I can't pull up advanced boot options (F8) during boot - very worried


  1. Posts : 2
    Windows 7
       #1

    I can't pull up advanced boot options (F8) during boot - very worried


    Hey guys, I've been having serious issues with getting into my computer the past couple of days and I'm really becoming worried now. Here's the full story:

    Windows was automatically updating on my computer earlier this week, my computer got hot and it shut itself off. I tried to re-enter into Windows, and I got introduced to an endless "Startup Repair" screen. I shut my computer off and on multiple times during this screen because there was no progress.

    Finally, I let it sit for 24 full hours, and had no success. So then, I found a way to find System Recovery Options, and I opted for the option that allows you to backup everything on your computer into a "backup folder" while simultaenously restoring your OS to factory settings. This took about 1 whole night, woke up, it was still loading, so I close my laptop, went to sleep, and it said it had an error in backing up my computer (it then recommended that I simply choose the option to restore to factory settings without backing up my data)...

    Then, I tried to find an external USB HDD to back up on to, had no luck finding one that had enough space.

    So, then I tried to back up my files by opening the command prompt line, opening notepad.exe, going into "Save As", then visually seeing all of my files and folders. But something strange happened: I couldn't find my C drive under "My computer", A couple of drives that had letters I haven't really seen before, and a Boot X drive with none of my files in it.

    Well, after I chose to restart my computer after that, I tried to press F8 and get back into advanced boot options, only this time I don't even have the option to see things like Safe Mode and the other options...


    I'm instead introduced to a screen that introduces itself as "Windows Boot Manager" with these options:

    1.) Insert your Windows installation disc and restart your system
    2.) Choose your language settings and then click "next"
    3.) Click repair your computer


    At the bottom it reads: INFO: The boot selection failed because a required device is inaccessible.


    I don't have a Windows repair/installation disc or anything of that sort. I'm completely unsure of what to do

    Most of my unique data is saved on a HDD from a while ago, thank God, but there are some pictures, other media files, programs, and documents from the past few months that I'd at least like to see the names of so I can manually restore them upon a restore. Is this possible at this point?


    I know this post is long, but I'm in desperate need of help. Any help is useful. Thanks.
      My Computer


  2. Posts : 1,025
    Linux Lite 3.2 x64; Windows 7, 8.1
       #2

    megachipqq said:
    So, then I tried to back up my files by opening the command prompt line, opening notepad.exe, going into "Save As", then visually seeing all of my files and folders. But something strange happened: I couldn't find my C drive under "My computer", A couple of drives that had letters I haven't really seen before, and a Boot X drive with none of my files in it.

    Well, after I chose to restart my computer after that, I tried to press F8 and get back into advanced boot options, only this time I don't even have the option to see things like Safe Mode and the other options...
    ...
    I don't have a Windows repair/installation disc or anything of that sort. I'm completely unsure of what to do
    The first thing I would do is rescue the data. You can use a linux boot disk - I recommend LinuxLiteOS - to get into the C drive and copy files. You can copy to an external drive or a drive on a networked computer.

    Then use another Win7 machine to burn a repair disk. and get your boot repaired. You probably didn't see the C drive because it was temporarily renamed while in a repair environment.
      My Computer

  3.    #3

    Why would you interrupt Factory Recovery and expect anything to be salvageable?

    Download Paragon Rescue Kit Free Edition 11.0 Free and burn to CD with Windows Image Burner. Boot the disk and browse to see if you can find your files under your User account name if it still exists. If so copy them out to external drive or flash.

    Then see if you can again run Factory Recovery: Gateway Support - Full Factory Recovery

    If not you'll need to find a WIn7 disk to do the vastly superior Clean Reinstall Windows 7. Obtaining the disk along with everything else needed to get and keep a perfect install is included in the tutorial which has been used by 1.5 million consumers without a single complaint.
      My Computer


  4. Posts : 2
    Windows 7
    Thread Starter
       #4

    gregrocker said:
    Why would you interrupt Factory Recovery and expect anything to be salvageable?

    Download Paragon Rescue Kit Free Edition 11.0 Free and burn to CD with Windows Image Burner. Boot the disk and browse to see if you can find your files under your User account name if it still exists. If so copy them out to external drive or flash.

    Then see if you can again run Factory Recovery: Gateway Support - Full Factory Recovery

    If not you'll need to find a WIn7 disk to do the vastly superior Clean Reinstall Windows 7. Obtaining the disk along with everything else needed to get and keep a perfect install is included in the tutorial which has been used by 1.5 million consumers without a single complaint.
    Thanks for your reply, Greg.

    I just finished burning Paragon Rescue Kit on to a CD. After booting it, how would I go about browsing? I'm only able to access the F2 and F12 menus. F8 loops me back.
      My Computer

  5.    #5

    Did you burn the Paragon disk to CD with an image burner like the built it Windows Image Burner?

    If so, boot the disk by restarting the PC, tapping the F10 or F12 key at boot to get a boot menu, choose CD/DVD or Optical drive to boot. You can also enter BIOS setup to set the CD/DVD/Optical drive to boot first as shown in How to Boot your Computer from a Bootable CD or DVD

    Follow the picture slideshow to use File Transfer Wizard to save selected files to a flash stick, external USB drive, network location or another disk.

    Then use the REpair functions also shown to try to repair MBR.

    You can also make a Win7 System Repair Disk or obtain Win7 installation media which may be needed to do a Clean Reinstall Windows 7 in the end. It discusses in Step 1 of Reinstall tutorial how to obtain safe media. You can use either of these disks to rescue your files using Copy & Paste - in Windows Recovery Console and then attempt to Troubleshooting Windows 7 Failure to Start
      My Computer


 

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