIOS and it failed the DST short test right away.

Bad news.  Your disk-drive is in "imminent failure" status, and needs to be replaced.

Perhaps, even though you cannot "boot" from it, the file-system on the disk-drive is still intact.

This would imply that you can mount the disk-drive as a secondary disk-drive on another computer

(or on your computer after installing Windows onto a brand-new disk-drive)

and then copy all your Personal Files from "old" to "new".

> 1.) Why Chkdsk /F did not report any problems when the HD failed the DST in HP Diagnostics?

CHKDSK "walks" through the files/folders in the file-system, not 100% of the blocks, especially the "unallocated" blocks.

Also, the SMART technology --- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S.M.A.R.T. --- has been monitoring your disk-drive since the date that it was first installed in your computer.  It monitors over 30 types of "health" indicators.

One of those indicators now has become "out-of-normal-range", and thus SMART tags the entire disk-drive as "bad".

> 2.) Why did Chkdsk /R apparently trigger the BCD issue?

I think that you have answered your question -- the "repair" option swapped-in a "spare" block, to replace a block with "critical" information for the start-up of Windows, and that "spare" block does not have the correct contents.

> 3.) Why does the offical Windows iso 8.1 DVD does not boot the PC into the Windows 8 install/repair program?

> (It boots on all our other PCs)

It should.  There must be some difference with the BIOS SETUP on your system.

But, since SMART has "failed" the disk-drive, booting from any DVD cannot "un-fail" the disk-drive.

So, don't try to boot to attempt a "repair".

4.) If I replace the hard drive, do I have to buy an OS through HP for it to boot/load or can I buy a Windows OS from a retailer?

For some models of HP computers, for a few years since its first manufacture, you can order a copy of the original factory-installed operating system directly from HP. 

Also, www.RestoreDisks.com or www.ComputerSurgeons.com may have a copy of the same "System Recovery" media for sale.  Browse their site.

Of course, you can buy a "retail" copy of Windows 10, and install it.

Note that Microsoft support for Windows 7 ends in January 2020 -- just over two years away.

So, don't try to install Windows 7.

Microsoft support for Windows 8.1 ends in early 2023 -- assuming that your hardware will last until then.

You can download Windows 10 for free: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows10

When installing it, it will ask you to enter the 25-character product-key.

Click "I do not have one".

Installation will continue.

When you connect to the Internet, and try to "activate", you'll be routed into the Windows Store, where you can purchase a product-key, online.

Use that key to complete the activation.

> I'm curious if it's just bad/corrupted data or if there is a physical problem with the drive.

SMART is reporting a physical problem -- it has no knowledge about the validity of the file-system stored on the physical disk-drive.

-----------------------

Welcome to this forum.

Please click the purple/white "Thumbs Up" icon for every response that is helpful.

Also, please click "Accept As Solution" for the best response.

[Fredisius]

MD,

I apologize for my absence. I want to thank you for your wonderful detailed respone. That's exactly what I was looking for.

The only question I have now is regarding the old hard drive. If SMART has marked it as failed how much access will I have, if any?

Is there a way to image the drive, specifically the OS? If I could salvage 8.1 and save the expense that would be great but it sounds like that may not be an option.

Of course I'd like to salvage other data too if possible and put it on the new drive.

Again I greatly appreciate the detailed response.

Thanks,

Fredisius

[mdklassen · Accepted solution]

>  If SMART has marked it as failed, how much access will I have, if any?

It depends. 

SMART monitors at over 30 different points.

For example, if the temperature of the disk-drive has exceeded the defined "operating range", that is enough "badness" to mark the disk-drive as being in "imminent failure" status. 

Another example: the disk-drive has "spare" blocks that are not user-accessible.

When the disk-drive's electronics detect a "bad" block, it can logically deactivate that block, and logically "swap-in" one of the spare blocks as the replacement.

Of course, SMART counts the number of "swaps" that it has performed.

If there are too many "swaps", it marks the disk-drive as being "bad".

In either example, it may be fully possible to "read" 100% of the "in-use" blocks from the disk-drive.

> Is there a way to image the drive, specifically the OS?

Yes.

Purchase a new, compatible, disk-drive from SEAGATE.  Download the free "disk-cloning" software from SEAGATE's web-site.

Or, purchase a new, compatible, disk-drive from WESTERN DIGITAL.  Download the free "disk-cloning" software from their web-site.

Install the disk-cloning software.

(If you have another working computer, install the software onto it, and temporarily connect both the "old" and the "new" disk-drives as "secondary" & "tertiary" disk-drives.)

Connect the new disk-drive.

Run the disk-cloning software to copy, block-by-block, from "old" to "new".

Disconnect the "old" disk-drive.

Boot from the "new" disk-drive.

All your Personal Files and your installed programs will have been copied.

Note that the "disk-cloning" will copy all the "unallocated" disk-blocks, too.

If you get a few "unable to read block NNNNNN" messages, then only 99.999% of the literally millions of blocks will have been copied.  If you are "lucky", those "failed" blocks are not critical to the operation of Windows, nor are allocated to any one of your Personal Files.