Can't boot to Windows/Deleted Boot Partition?

[ctech1]

So at first, I was trying to resolve an issue with my BD-ROM drive described here: http://en.community.dell.com/support-forums/disk-drives/f/3534/p/19662844/20851169?rfsh=1449086070867


However, when attempting to try different things, I am now in a position where I can no longer boot to Windows 10. More specifically, when I turn on my computer, I get an error saying no bootable drives found and it just lists my SATA 1, 2, 3, etc. drives with an option to restart or go to BIOS setup. In other words, I don't even see Windows anymore existing.

My basic computer specs:
Dell XPS 8700 SE
Intel Core i7-4700
Windows 10 with 1511 update
2TB hdd with 32GB mSATA SSD cache drive
16GB RAM
BD-ROM

I need help to get Windows working again, and hopefully, get back my data. Here's what I did to cause the problems:

1) I went to Dell UEFI BIOS setup, and changed the SATA mode from "RAID" to "AHCI". Saved and exited BIOS.
2) After rebooting, Windows failed to load, had a consistent blue screen with the sad smiley face with error "IO1_INITIALIZATION_FAILED", automatic repair also failed.
3) I tried reverting back to "RAID" in SATA mode in BIOS, but it failed to change anything. Windows still wouldn't boot
4) I then entered into the special BIOS menu showing devices which listed my mSATA cache drive and hard drive and RAID settings. Since it showed that the cache drive was "Disabled", I thought I could fix my issues by re-creating the RAID array.
5) I tried to delete the current RAID setup shown in that BIOS menu, then chose the option to recreate the RAID0 array by selecting the option to create a "Striped Disk Array".
6) Once I did the above, Windows itself disappeared, and trying to undo the RAID0 option did not fix anything

So now I am no longer seeing Windows, not sure if my data on the hard drive still exists, and my cache drive (obviously) is not working. I am hoping I can fix by repairing the Windows boot partition, but not sure if that will resolve the original blue screen issue I had too since the SATA mode even after I set it back to RAID doesn't work.

Any ideas how to fix without doing a clean reinstall and losing all my previous data in Windows?

Thanks for any help you can provide!

 

[Lutfij]

Simply put...

At this point all the data has been technically wiped clean since any and/or all data is wiped to create a new array be it in RAID1 or RAID0. I'd suggest taking out your drive and hooking it upto another machine with a data recovery software namely Recuva which is a freeware but will only retrieve a small amount of data. If you're looking into alot of GB's worth of data then they will come at a cost. Though do add salt to that info as others here will have more news with data recovery software's.

Now the probable answer to your original issue would've been:

According to your Dell XPS 8700's support page there is a BIOS update available with version A11 dated July 31st 2015, have you updated your BIOS with that? If you haven't then you'd best be served by downloading the rest of those drivers onto a USB drive and install them after you've performed a clean install of Windows 10.

Here is a guide to get your cache setup up and running again or this one as its comprehensive.

Hope this helps.