My Windows 8.1 is stuck in an automatic repair loop, how can I fix this?

Anonymous
2014-01-02T16:49:35+00:00

my laptop will not boot at all, when I turn it on the screen shows 'preparing automatic repair' then 'diagnosing your PC'. After this, the screen shows 'your PC did not start correctly' and it doesn't work when I restart it so I selected advanced options. After this, if I click continue the repair screen appears again and I am redirected back to the same page. I can't access my desktop at all and an administrator hasn't been set on my laptop, so after clicking troubleshoot I can't refresh or reset my PC.After this I clicked on advanced settings and I cannot choose system restore, command prompt, system image recovery or startup repair because they either don't work or need an administrator and I haven't set one as I mentioned before. My last resort was startup settings which requires restarting the PC. 9 options are to choose from and I tried almost all and it won't boot up in safe mode. Help!

Windows for home | Previous Windows versions | Windows update

Locked Question. This question was migrated from the Microsoft Support Community. You can vote on whether it's helpful, but you can't add comments or replies or follow the question.

0 comments No comments
Answer accepted by question author
Anonymous
2014-04-02T19:25:00+00:00

I've inserted the System Recovery disc 1 that came with the computer. No change.

Usually that means that that device is not higher than the hard drive in the boot device order.  You would probably need to get into your BIOS screen to change that.  See your User Guide or contact HP for more information.  Post your product id (e.g. what details you need to use HP's site to find your particular documentation and downloads but not your serial number) if you need someone to help interpret your user documentation.  In W7 HP had a nice tool that gave me those details.  I never found anything analogous from W8, except in bits and pieces.

HTH

Robert Aldwinckle


Was this answer helpful?

200+ people found this answer helpful.
0 comments No comments

156 additional answers

Sort by: Oldest
  1. Anonymous
    2016-02-15T09:04:24+00:00

    Hello Gireesh,

    Thank you for the update.

    I appreciate your efforts.

    You may create an installation media from the following links:

    http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows-8/create-reset-refresh-media

    http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows-8/upgrade-product-key-only

    I hope it helps.

    Thank you

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments No comments
  2. Anonymous
    2016-03-18T13:18:57+00:00

    Hi,

    i just got this problem and tried the steps you suggested 

    the first two ran successfully

    after running the bootrec  /rebuildBCD 

    i got the following result 

    " Total identified windows installations : 0

    The operation completed successfully " 

     as you can see its showing the number of of windows installations as zero although i already have windows 8.1 in my laptop.

    i can't understand what the problem is

    please help

    Thanks,

    Ravi

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments No comments
  3. Anonymous
    2016-03-19T06:56:19+00:00

    Hello Ravi,

    Thank you for your response.

    I appreciate your time.

    Please refer to suggestions from 1stone replied on May 12, 2014 and check if it helps.

    http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows8_1-windows_install/total-identified-windows-installations-0/52359f87-de4a-41dc-b0c3-cc275e1d9fbf

    Note: Serious problems might occur if you modify the registry incorrectly. Therefore, make sure that you follow these steps carefully. For added protection, back up the registry before you modify it. Then, you can restore the registry if a problem occurs. For more information about how to back up and restore the registry, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

    https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/322756

    I hope this helps.

    Thank you

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments No comments
  4. Anonymous
    2016-04-14T07:21:16+00:00

    Hi,

    I've tried this method, nothing seems to be working. I am very frustrated because I can't seem to get laptop to go on. I resetted my PC at least 15  times but nothing seems to be working, is there anything to help?

    Thanks.

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments No comments