My laptop went from Restore to Recovery

[Zuko53]

Re: Samsung 365E5CS05US. Laptop. The O/S is Windows 8, but I'm not sure the problem is because of that. Anyhow, I had occasion to do a restore and followed the instructions in the computer. I was greeted by a RECOVERY screen basically telling me that a required device wasn't connected or can't be accessed, etc. This was followed by a Error Code Oxc0000185. I contacted the Tech team at Samsung via chat and basically their protocol is to send you to different applicable links, try a couple of basic things and then to the Repair center. I did convince them to send me a recovery disk and I tried it and it didn't work. When I put it in and turned the computer on, it went right to that RECOVERY screen again. Anyhow, at the bottom of the RECOVERY screen is listed three option: Press Enter to try again, Press F8 for Startup settings and press ESC for UEFI Firmware Settings. Trying the first two took me to the RECOVERY screen again and the third gets me into Aptio Setup Utility which has five tabs; Sys Info, Advanced, Security, Boot, and Exit. Basically, I clicked on to everything in there and the only thing where I got any results is in the Exit column. Under Boot Override there is listed; Windows Boot Manager (PO: Hitachi HTS547550A9E384) and when I click on to that and enter, I get Samsung logo, to the Space Needle scene and when I hit enter, I get the sign-on screen and I sign in and I get the Start screen with all the apps. Of course that is not a normal computer entry, so I need help with this. Thank You.

 

[alphanumeric]

Boot Override is a one time boot option in the BIOS. Go back into your BIOS and double check that your first boot device or boot order is set so the first entry is "Windows Boot Manager (PO: Hitachi HTS547550A9E384)". If Windows is still functional that should restore a normal boot into Windows instead of having to use the Boot Override. UEFI Firmware Settings is the BIOS. Have you resized any of your partitions on your hard drive or changed any drive letters?

There is a sister site to this one dealing with Windows 8, http://www.eightforums.com/ I go by the same username on that forum.

 

[Zuko53]

(I'm typing this on my laptop) As you suggested, I went back into the BIOS into the Boot tab where it shows Boot Option #1 as the priority. I clicked on to it and I see that it is disabled and it appears there is no option to enable it.

 

[alphanumeric]

There must be an option to enable it somehow? It doesn't make sense that there wouldn't be an option to enable it. I'll fire up my laptop and have a look see. It's likely not the same BIOS but it might give me an idea of what's going on. I have to go out for a while but I'll have a look when I get back in an hour or two.

 

[alphanumeric]

Ok, on my laptop if I got to the Boot section and then to Option #1. I can hit enter and it lilts the options, Disable is at the bottom of the list. All I have to do is select Windows Boot Manager ..... from the list to make it the active choice.

 

[Zuko53]

Thanks for your reply. Basically, that's what I do, but, and the but is: When I click on to that, I get a rectangular pop-up that shows the Windows Boot Manager and right below that is the word disabled and that's it. Usually, there is a choice, like there is the word enabled to highlight and click on to but it's not there. Other feed back I get is that there is something mechanically wrong or a device that may be malfunctioning. I simply tried to do a restore and got that Recovery screen. Right now, I am taking a shot at reinstalling with the recovery disc, again. In order to get that to start, I had to go thru the same process of going to the Windows Boot Manager in the BIOS and clicking on to it and then the disc started working. Right now, it's got about 45 mins to an hour to go. So, I'll come back and report what happened then.

 

[alphanumeric]

What that is showing you is your two options Windows Boot Manager or Disabled. It doesn't mean its disabled. If Windows Boot manager is already at the top of the list that's what is set as the option for that Boot option. On my laptop it also lists my DVD Drive in the list. I think my second hard drive is listed too.

Lets start over, when you press your power button and don't do anything else where do you end up at? What screen do you see?

 

[Zuko53]

This: Recovery A required device isn't connected or can't be accessed. Error code: 0xc0000185 You need to use the recovery tools on your installation media. If you don't have any installation media (like a disc or USB device), contact your system administrator or PC manufacturer. At the bottom of the Recovery page there are three options: Press Enter to try again (I did and it takes me back to the Recovery and so does the second option. The third option gets me into the BIOS) (Too, I did try the Recovery disc and the first thing I get is the Recovery screen and I hit Esc, went into the BIOS and under the EXIT tab is where I hit the Windows Boot Manager and then I get the Samsung logo with the circling dots and the I get the start of the recovery with the recovery disc in. During that process it is supposed to restart on it's own, as you probably know, and on the very first restart, I go back to the recovery screen.

 

[alphanumeric]

OK, I reread the thread and think I spotted something. When you put the recovery disk in your DVD drive did you set your BIOS to boot from it or just let it boot up normally? If the BIOS default is to boot from your hard drive first the optical drive will just be skipped unless you tell it otherwise. My laptop has a Quick Boot option that is a one time boot option. I press escape and I can boot from my optical drive or a thumb drive for that boot. On the next reboot it goes back to the hard drive. It sounds like your laptop just booted from the hard drive instead of the recovery disk. You'll have to override the default and tell it to boot from the optical drive.

 

[Zuko53]

I believe I booted from the CD because; With the disc in, I start the computer and like I said before, it takes me to the Recovery screen first and then I hit Esc and that takes me to the BIOS and then I navigate to EXIT and then, because the disc is in, I get two choices, (1) Windows Boot Manager and (2) the disc. I know I get the right one, because I get a prompt at the top of the screen to hit any key to start from the disc drive which I don't get without the disc being in. While I am typing, I'm trying to run the disc, again. It is now in the setup segment Installing Windows, where it is copying files, getting files ready for installation, installing features, installing updates and finishing up. This will take about 45 minutes and usually it restarts and again, the last few times, it took me back to the recovery screen after the start. I believe the starting process is corrupted.

 

[alphanumeric]

OK, that's encouraging. Its hard to know exactly what someone is doing when your not sitting in front of the PC or looking over their shoulder so I always look for what might have been missed or just assumed. My laptop has a UEFI BIOS so I usually get dual boot options for most devices. For example if I plug in a USB thumb drive to install Windows I get a "UEFI Kingston ...... and a Kingston .... option in the Boot menu. Picking the UEFI option installs Windows in UEFI, picking the other option installs Windows in non UEFI mode. Do you get similar options? If not, have you changed any of your BIOS settings and do you know if your BIOS is UEFI?

 

[Zuko53]

RE: UEFI. You are describing the destination of the third choice at the bottom of the Recovery page which I described earlier. Anyhow, here is the result of my last attempt at using the Recovery disc. I started the laptop with the recovery disc in the CD optical drive and started. The result was getting the Recovery page again, so I hit the Esc key to take me to the BIOS. Again, under the EXIT key is where I access the startup and now I have two choices because the CD is in the drive. I hit the entry that describes the CD and next I get the Samsung logo and the spinning dots and after a minute or two, the Setup starts the recovery process and that goes as far as the first restart. Now, instead of repeating the process, I leave the Recovery screen there and take the recovery CD out and the I hit the Esc and get to the BIOS again and go back to the EXIT tab. Now, I only have one choice (Windows Boot Manageer) because I took the disc out, the second choice is no longer there. Next I get the Samsung logo again and the spinning dots and next I get Getting Devices Ready. That takes about a minute or two and then it goes to Getting Ready and that takes about 10 minutes. Then I got the Recovery Screen again hit Esc got to BIOS to EXIT, Windows Boot Manager, entered that and Voila! I got to access the computer. So, the problem remains to be that rather than boot up normally, I have to got thru that Recovery screen, Esc to BIOS to the EXIT tab and click on Windows Boot mangage.

 

[alphanumeric]

Ok, first off I better say that I've had a couple of Rum and Cokes and will look this over again in the morning when I'm sober. That being said I'm thinking you should be picking the third option when doing the recovery. If you have a UEFI BIOS, if you didn't you wouldn't be getting the third option with UEFI in front of it. If your BIOS is set to boot from the Windows Boot Manager and its leading you back to the recovery options that means (to me) that the recovery wasn't successful.

 

[alphanumeric]

I'm back, sipping my morning coffee. Just wondering if you made any progress?