Windows 8.1 Repair Loop

NascarBoy119 · Aug 24, 2014

Hey guys.

I'm new to Tom's Hardware. The main reason I made an account (besides just wanting to have one) was to fix this big problem I have. I've already wrote about it on PcPartPicker's Forum, so I'll just copy and paste what I said there.

NascarBoy119 said:
I've been having a major problem with my computer for about 2 weeks... It won't start. I was playing some Minecraft when my computer suddenly turned itself off. Naturally, I turned it back on. Everything was going well until the Windows logo popped up. It said "Preparing Automatic Repair", followed by " Diagnosing Your PC". It keeps on climb this in an endless loop every time I turn it on. I've tried just about everything. Help would be greatly appreciated.

I need to get this computer fixed ASAP. Is my copy of Windows 8.1 corrupted! I could replace my HDD with another spare one with another I have that has Ubuntu/Linux on it, but I don't want to lose all of my data. I like Windows, and I want to stay with it. It would be a huge inconvenience to start fresh. I use this computer for my study's also, so you can see why I need it fixed.

Specs:
CPU: AMD A10-5800K
GPU: XFX Radeon R7 240 Core Edition (Dual Graphics with the APU)
RAM: 14GB @ 1333 MHZ
PSU: 650 Watt
MoBo: ASUS A88XM-A

Thanks,

~NascarBoy119~

volcanoscout · Aug 24, 2014

There's a number of possibilities - software conflict, failing hard drive, and DRAM compatibility issues, are among them.

I haven't heard of DRAM causing a repair loop before, boot loops are more common, but you can get weird effects when you mix sticks that weren't binned and sold together. What specific DRAM are you using and in what configuration?

If you can't get the drive out of the repair loop, it's a little difficult to check it. If you have another drive you can use as the boot drive, you can hook up the current one as a secondary and attempt to assess it with something like Seagate's Sea Tools. If nothing else, you may be able to recover your data that way.

NascarBoy119 · Aug 26, 2014

@volcanoscout I usually use a mix of different brands of DRAM in this build, though I've tried only 1 stick of 8GB Corsair Vengeance RAM and got the same result.

volcanoscout · Aug 26, 2014

Have you tried installing the OS drive to another PC as a secondary drive to run diagnostics? Or installing a replacement OS drive and hooking this one up as a secondary?

NascarBoy119 · Aug 26, 2014

@volcanoscout I'll try loading Ubuntu on to a spare HDD and hook up the drive with Windows 8.1 as a secondary. Also, how can I exactly 'run diagnostics' on the drive?

volcanoscout · Aug 27, 2014

NascarBoy119 :

Download Seagate SeaTools (or HDTune or similar) and run it. You'll probably need to use the DOS version with Ubuntu. If that doesn't work, let me know and I'll send you links to other applications.

http://www.seagate.com/support/downloads/seatools/

NascarBoy119 · Aug 31, 2014

The DOS version of SeaTools doesn't work. Also, once I plugged in my HDD as a secondary in Ubuntu, it couldn't mount the drive. I looked the problem up and it said it's because Windows is hibernating somewhere in the drive. The guide told me to boot into Windows and preform a full shutdown. One problem with that though..... I can't boot into Windows. Any suggestions?

NascarBoy119 · Sep 3, 2014

volcanoscout · Sep 3, 2014

Have you tried doing a repair install? If not, here's a step-by-step:

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/3413-repair-install.html

NascarBoy119 · Sep 13, 2014

Bumping
Up
My
Post

Search

Windows 8.1 Repair Loop

NascarBoy119

Reputable

volcanoscout

Dignified

NascarBoy119

Reputable

volcanoscout

Dignified

NascarBoy119

Reputable

volcanoscout

Dignified

NascarBoy119

Reputable

NascarBoy119

Reputable

volcanoscout

Dignified

NascarBoy119

Reputable

TRENDING THREADS

Latest posts

Moderators online

Share this page