Need help with computer reboot sequence (CD, DVD, laptop, desktop)
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Location: God's Gift to Mankind for flying anything
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Something happened (I think I got a virus by opening up a video via Facebook) and now my desktop goes into a perpetual cycle of, (something like):
Trying to repair and then the choice of doing it again or shutting down.
I have the desktop set up to boot first from a specific USB port, and I do have a USB stick to install WIN10.
The USB drive is NOT a recovery drive! I can not find the one made right after I upgraded to WIN10!
I ran the diagnostic sequence offered by pressing F12.
I tried:
Remove the hard drive from desktop and read data (connect as an external drive).
I can read most, but some data I need is not accessible!
I need approval!
How do I take 'control' or 'ownership' of that data so I can copy it off the drive and save it somewhere else?
The computer was originally bought with WIN7 and then upgraded to WIN10 for free.
Solution 1?
There are two drives in my desktop.
One drive contains the system and the working files. The other contains the backup(s) and sadly I do not have the most recent data, I desperately need!
Assume I remove both drives from the computer, then add another empty drive and do a clean install of WIN10, then use the protected data drive as an external drive, can I then read the protected files (copy them to the backup drive)?
Solution 2?
What kind of source do I need to install WIN10 without losing all my data?
Solution 3?
Can I somehow go back to WIN7 and then read the data?
If yes how do I get WIN7 back (I do have original setup disk and serial number)
Solution 4?
How do I get "Safe Mode" from WIN10 if that is a possibility?
I only get to choose F2 and F12, where F2 is, start from the USB source, and F12 is a choice on how to install WIN10.
I do not see another way to boot the unit!
Man, a ton of information but sadly, quite a bit confusing.
I suggest you start with the problem, skip the possible this or that, leave the analysis to those who know the issue.
That said, for now, focus on relaying the details of the current issue clearly and completely.
What is happening when you turn on the computer, provide all the errors/messages you see. If possible, take a shot using your smartphone.
Why is the desktop booting first to USB drive? What is on the USB drive is it is not a recovery drive or a bootable drive?
If you need to boot to the HD instead, are you not able to change the boot sequence/order in the BIOS settings? If not, why not?
Typically, to get in the Safe Mode on a running system, you HOLD DOWN the SHIFT key as you click Restart but since you are started from a powered off machine, use SHIFT + F8 instead.
If that didn't work, it might be because you are using UEFI BIOS with SSDs, so you may have to change your BIOS method from UEFI to Legacy first.
Also, unplug the USB Flash drive since it is not a bootable drive or a Window Recovery disk.
Worst case scenario, if the data was on a separate drive other than where Windows system files were and it was encrypted, I believe installing another drive with a fresh copy of Windows would not work because your user account, even if using the same exact user name would get a new SID and would not be able to access the data on the encrypted partition. Using a Windows 10 recovery (flash) drive to repair the boot partition should be your first approach and go from there.
Provide details information on the current issue. State facts, actual errors or what you see only.
To get into your BIOS, depending on your computer, use the applicable key. It is typically, either DEL or F2, but certain vendors use different ones like F10 too.
Good luck.
Last edited by TurcoLoco; 07-09-2018 at 03:16 AM..
I'm with the other poster. It is confusing. I "think" I know what you are attempting to do...
You are trying to do a clean install of Win10 on a fresh drive. Then when you are done with that, you want to slap in your old drive and recover the data. However, if any of that data is contained within a user folder (USER/documents or USER/pictures or USER/Downloads) you need to "take ownership."
If you google "windows 10 take ownership of folder" you'll find your answer such as "https://www.windowscentral.com/how-take-ownership-files-and-folders-windows-10"
I've done what you've done myself. I wasn't trying to get around a possible virus though. It can work though. In all likelihood, the virus (if there is one) will not be spread by accessing data on that drive... but that's not to say it can't happen. It is likely resident when the OS is running on that drive. But, just a word of caution... if it is buried in something like an executable for a program and you run that program, you'll be back in the same boat you are now.
How do I take 'control' or 'ownership' of that data so I can copy it off the drive and save it somewhere else?
You need to right click and change the permissions on the folders/files. However, best thing to do is pop in a Knoppix disk, this can care less about Windows permissions. This will also preserve the original permissions on the drive you are copying from if you want to pursue trying to fix the problem further.
If you want to try and fix it you need to be more specific as to what steps you are taking and what errors you are getting.
If you want to to do clean install once you have secured copies of all the data you want download latest version of Win10 from here. As long as you have activated version on the computer it should reactivate after clean install.
As I recall there is tool available to reinstall but preserve your original files. If you do clean install you might want to head to manufacturers site to see if there is drivers available for specific things that are not off the shelf, especially if it's laptop.
Location: God's Gift to Mankind for flying anything
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Thank you, all three of you! Apologies for 'too much confusing info'
I did take the drive out and used it as an external drive on another computer.
Then "took ownership" as described above, and copied the files I needed to another backup drive.
Then I got the (Dell Specific) 'Recovery/Restore' USB drive and reconfigured the boot sequence.
It now is :
USB - DVD drive - Hard Disk.
If I just start the computer, with the Recovery/Restore USB stick, it goes thru a lot of steps where it checks the drive(s), (they get a pass) and then a boot loop where in the end it says :
"Boot Manager missing", and then it reboots again and again the same thing on and on.
I wonder now, even tho the checking cycles say the drives are OK, there is something wrong with the hard drive?
I do not have a spare drive (yet) but could get one.
The USB Recovery/Restore USB is supposedly a WIN 7 format.
I planned to install a clean copy of Win 7 and then upgrade to Win 10.
The original ID and other required data are available on a sticker on the case!
The computer is a 'supposedly' high-end Dell Desktop (X8300 series)
Thank you, all three of you! Apologies for 'too much confusing info'
I did take the drive out and used it as an external drive on another computer.
Then "took ownership" as described above, and copied the files I needed to another backup drive.
Glad it was as simple as taking ownership. That is sadly a common annoyance when using NTFS partition type on a removable/external drive, especially if it has a SSD chipset! xFAT type partitioning is the workaround for that but the problem with that format is it is very sensitive to improper disconnections.
Quote:
Then I got the (Dell Specific) 'Recovery/Restore' USB drive and reconfigured the boot sequence.
It now is :
USB - DVD drive - Hard Disk.
If I just start the computer, with the Recovery/Restore USB stick, it goes thru a lot of steps where it checks the drive(s), (they get a pass) and then a boot loop where in the end it says :
"Boot Manager missing", and then it reboots again and again the same thing on and on.
I wonder now, even tho the checking cycles say the drives are OK, there is something wrong with the hard drive?
I do not have a spare drive (yet) but could get one.
The USB Recovery/Restore USB is supposedly a WIN 7 format.
I planned to install a clean copy of Win 7 and then upgrade to Win 10.
The original ID and other required data are available on a sticker on the case!
The computer is a 'supposedly' high-end Dell Desktop (X8300 series)
If BIOS or other diagnostic tools are detecting the drive and also giving it OK, then the cause of the above error is simply a corrupt OS boot files on the system partition (C.
There are various tutorials and instruction sets already all over the place so best do your own googling.
Here is a related YT video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qE9YjsHol2I
Since this is an OEM system, wasn't there a restore disk or media available? If this was a retail purchase, I am sure they could ship you a recovery USB stick too so check with Dell to see if they could assist or if they offer any free support to resolve the issue.
Location: God's Gift to Mankind for flying anything
5,921 posts, read 13,847,869 times
Reputation: 5229
Quote:
Originally Posted by TurcoLoco
Since this is an OEM system, wasn't there a restore disk or media available? If this was a retail purchase, I am sure they could ship you a recovery USB stick too so check with Dell to see if they could assist or if they offer any free support to resolve the issue.
The system is a hand me down desktop from my son, who swears, that when he bought it, there were no installation disk(s) or any other software items included. Apparently, even the manuals were (according to him) all online.
After almost an hour with their (very hard to understand) after-service, I finally got a Recovery/Restore USB stick that would (according to them) restore a working copy of Win 7 Premium.
Since the unit is way out of warranty, there is only 'paid for' service available.
All I did was copy the required files (after I took 'ownership') onto a backup drive via a working laptop, then reset the boot sequence to 'USB - CD/DVD drive - Hard Disk'.
When I run the system with the USB stick as the source, I get the 'boot manager missing' message over and over.
I have a (legitimate) 'Win7 Home' install disk with all the info required to activate and plan to install that system.
If it does boot up then there has to be something wrong with the USB stick info.
If it again shows boot manager missing, then the Hard drive must be bad?
(simply a corrupt OS boot files on the system partition)
I plan to remove the hard drive, hook it up as an external drive on my laptop, and then format the drive.
Then install the drive again and try loading from the CD Install Disk.
Question: Does a complete formatting of a hard drive, also remove the possible partitions on the drive?
I can probably find out after I format the drive ...
Thanks for all the help and suggestions.
If this might help, I found a file with the following info:
Hardware accelerated rendering (GPU) True
Animations True
DPI 96.00 (1.00x scale)
Language en-US
OS Windows 10 (10.0.14393.0)
.NET Runtime 4.0.30319.42000
Physical Memory 8,174 MB
CPU Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-2600 CPU @ 3.40GHz
Architecture x64 (64-bit)
Process Mode 64-bit
Speed ~3392 MHz
Cores / Threads 4 / 8
Features DEP, SSE, SSE2, SSE3, SSSE3, SSE4_1, SSE4_2, XSAVE
Video Card AMD Radeon HD 6800 Series
Dedicated Video RAM 1,011 MB
Dedicated System RAM 0 MB
Shared System RAM 3,840 MB
Vendor ID 0x1002
Device ID 0x6738
Subsystem ID 0x31001682
Revision 0
LUID 0x0000910D
Flags None
Outputs 1
Video Card Microsoft Basic Render Driver
Dedicated Video RAM 0 MB
Dedicated System RAM 0 MB
Shared System RAM 4,087 MB
Vendor ID 0x1414
Device ID 0x008C
Subsystem ID 0x00000000
Revision 0
LUID 0x0000A01F
Flags Software
Outputs 0
Since you apparently already have activated Win10 it should just seamlessly activate after you install it.
From the link you mentioned:
"To get started, you will first need to have a license to install Windows 10."
I do not have a license for Windows 10.
Or better said, I do not know what the license info is ...
I do have all the registration data for Win 7, the OS that came with the unit when first bought.
Hence my plan to load Win7 first and then upgrade to Win 10.
Quote:
Originally Posted by thecoalman
There is usually a recovery partition that might be like 20GB or whatever that will have mirror copy of how it was shipped from factory.
When I read the files on the hard drive (after taking ownership), I did not see an additional partition?
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