Can I Save My Laptop?

I have a Toshiba C855D-S5104 with Windows 8 preinstalled.

Today I rebooted it. Instead of shutting down normally right before it turned off there was a quick flash of a blue screen with a frowning face and a message that something went wrong.

Upon rebooting it failed to load Windows. The Toshiba splash screen appears then it says it is preparing automatic repair... Then it changes to a black screen for a while, blue screens, then does it all again.

I do not have a recovery disk. I do have Hirens but it's from before Windows 8 even existed so I don't know if it will do any good. I have not been able to get back into the BIOS to change the boot order to try...

I've searched online and everywhere talks about ensuring the Windows Boot Manager is first on a boot preferences list. Is that the same as the boot order list? If so then it's not there at all...

Any help or advice would be appreciated. I'm at a loss.

Link

One of the listed tips should allow you to restore your machine.

a reply to: Noncents

It's Windows. All is working as intended.

a reply to: Snarl
I wish. That process does the same thing. It will open a window asking if I want to restore but after that it goes to a black screen for a while then reboots and the cycle continues.

I very much could be wrong but it appears there is an issue with the master boot record, if that's still a thing in 8. I just haven't been able to get into the BIOS to change the boot order to disk first to try Hirens or even a live Linux to see if the hdd is even readable.

The "preparing automatic repair" loop seems like it has caused a lot of irritation with people trying to get past it.

a reply to: Noncents

have you tried looking into finding a windows 8 recovery disc online

originally posted by: Noncents
I have a Toshiba C855D-S5104 with Windows 8 preinstalled.

Today I rebooted it. Instead of shutting down normally right before it turned off there was a quick flash of a blue screen with a frowning face and a message that something went wrong.

Upon rebooting it failed to load Windows. The Toshiba splash screen appears then it says it is preparing automatic repair... Then it changes to a black screen for a while, blue screens, then does it all again.

I do not have a recovery disk. I do have Hirens but it's from before Windows 8 even existed so I don't know if it will do any good. I have not been able to get back into the BIOS to change the boot order to try...

I've searched online and everywhere talks about ensuring the Windows Boot Manager is first on a boot preferences list. Is that the same as the boot order list? If so then it's not there at all...

Any help or advice would be appreciated. I'm at a loss.

Boot up your computer and hit the F8 key until you load the advanced boot options menu. From there Disable Automatic Restart For BSOD. Let me know what thew BSOD code is.

Also what does your boot order say in the bios? It's possible your HDD died. Mechanical HDDs are trash. If it died replace it with an SSD.

From that same menu you might also try these options:

-Boot low resolution (might be vid card or drivers)
-Boot without driver signature
-safe mode (if it boots there, its a driver or program issue)
-last known good configuration

a reply to: Noncents

Why can't you get into the BIOS?

originally posted by: Noncents
a reply to: Snarl
I wish. That process does the same thing. It will open a window asking if I want to restore but after that it goes to a black screen for a while then reboots and the cycle continues.

I very much could be wrong but it appears there is an issue with the master boot record, if that's still a thing in 8. I just haven't been able to get into the BIOS to change the boot order to disk first to try Hirens or even a live Linux to see if the hdd is even readable.

The "preparing automatic repair" loop seems like it has caused a lot of irritation with people trying to get past it.

Can you boot in to windows repair? If so, do that and then chose advanced repair options. From there choose command prompt. From there type bootrec. It will give you a list of bootrec commands. Run them all but ScanOS.

Honestly it sounds like your HDD died. If this doesn't work you'll need restore disc. I recommend just getting an SSD and fresh install of Windows 7.

Your best bet is to load a Linux release....

The ultimate oxymoron?

Microsoft Works.

a reply to: TheBulk
The screen's brutal. It doesn't show the error code until a split-second before it goes away. I've watched it a few times now and can't make it all out. The word BOOT is in it though. It is a SSD. The boot order is the HDD, USB, Disk Drive and then Network.

JinMI: No Idea. I was able to without problem until I enabled Fast Boot which was recommended as something to bypass the loop. Now half the time when it reboots it is preparing... So it's not taking keyboard input. The other half the time it's like I'm catching it too late even though I'm not. It's weird. Never seen anything like this.

a reply to: Noncents

If you are getting the maker's screen, chance is, you can save it. More than likely overheating due to dust but motherboard failures are usually a laptops downfall

originally posted by: Noncents
a reply to: TheBulk
The screen's brutal. It doesn't show the error code until a split-second before it goes away. I've watched it a few times now and can't make it all out. The word BOOT is in it though. It is a SSD. The boot order is the HDD, USB, Disk Drive and then Network.

JinMI: No Idea. I was able to without problem until I enabled Fast Boot which was recommended as something to bypass the loop. Now half the time when it reboots it is preparing... So it's not taking keyboard input. The other half the time it's like I'm catching it too late even though I'm not. It's weird. Never seen anything like this.

Try a Ubuntu or KDE Linux release. You should be able to bypass all of your boot up problems (provided that your BIOS isn't fried....)

a reply to: Noncents

Throw a new hard drive in, reinstall the windows 8 garbage and put your old hard drive in an external usb case ;-)

Cheers - Dave

a reply to: Noncents

Do you have a smartphone?
make a video of the boot up process, perhaps you can read the screen if you pause the video you make.
Otherwise you might just have to get a new drive, then put the old one in an external usb box to recover the data .

Seriously, ditch Windows. Linux has far fewer issues, and it is free.

Well thanks for the advice anyeays folks. I'm not ready to give up yet.

From what I've read F8 at boot is no longer used in Windows due to UEFI. I can't install linux because the hard drive is the first thing in the boot order and I have not been able to change that since I've enabled Fast Boot.

I'm going to keep trying to get back into the bios though.

a reply to: Noncents

It sounds like you could have an 'unmountable boot volume' _

I've had this happen to me on my HP with Windows 10...
I had to essentially purchase a new hard drive and use the Recovery Media to re-install Windows 10.

Luckily everything worked fine.

Did you jolt the system at all while the Hard Drive was spinning? Did you drop it?

a reply to: iunlimited491
I was thinking that could be it. Surprisingly no. It was on a desk and stable. This was totally out of the blue.

originally posted by: Noncents
Well thanks for the advice anyeays folks. I'm not ready to give up yet.

From what I've read F8 at boot is no longer used in Windows due to UEFI. I can't install linux because the hard drive is the first thing in the boot order and I have not been able to change that since I've enabled Fast Boot.

I'm going to keep trying to get back into the bios though.

That should be by-passable (if that is a word) on the BIOS setup. Windows 8/Windows 10 try really damned hard to ruin your system for any other OS.

Ubuntu LINUX will boot anything!

I had a Toshiba Satellite crash (hard) on me, I mean really hard, and I was able to get it up enough to strip off the data onto a portable HDD. I can't remember the Ubuntu file name, but I'm sure you can search on it; there's lots of people who've tried it and made amazing saves. Mine was completely fried and I was able to recover the data.

I was shocked actually. I didn't care about the laptop, I just wanted the data.