One more reason I hate Windows 8/UEFI Firmware!

[DejaVu]

Brand spanking new Windows 8 PC. Set it up for the customer this afternoon.
Showed them the basics as you would.

Got a call about an hour ago that they had a power cut while the computer was on... no big deal I thought. WRONG BIG TIME!!

They now can no longer boot the system due to whatever shit this is...
2013-09-30 21.34.50.jpg

Pressing OK now takes me to a familiar screen saying...

Reboot and Select proper Boot Device
or Insert Boot Media in selected device and press a key

No CD Media given with the PC, not enough time to create any DVD Backup disks.
Anyone know of any solution or is it going to be a Acer Customer Support jobby?!

--edit
Turning off Secure Boot gives this -
2013-09-30 21.40.38.jpg

[raelmadrid]

all good, try and sell them a UPC so it doesn't happen again

[GTI]

I don't even know what any of that shit means??



It kinda makes me nostalgic for Dos and Windows 3.1, you always knew where you were with Dos

[DejaVu]

I don't even know what any of that shit means??

In a nutshell it means that any Windows 8 PC that is switched on at the time of a powercut... if you haven't got any installation media, is a fucking expensive paperweight and now, I have to go through all the usual 'have you switched it off and back on again' bullshit from Acer Customer Services!

What is really annoying is the recovery process...
When in Windows 8, boot to the recovery mode... <- I mean, what the actual flying fuck is that supposed to mean, no good to no-one if you CANNOT BOOT TO WINDOWS 8 Why would you reboot to recovery if the motherfucker is loading! (Yeah, I'm slightly annoyed with it if you haven't guessed yet!)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SjtB7846Bp8

Gonna try making a Windows 8 Core Boot disk and start Advanced System Options from there. Never know, might work.

[ZX7R]

I avoid Acer like the plague.

[x_Mr_C_x]

I've seen this a couple of times on Windows 8. One was a faulty hard drive (This was an Acer!)The other I fixed by doing a refresh from a bootable Win 8 rescue USB.

[DejaVu]

I've seen this a couple of times on Windows 8. One was a faulty hard drive (This was an Acer!)The other I fixed by doing a refresh from a bootable Win 8 rescue USB.

I've downloaded Windows 8 Core and bunged it on USB. Is that what you mean? Can I still recover from the Acer partition afterwards (as long as the HD ain't borked)?
I'm hoping not to remove the legit install if I can help it.

[macmilm]

Thats a bit poor and a bit worrying as I've got one of these UEFI things....

[evilsatan]

Secure boot caused me troubles too on a brand new windows 8 laptop. Replaced the HDD with an SSD rather than bother with warranty. Try MSDaRT.

Steep learning curve from here on out I think, any machines I provide I try to get windows 7 on.

[Over Carl]

Wouldn't you be in a very similar position if you received a pc setup with bitlocker that had gone wrong and the supplier didn't give install media for that (i.e. for once it's not Windows 8's fault)?

I remember my old boss getting excited about bitlocker and asking me to look into enabling it company wide. As soon as I told him it might start taking days rather than minutes to pull data of dead machines that idea was killed.

Also I remember going to a small site, about 12 pcs, there had been a power failure/spike that killed windows xp on 4 pc's in one hit! (no drive encryption in use)

[x_Mr_C_x]

I've downloaded Windows 8 Core and bunged it on USB. Is that what you mean? Can I still recover from the Acer partition afterwards (as long as the HD ain't borked)?
I'm hoping not to remove the legit install if I can help it.

I just use a USB Recovery drive created from within a working Windows 8 installation. Search for "Create a Recovery Drive" in the Windows 8 settings. It allows you to create a bootable USB drive which you can then access the advanced options from. I don't believe using the refresh option will damage the Acer Recovery Partition but I always make a backup image using Acronis before doing anything that might cause problems and I always make a backup of my clients data using Fabs Autobackup4Tech.
Check this link from Acer for more info on restoring Windows 8 with a recovery drive:

http://acer--uk.custhelp.com/app/ans...recovery-drive

[muttleymacclad]

Can you use a USB recovery drive created from any Win 8 installation to do this on a different borked Win8 installation? (assuming both installations are genuine.)

... I always make a backup of my clients data using Fabs Autobackup4Tech.

Not seen this before is it worth the 40 euro's? (or is it available in the usual places?)

mml

[DejaVu]

I'll give the USB Recovery a go, but in the meantime, incredibly - Acer have RMA'd it over this. So if that fails, I'll be posting it back.

Remember kids, create the USB Recovery on first boot, else face this crap!

[TAR]

Isn't there a recovery partition on the hdd? I have a acer with windows 8, and there are several partions, one containing the recovery data.

[EvilBoB]

As TAR says. Pretty much all machines these days have a recovery partition on them. There is usually a keypress that boots off the recovery partition - just search for the model and recovery process in google and you should find it. It's F10 on a Compaq that I had to recover last week so start there

[DejaVu]

Alt F10 doesnt work for me on this Acer.
It's got all the partitions, but something to do with a Digital Signature is stopping the system from reading from the Hard Drive correctly and access to these partitions (the entire drive) has been blocked.

Hence why I hate UEFI.

--edit
And to top things off, the download ISO thingy from the Upgrade Asstistant I paid for, for my cheap upgrade isn't working. Reckons I'm not connected to the internet, so my typing this post is just a figment of my imagination!!

I have the Key, but no ISO Windows 8 Pro upgrade to use it with...
http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/w...e-to-windows-8

Untitled.jpg

[AD]

Just a little bit of info for people with new windows 8 laptops and have this problem.

All new laptops have the recovery partition on them. You have to press and hold either F10 or F4 on most laptops from post to get to the recovery wizard. (Some manufacturers have different F keys for recovery so google the make to be sure, if not just try each F key)

Did 2 laptops the other week which had UEFI bios crap.

[muttleymacclad]

Had a Sony vaio win 8 laptop yesterday that reused to boot. Customer had lost her dissertation (backed up?... Yeah right!)

Before I was called, she had called Sony support who told her that all she could do was factory restore, that didn't go down well.

Any how managed to get the recovery options after 5 unsuccessful restarts. Managed to get everything back by doing 'Refresh PC'.

Her only problem was that she was using a dodgy copy of Office, which got it's key removed with the refresh. Cheeky mare asked if I had a copy she could use!!

Oh and she was very fit.


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[CallmeGoose]

Oh and she was very fit.

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Get her a copy of office then?

And we need to see photos of this bint before we determine if she was fit ;-)

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[DejaVu]

This is relevant, so I'll bump this thread.

Must be a record.

Netbook is 6 days old. Xmas present.

I get a call Boxing Day and order a new screen for it. That's right a new screen on Boxing Day. That takes skill.
Anyway. Screen arrived today, I fit it. Awesome. Screen works.

Turn it on to be greeted with this shit -

IMAG0085.jpgIMAG0086.jpg

Pre-installed Windows 8 systems are a complete waste of time, money, effort and I will NEVER buy a new system and run it with UEFI. Fuck that shit!
I've been in the BIOS and the HDD Password was 'Frozen'. Restarted from Cold boot, changed the Supervisor Password and reset Secure Boot completely to default. Does all of sweet FA.

No Boot Device.
So, OK, hard drive maybe screwed.
Connected to my PC built from scratch... running Windows 8.1 on a 'Legacy' type motherboard.

Drive is recognised, files intact everything hunky-dory.
Owner is a 60 year old man who is not going to have a clue and will think that I've done something to his brand new laptop. FML!

STILL FUCKING HATE UEFI WITH A VENGEANCE.
There is no logic or reason behind the incredible amount of things it can fuck up!