System info:
I have a Dell Inspiron 7520 running windows 8.1. Both the Dell Diag tests and the BIOS recognize the hard drive.
From BIOS, the Fixed HDD is "WDC WD10JPVT-75A1YT0 (1000GB);
SATA ODD is HL-DT-ST DVD+-RW GT80N.
No SSD or other drives.
From DISKPART:
List disk
Disk ### Status Size Free Dyn Gpt
Disk 0 Online 931 GB 0 B *
List Volume:
Volume ### Ltr Label Fs Type Size Status Info
---------- --- ----------- ----- ----------- ------------ -------------- --------
Volume 0 D DVD-ROM 0 B No Media
Volume 1 C OS NTFS Partition 918 GB Healthy
Volume 2 J ESP FAT32 Partition 500 MB Healthy Hidden
Volume 3 G WINRETOOLS NTFS Partition 490 MB Healthy Hidden
Volume 4 F NTFS Partition 450 MB Healthy Hidden
Volume 5 E PBR Image NTFS Partition 11 GB Healthy Hidden
Volume 6 I Diags FAT32 Partition 40 MB Healthy Hidden
select disk 0
list partition
Partition ### Type Size Offset
------------- ------------------ -------- ---------
Partition 1 System 500 MB 1024 KB
Partition 2 OEM 40 MB 501 MB
Partition 3 Reserved 120 MB 541 MB
Partition 4 Recovery 490 MB 669 MB
Partition 5 Primary 918 GB 1159 MB
Partition 6 Recovery 450 MB 919 GB
Partition 7 Recovery 11 GB 919 GB
I have multiple partitions, but only two OSs installed - one partition with Windows 8.1 and one with an old version of Linux that I haven't booted to in over a year. I stay current on all windows updates. Yesterday, I did a 'shutdown and install updates'. I don't know which updates were scheduled to be installed, but it should have been the most recent available (on 7/14/2015). When I powered on computer later, I got the frown face and "your pc ran into a problem and needs to restart". I had to video the screen to see that the lower message also says "If you want to know more....you can search for INACCESSIBLE BOOT DEVICE", since it would disappear so quickly. I have read the other posts on this subject but have had no luck in any of the following...
On the automatic repair screen, I chose restart - no change in symptoms.
I then chose 'advanced options' , 'continue to windows 8.1' - no change
I then chose 'advanced options', 'troubleshoot', 'advanced options'...
... booted to command prompt - can access x: drive and all files appear intact
... did startup repair - no change
... did system restore (tried two different restore points) - no change
--- did startup settings, safe mode - no change (and tried all other options)
From command prompt
I ran:
bootrec /FixMbr
bootrec /Fixboot
bootrec /scanos
bootrec /rebuildbcd
bootsect /nt60 all /force
Both the scanos and rebuildbcd show 0 (zero) Windows installations.
I backed up and recreated the bcd located on drive J:
I also created a recovery USB drive from another 8.1 installation on my desktop machine and booted from it and performed all of the above again.
So after all of the above I start looking at bios boot options (by pressing F12).
My bios has:
Boot mode is set to UEF. Secure boot: ON
UEFI Boot:
Windows boot Manager (WDC WD10JPVT-75A1YT0) (this entry is highlighted)
BIOS Setup (pressing F2) shows
SATA Operation : AHCI (other options are ATA and "Intel Smart Response Technology")
Under BOOT options:
Secure Boot: Enabled
Boot List Option : UEFI
If I set SECUREBOOT to Disabled then I can select 'Legacy' for the boot list option.
I have tried to set the boot process to legacy but get a Realtek pxe-e61 error. I saw one post that said this error is due to network drive in the boot sequence (which I do have on the legacy sequence) but I cannot determine how to remove the option from the sequence (but I can rearrange using f5/f6). Anyway I am fairly certain this is a software issue related to the 'install changes and shutdown'. I can view / traverse all folders on the drive c:. Also when booted from USB, I can run chkdsk on C: with no errors. When booted from hard drive I can drop to command prompt from automatic recovery and see all files.
My question is what are the next logical steps to try (bios changes?) to repair the boot process? Is it correct that I should I be able to set boot to legacy and boot windows 8.1 without the windows boot manager?