LogonUI.exe Application Error - Windows 8.1

[LOLZpersonok]

I am making a new thread as updating my other thread with the same question is futile.

Anyhow, yesterday when I went to start up my computer, I suddenly got an application error for the LogonUI.exe program. Because it happened before the login screen appeared, it rendered me unable to log into my computer. It always came up with a different error code each time I restarted my computer.

Keep in mind that prior to receiving this error I had done nothing for this error to occur. I made no changes to my computer besides allowing an update to install, which I cannot for some reason get uninstalled. I am unsure of what specific update it is.

Disabling all of my services in Safe Mode and then rebooting the computer will cause it to start up normally, but if I enable either all of my 3rd party services or all of my Windows services, the computer will present me with the same LogonUI.exe application error, but with a different error code. It is too much work trying to narrow down which service is causing issues.

I tried System Restore. For some dumb reason, my only restore point (which is weird) is somehow "corrupt". System Restore is non-functional. I tried the SFC /scannow command in an elevated Command Prompt. Nope. No help there. I tried Startup Repair, and it couldn't be bothered to do anything useful.

I am looking at the Windows Event Viewer in Safe Mode and I am looking at the application error logs. As expected, there are a lot of errors for the LogonUI.exe program, and each error log records that the faulting application is LogonUI.exe (surprise, surprise) at C:\WINDOWS\System32\LogonUI.exe but it also prescribes a faulting module path at C:\WINDOWS\System32\atidxx64.dll, which I think has something to do with my graphics drivers (as I have AMD graphics).

Is there any way I can replace these files?

 

[MarkW]

The problem is that the AMD video card drivers have somehow been corrupted. Im going to give you some instructions on not only how to remove them, but also how to clean up the registry, and then help you install the latest drivers.

■ Boot into Safe Mode with Networking. You do that by turning the power on, and then holding down the F8 key until you get the safe mode menu.
■ Uninstall all AMD video card items.
■ Restart your computer, and go back into Safe Mode with Networking
■ Download CCleaner
■ Install and run CCleaner. On the left side, there is a registry button, then analyze, and then fix any issues found.
■ Restart your computer, and go back into Safe Mode with Networking
■ Download the latest AMD Video Drivers.
■ Install the new drivers.
■ Reboot and let the system go to the desktop like you normally would.

That should resolve that problem. Let me know if it does or not.

 

[Paul NZ]

And disabling services wont help either

 

[LOLZpersonok]

The problem is that the AMD video card drivers have somehow been corrupted. Im going to give you some instructions on not only how to remove them, but also how to clean up the registry, and then help you install the latest drivers.

■ Boot into Safe Mode with Networking. You do that by turning the power on, and then holding down the F8 key until you get the safe mode menu.
■ Uninstall all AMD video card items.
■ Restart your computer, and go back into Safe Mode with Networking
■ Download CCleaner
■ Install and run CCleaner. On the left side, there is a registry button, then analyze, and then fix any issues found.
■ Restart your computer, and go back into Safe Mode with Networking
■ Download the latest AMD Video Drivers.
■ Install the new drivers.
■ Reboot and let the system go to the desktop like you normally would.

That should resolve that problem. Let me know if it does or not.

I was able to follow all steps up until step 8. I cannot, for the life of me, get the drivers installed. In Safe Mode, trying to install the drivers gives me a "failed to load detection driver" error. Trying to install the driver when booted normally (again, with all services disabled; I cannot boot normally with services enabled) will just cause the Catalyst Install Manager to "stop working". I have scoured the Internet for any solutions related to this specific issue, and yet again, the Internet has proven to be totally unreliable and useless. At this point I am getting very tired and am ready to give up and throw my computer out the window.

This makes absolutely zero sense to me because only a week ago I was able to install the new Catalyst Control Centre and drivers no problem. These are the same drivers I am attempting to install now, but now they simply refuse to do what they are supposed to do.

EDIT: Oh look. Another one of those famous application errors.

 

[MarkW]

Surprised me too, since this has been working well for people. But there is always an exception when it comes to computers.

Anyways, I found a page on the Microsoft site. I am posting this for you to read. Mainly to help explain why I am sending you to the AMD website further down the page.

How to get passed "Failed To Load Detection Driver" while installing AMD Catalyst drivers

Started on October 2, 2014
Earlier this morning after installing the Windows 10 preview, I ran into this snag when trying to install my AMD drivers for my Radeon card where it will tell me it couldn't finish because of an error involving a "detection driver". Given this is a beta and it only came out yesterday I wasn't surprised there wasn't even a question about this yet. The solution however was so simple and it actually is a solution that works in Windows 8/8.1.

If you stay plugged into the Internet after setup Windows 8/8.1/10, it will install the Microsoft AMD drivers automatically. For some people when trying to install drivers from AMD, Windows 8/8.1/10 gets upset: in some cases after the detection phase starts the screen can go black and you can hear an audio stutter which will force you to reboot the machine. With Windows 10, I merely got a "Detection Driver" error.

To be able to install the AMD Catalyst drivers, you must first remove the ones that Microsoft installed while you were connected to the Internet during the initial setup. To do that, there is an AMD Catalyst Uninstall Utility that removes all AMD Video driver files. When the utility finishes uninstalling all the AMD drivers, your screen should look as if it had a standard VGA driver installed.

After your drive is cleared of everything AMD, restart the AMD Catalyst setup and you should have no errors or stutter while installing.
http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/insider/forum/insider_wintp-insider_devices/how-to-get-passed-failed-to-load-detection-driver/960ff308-2a5a-45e1-9ac8-04535c88c419

So what you need to do is to use Catalyst to remove some driver that Windows installed that was not removed by what I had you do earlier. Don't feel bad. This is the first time I have run into this.

So my first question is, did you uninstall Catalyst?

If you have already uninstalled Catalyst, I want you to download and install it from the same AMD page I sent you to earlier to download the latest drivers. If you scroll down a little bit, over on the right side, just below the video box with Lisa Su, AMD CEO smiling in it, is the Catalyst program and drivers. I want you to download those, and then install at least Catalyst. Once Catalyst has been installed, jump back up to the previous paragraph, and follow that article there to remove ALL AMD installed software.

Now with Catalyst there, I would like you to follow the instructions for removing the AMD drivers using catalyst

Now go back to step 5 in the previous message that you got to step 8 in, and continue from there. Lets see if you can get everything installed this time.

I need sleep. I will be back in about 6 hours.

 

[LOLZpersonok]

Surprised me too, since this has been working well for people. But there is always an exception when it comes to computers.

Anyways, I found a page on the Microsoft site. I am posting this for you to read. Mainly to help explain why I am sending you to the AMD website further down the page.

How to get passed "Failed To Load Detection Driver" while installing AMD Catalyst drivers

Started on October 2, 2014
Earlier this morning after installing the Windows 10 preview, I ran into this snag when trying to install my AMD drivers for my Radeon card where it will tell me it couldn't finish because of an error involving a "detection driver". Given this is a beta and it only came out yesterday I wasn't surprised there wasn't even a question about this yet. The solution however was so simple and it actually is a solution that works in Windows 8/8.1.

If you stay plugged into the Internet after setup Windows 8/8.1/10, it will install the Microsoft AMD drivers automatically. For some people when trying to install drivers from AMD, Windows 8/8.1/10 gets upset: in some cases after the detection phase starts the screen can go black and you can hear an audio stutter which will force you to reboot the machine. With Windows 10, I merely got a "Detection Driver" error.

To be able to install the AMD Catalyst drivers, you must first remove the ones that Microsoft installed while you were connected to the Internet during the initial setup. To do that, there is an AMD Catalyst Uninstall Utility that removes all AMD Video driver files. When the utility finishes uninstalling all the AMD drivers, your screen should look as if it had a standard VGA driver installed.

After your drive is cleared of everything AMD, restart the AMD Catalyst setup and you should have no errors or stutter while installing.
http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/insider/forum/insider_wintp-insider_devices/how-to-get-passed-failed-to-load-detection-driver/960ff308-2a5a-45e1-9ac8-04535c88c419

So what you need to do is to use Catalyst to remove some driver that Windows installed that was not removed by what I had you do earlier. Don't feel bad. This is the first time I have run into this.

So my first question is, did you uninstall Catalyst?

If you have already uninstalled Catalyst, I want you to download and install it from the same AMD page I sent you to earlier to download the latest drivers. If you scroll down a little bit, over on the right side, just below the video box with Lisa Su, AMD CEO smiling in it, is the Catalyst program and drivers. I want you to download those, and then install at least Catalyst. Once Catalyst has been installed, jump back up to the previous paragraph, and follow that article there to remove ALL AMD installed software.

Now with Catalyst there, I would like you to follow the instructions for removing the AMD drivers using catalyst

Now go back to step 5 in the previous message that you got to step 8 in, and continue from there. Lets see if you can get everything installed this time.

I need sleep. I will be back in about 6 hours.

But that's exactly the problem I'm experiencing right now. I cannot run the Catalyst Install Manager in Safe Mode without the "Failed to load detection driver" nonsense. I tried re-downloading from AMD's website, and I even tried the driver provided on HP's website. Neither work. Both come up with the same error. The driver provided by HP does give an uninstall option when starting the utility, but not only does it come up with the same "Failed to load detection driver", but it also comes up with no installed AMD components. I'm going to see what happens when I run the HP provided driver in regular mode.

It installed, but it does nothing. It doesn't install display drivers, and Catalyst Control Centre doesn't run after being installed.

EDIT: I just realized how idiotic I was being. I just realized you were referring to the AMD removal utility that was linked to on the thread that you had linked to. I downloaded it and ran it on my computer, then rebooted. Now, I have yet another issue. (It feels like I'm going backwards, the more I try to fix this issue, the worse it becomes.) Upon startup, Windows gives me a stop error that flashes the particular error for a split second. I had to record it with my phone and find the specific frame that shows the error. The stop error I'm getting is the INACCESSIBLE_BOOT_DEVICE error. How on earth could a utility designed to remove AMD software from the computer completely screw up Windows? Well, I guess anything is possible.

For the time being, I'm not going to try System Restore because it will undo the progress. So, I will try the other utilities provided in the Windows Startup Repair utility. I should mention that it won't boot into Safe Mode either. I am now trying the Startup Repair option. It says that the disk checking could take over an hour. I really don't want to wait that long, but I guess I have not much choice. I'll have to edit this post again with the results.

EDIT 2: It finished right after I had posted my edit. It suggested a System Restore, which of course I don't want to do right now. I am now attempting to boot normally.

EDIT 3: It figures with my luck that for some reason I don't have anymore restore points in System Restore. I had better be able to find a solution (be it using Command Prompt or another repair CD) otherwise many of my irretrievable files are gone.

EDIT 4: I am incredibly unhappy right now. Nothing has worked in the Windows Recovery Environment. Fortunately, I have a partition on my hard drive with Ubuntu installed. Unfortunately, the partition is not big enough to back up my important and irretrievable data. Trying to resize it is very difficult as for some really dumb reason I can't get my computer to boot to the Ubuntu CD, so I can use the live environment to resize the partition.

 

[MarkW]

Sorry to hear things did not go well after I went to bed.

Whatever you do right now, do not do something that might cause you data loss. Especially if you have things on that drive that are not backed up.

I had to go read up on the stop error this morning. It is a very uncommon error.

Before we do anything else here, I went back and read everything in this thread. I have a few questions.

You had a previous thread on this. What happened in that thread? Could you link it for me?

You said you have an HP in your last post. What model HP is it, how long have you had it, and is this the first time you have had problems with it?

Do you have a Windows installation disk?
Do you have a Windows system recovery disk?

Have you replaced or added any new hardware items to this system?
Have you removed any hardware items from this system?

Is there anything else you can tell me that might help me understand what started all of this and how long its been going on?

 

[LOLZpersonok]

Sorry to hear things did not go well after I went to bed.

Whatever you do right now, do not do something that might cause you data loss. Especially if you have things on that drive that are not backed up.

I had to go read up on the stop error this morning. It is a very uncommon error.

Before we do anything else here, I went back and read everything in this thread. I have a few questions.

You had a previous thread on this. What happened in that thread? Could you link it for me?

You said you have an HP in your last post. What model HP is it, how long have you had it, and is this the first time you have had problems with it?

Do you have a Windows installation disk?
Do you have a Windows system recovery disk?

Have you replaced or added any new hardware items to this system?
Have you removed any hardware items from this system?

Is there anything else you can tell me that might help me understand what started all of this and how long its been going on?

I really wish I had a proper way to back up my things. I just can't afford a proper solution.

As you asked, here's the previous thread: http://www.tomshardware.com/answers/id-2734617/windows-logonui-exe-application-error-booting.html

You'll notice that there are no replies to it, this is why I decided to start a new thread rather than continuing to update that one.

The specific HP model I have is an HP ENVY m6-1184ca. I have had it for about two and a half years now, and no, this isn't the first time I've had issues with it. The last major issue I had with it was when one of the memory modules died about 5 months after I purchased it. I had it replaced. I was able to narrow down which memory module was having issues in HP's built-in hardware test utility that you can boot to without Windows. I ran it again when this issue appeared, and it came up with nothing. The only thing I can think of that possibly caused this issue to first occur a few days ago was the update I had let it install the night before. When I installed the update, I had shut the machine off as I was going to bed. The next day, I began having issues. I tried uninstalling the update, but Windows wouldn't remove it. I tried a System Restore, but the only restore point that I had (it's not right that I didn't have more than the one restore point) was somehow corrupt.

It's worth mentioning that I solved an issue I was having with Windows not long ago. That issue was more irritating than serious. I was unable to install the KB2919355 update but I found that uninstalling a SecureDuplex driver solved my issue.

As for system modifications, this laptop is nearly completely original. The only exception is one of the RAM modules, which was replaced two years ago. Other than that I have not changed its hardware configuration. As a matter of fact, when I replaced the RAM module, I didn't upgrade it. Its capacity stayed the same.

When it comes to Windows recovery media, I have none. The laptop didn't come with any media. I've had to rely on the Windows Recovery Environment on a partition which basically has the same features as those in the system recovery disk.

I am going to create a summary of this issue that I began having a few days ago. I will do it to the best of my ability.

On July 23, 2015, just before I went to bed, there was an update that Windows wanted to install. There were the options, "update and restart", and "update and shut down". I chose "update and shut down". The update installed, and the next day, when I went to turn on my computer, I experienced the LogonUI.exe application error. It wouldn't let me log in, so I had to hold the power button to shut it off. I restarted it, thinking it would resolve itself. The same problem happened again, and again, and again. I did a lot of looking things up, and that's how I discovered I could run the computer in Safe Mode, or normally as long as I had disabled all services in Safe Mode. I tried narrowing down the service which was causing the problem, but I lost my patience and began looking for a new solution. That's when I decided to post a thread on Tom's Hardware. Upon not getting a response to my last thread, I created this one.

I followed your suggestion of reinstalling my graphics and the AMD Catalyst Control Centre. Unfortunately, when I tried to reinstall them, it could not be done. In Safe Mode, once the installation began, I got an error "the detection driver could not be started" or something to that effect. In normal mode (with all services disabled; I couldn't log in in normal mode without them disabled) the installation would go further, but about half way through, Windows would say "Catalyst Install Manager has stopped working". I tried three installers: The desktop installer from AMD's website (the same installer I used to update my graphics drivers about a week ago), the mobile installer, also from AMD's website, and HP's installer. All would fail in the same way.

When I realized you were referencing the AMD software removal tool, I tried it on my computer to completely remove all references to AMD/ATi. I rebooted after the installation had finished, and that's when I first got the INACCESSIBLE_BOOT_DEVICE error. I cannot boot up normally, or in Safe Mode. I only have access to the recovery partition and the partition in which I have Ubuntu installed. Prior to backing up my important data that is at risk, I tried using the Command Prompt option in the recovery environment. Here are the following commands that I tried:

• 
  chkdsk /f /r
  bootrec /fixmbr
  bootrec /fixboot
  bootrec /scanos
  bootrec /rebuildbcd
  diskpart
  sel disk 0
  list vol
  sel vol 4 (that's my EFI partition)
  assign letter=p:
  cd /d p:\EFI\Microsoft\Boot\
  bootrec /fixboot
  ren BCD BCD.backup
  bcdboot c:\Windows /l en-us /s p: /f ALL
  exit

I followed all of those commands from a combination of Microsoft's forums and a page on NeoSmart that gave examples of different stop errors and how to solve them. None of those commands I tried worked, but I will try them once more.

 

[LOLZpersonok]

Sorry to hear things did not go well after I went to bed.

Whatever you do right now, do not do something that might cause you data loss. Especially if you have things on that drive that are not backed up.

I had to go read up on the stop error this morning. It is a very uncommon error.

Before we do anything else here, I went back and read everything in this thread. I have a few questions.

You had a previous thread on this. What happened in that thread? Could you link it for me?

You said you have an HP in your last post. What model HP is it, how long have you had it, and is this the first time you have had problems with it?

Do you have a Windows installation disk?
Do you have a Windows system recovery disk?

Have you replaced or added any new hardware items to this system?
Have you removed any hardware items from this system?

Is there anything else you can tell me that might help me understand what started all of this and how long its been going on?

I really wish I had a proper way to back up my things. I just can't afford a proper solution.

As you asked, here's the previous thread: http://www.tomshardware.com/answers/id-2734617/windows-logonui-exe-application-error-booting.html

You'll notice that there are no replies to it, this is why I decided to start a new thread rather than continuing to update that one.

The specific HP model I have is an HP ENVY m6-1184ca. I have had it for about two and a half years now, and no, this isn't the first time I've had issues with it. The last major issue I had with it was when one of the memory modules died about 5 months after I purchased it. I had it replaced. I was able to narrow down which memory module was having issues in HP's built-in hardware test utility that you can boot to without Windows. I ran it again when this issue appeared, and it came up with nothing. The only thing I can think of that possibly caused this issue to first occur a few days ago was the update I had let it install the night before. When I installed the update, I had shut the machine off as I was going to bed. The next day, I began having issues. I tried uninstalling the update, but Windows wouldn't remove it. I tried a System Restore, but the only restore point that I had (it's not right that I didn't have more than the one restore point) was somehow corrupt.

It's worth mentioning that I solved an issue I was having with Windows not long ago. That issue was more irritating than serious. I was unable to install the KB2919355 update but I found that uninstalling a SecureDuplex driver solved my issue.

As for system modifications, this laptop is nearly completely original. The only exception is one of the RAM modules, which was replaced two years ago. Other than that I have not changed its hardware configuration. As a matter of fact, when I replaced the RAM module, I didn't upgrade it. Its capacity stayed the same.

When it comes to Windows recovery media, I have none. The laptop didn't come with any media. I've had to rely on the Windows Recovery Environment on a partition which basically has the same features as those in the system recovery disk.

I am going to create a summary of this issue that I began having a few days ago. I will do it to the best of my ability.

On July 23, 2015, just before I went to bed, there was an update that Windows wanted to install. There were the options, "update and restart", and "update and shut down". I chose "update and shut down". The update installed, and the next day, when I went to turn on my computer, I experienced the LogonUI.exe application error. It wouldn't let me log in, so I had to hold the power button to shut it off. I restarted it, thinking it would resolve itself. The same problem happened again, and again, and again. I did a lot of looking things up, and that's how I discovered I could run the computer in Safe Mode, or normally as long as I had disabled all services in Safe Mode. I tried narrowing down the service which was causing the problem, but I lost my patience and began looking for a new solution. That's when I decided to post a thread on Tom's Hardware. Upon not getting a response to my last thread, I created this one.

I followed your suggestion of reinstalling my graphics and the AMD Catalyst Control Centre. Unfortunately, when I tried to reinstall them, it could not be done. In Safe Mode, once the installation began, I got an error "the detection driver could not be started" or something to that effect. In normal mode (with all services disabled; I couldn't log in in normal mode without them disabled) the installation would go further, but about half way through, Windows would say "Catalyst Install Manager has stopped working". I tried three installers: The desktop installer from AMD's website (the same installer I used to update my graphics drivers about a week ago), the mobile installer, also from AMD's website, and HP's installer. All would fail in the same way.

When I realized you were referencing the AMD software removal tool, I tried it on my computer to completely remove all references to AMD/ATi. I rebooted after the installation had finished, and that's when I first got the INACCESSIBLE_BOOT_DEVICE error. I cannot boot up normally, or in Safe Mode. I only have access to the recovery partition and the partition in which I have Ubuntu installed. Prior to backing up my important data that is at risk, I tried using the Command Prompt option in the recovery environment. Here are the following commands that I tried:

• 
  chkdsk /f /r
  bootrec /fixmbr
  bootrec /fixboot
  bootrec /scanos
  bootrec /rebuildbcd
  diskpart
  sel disk 0
  list vol
  sel vol 4 (that's my EFI partition)
  assign letter=p:
  cd /d p:\EFI\Microsoft\Boot\
  bootrec /fixboot
  ren BCD BCD.backup
  bcdboot c:\Windows /l en-us /s p: /f ALL
  exit

I followed all of those commands from a combination of Microsoft's forums and a page on NeoSmart that gave examples of different stop errors and how to solve them. None of those commands I tried worked, but I will try them once more. I will also try some of the other advanced startup options (such as disabling driver signatures) to see if those make any difference.

 

[Paul NZ]

This INACCESSIBLE_BOOT_DEVICE (It's probably a 0x0000007B stop error), can mean someone has changed it from IDE to AHCI in the BIOS.

And that message usually means it cant find the hdd. Because of the above. And because no SATA drivers were installed when windows was installed (If it was on IDE originally)

And the problem youre seeing / getting now (it wont boot into safe mode or normally), is the result

 

[LOLZpersonok]

This INACCESSIBLE_BOOT_DEVICE (It's probably a 0x0000007B stop error), can mean someone has changed it from IDE to AHCI in the BIOS.

And that message usually means it cant find the hdd. Because of the above. And because no SATA drivers were installed when windows was installed (If it was on IDE originally)

And the problem youre seeing / getting now (it wont boot into safe mode or normally), is the result

I will have a look at my BIOS settings. I don't believe that there are any options in my BIOS related to IDE hard disks, as my laptop is about two and a half years old and therefore would be SATA all the way. But, things can happen. I'll check regardless.

 

[Paul NZ]

There maybe an IDE or a legacy option

IDE mode doesnt have to relate to IDE hdd's. Its just another option (besides choosing AHCI mode) which needs SATA drivers. IDE mode doesnt need SATA drivers

 

[LOLZpersonok]

There maybe an IDE or a legacy option

IDE mode doesnt have to relate to IDE hdd's. Its just another option (besides choosing AHCI mode) which needs SATA drivers. IDE mode doesnt need SATA drivers

Either way, I will check out my BIOS settings to see if changing relevant settings will help.

 

[Paul NZ]

It'll be something / an option in the BIOS thats causing that error / why it wont boot into windows

 

[MarkW]

If those commands did not work, and you do not have access to a recovery partition, I think you are going to need to contact HP for assistance.

Until this morning, I was not aware of the fact that your computer was an HP machine. I normally avoid them anymore, because every time we try to do things normally, something goes wildly wrong. Same thing with Dell and most Acer machines as well. It seems that these companies have special procedures, drivers, and modified drivers that nobody else has, and when I saw that error you posted about after I went to bed last night I was scratching my head, wondering what the <bleep> was going on, and then I saw that you had an HP, and I literally said "Oh crap!".

Somewhere on that laptop is a special HP installed set of AMD drivers. I don't know where, nor why they were installed there, but they are there, and they do not follow protocol in that you cannot find them on the list of installed things to be uninstalled. I did not know about this until I was trying to track down what that error was that you wrote about after I went to bed last night. I have been working with PC's since the mid-80s, and never have I run into this before. Then when you told me the machine would no longer boot, even into Safe Mode, I was, and still am at an absolute loss on what caused that. Nothing I asked you to run should ever damage the hard drive. It should have removed the video drivers and affected nothing else. I have sent hundreds and hundreds of people to use AMD drivers and tools. And until last night, the worst that had ever happened was that the driver or tool failed to work properly.

So since tools that AMD has had up for public use for years fails to work on your laptop, and literally appears to have somehow affected your ability to boot, I need to send you to HP to try to sort this out. I do not understand this. But I will be more vigilant in asking what type of computer people have before just trying to jump in and do what has worked so many other times.

I do not want to be the cause of you losing your files. And without knowing why these things have done what they have, I must stop. I hope you understand what I am saying here. I wish I knew what has happened and why. But I do not. And I chalk that up to this being an HP. Again.

I suspect you probably know this as well as I do. But over the years, I have learned when it is time for me to step back, and send people to these 3 companies. And we are there.

Please let me know what happens. If they can help you get it working again, I would love to know what they did. I am always willing to learn things.

And if they cannot save your files, I am sincerely sorry.

Good luck. You may well need some in this case.

 

[LOLZpersonok]

There maybe an IDE or a legacy option

IDE mode doesnt have to relate to IDE hdd's. Its just another option (besides choosing AHCI mode) which needs SATA drivers. IDE mode doesnt need SATA drivers

I tried changing the relevant settings in the BIOS. There was no difference. The system still crashes with the INACCESSIBLE_BOOT_DEVICE error.

 

[Paul NZ]

Try another port / cable. It maybe faulty

 

[MarkW]

Its a laptop.. It wont have too many ports, and he might not be able to get to any of them except for the one its using now.

 

[MarkW]

There was one thing that I read this morning that should not be able to cause any damage, and which the Microsoft site suggested on that error you got last night.

It said to change the boot order in the BIOS. How that could affect this, I have no idea, but you do have multiple partitions. Try changing it, and see if the error continues.

 

[LOLZpersonok]

If those commands did not work, and you do not have access to a recovery partition, I think you are going to need to contact HP for assistance.

Until this morning, I was not aware of the fact that your computer was an HP machine. I normally avoid them anymore, because every time we try to do things normally, something goes wildly wrong. Same thing with Dell and most Acer machines as well. It seems that these companies have special procedures, drivers, and modified drivers that nobody else has, and when I saw that error you posted about after I went to bed last night I was scratching my head, wondering what the <bleep> was going on, and then I saw that you had an HP, and I literally said "Oh crap!".

Somewhere on that laptop is a special HP installed set of AMD drivers. I don't know where, nor why they were installed there, but they are there, and they do not follow protocol in that you cannot find them on the list of installed things to be uninstalled. I did not know about this until I was trying to track down what that error was that you wrote about after I went to bed last night. I have been working with PC's since the mid-80s, and never have I run into this before. Then when you told me the machine would no longer boot, even into Safe Mode, I was, and still am at an absolute loss on what caused that. Nothing I asked you to run should ever damage the hard drive. It should have removed the video drivers and affected nothing else. I have sent hundreds and hundreds of people to use AMD drivers and tools. And until last night, the worst that had ever happened was that the driver or tool failed to work properly.

So since tools that AMD has had up for public use for years fails to work on your laptop, and literally appears to have somehow affected your ability to boot, I need to send you to HP to try to sort this out. I do not understand this. But I will be more vigilant in asking what type of computer people have before just trying to jump in and do what has worked so many other times.

I do not want to be the cause of you losing your files. And without knowing why these things have done what they have, I must stop. I hope you understand what I am saying here. I wish I knew what has happened and why. But I do not. And I chalk that up to this being an HP. Again.

I suspect you probably know this as well as I do. But over the years, I have learned when it is time for me to step back, and send people to these 3 companies. And we are there.

Please let me know what happens. If they can help you get it working again, I would love to know what they did. I am always willing to learn things.

And if they cannot save your files, I am sincerely sorry.

Good luck. You may well need some in this case.

Don't be sorry, I usually have the worst of luck regardless of what product I'm using. I'm actually currently in the process of putting together a computer that is better than my HP (with parts no longer used by my brother) but for the time being I have this HP.

I'm not going to contact HP support; my computer is no longer under warranty and I don't think they'll be of much help anyways.

At this point, I'm done trying to rescue my installation of Windows. I am going to refresh Windows, which hopefully won't destroy my documents and data. If it comes down to the fact that I must to a complete reset, I will go back to my Ubuntu partition, expand it and back up my documents and data. I really only backed up documents and data that was at the most risk of being destroyed (such as my game saves and mods for Skyrim and Cities: Skylines).

Well, this is interesting. I have just tried refreshing my PC, and before anything could happen, Windows tells me that the drive it is installed on is locked. This might be why I can't boot. Unfortunately, I don't have any idea what it's talking about or how to unlock it. My computer knowledge is minuscule compared to many other people out there, so I need all the help I can get.

Seeing this "The drive where Windows is installed is locked" error has actually given me some hope.

 

[Paul NZ]

Well remove it put it in a desktop see if it detects it. Since its a laptop the cable maybe stuffed or may not be in properly

 

[MarkW]

I do agree with Paul in that case. Take the hard drive over to your brothers, and see if by booting on his system, you can get to the data on your hard drive.

As for the locked drive, this may well be what you need to do:
http://www.boyans.net/RepairWindows/The_drive_where_Windows_is_installed_is_locked.html

 

[MarkW]

A little more discussion on this... Stolen from this thread

you might want to run diskpart.exe as a admin
and see if your disk or partition has been marked as read only.

start cmd.exe as a admin
diskpart.exe
list disk
select disk 0 <----------- from the output of the previous command
attributes disk <-------- displays the attributes of that drive

see if it is marked as readonly
here is what mine shows:
DISKPART> attributes disk
Current Read-only State : No
Read-only : No
Boot Disk : No
Pagefile Disk : No
Hibernation File Disk : No
Crashdump Disk : No
Clustered Disk : No

if it is not marked readonly i would check the partition tables attrbutes

list volume
seclect volume 2 <-------- this is my windows drive
attributes volume <---------this will dump your volume info

here is what mine looks like:

DISKPART> attributes volume
Read-only : No
Hidden : No
No Default Drive Letter: No
Shadow Copy : No

again you are looking for it being marked as readonly.

if they are marked readonly you can clear the attribute

all else fails you can run repair commands to fix the boot record

with bootrec.exe

bootrec /fixmbr
bootrec.exe /fixboot
bootrec.exe /RebuildBcd

sorry if this seems complex, it is just a shame to have to wipe a drive for this problem

 

[MarkW]

Have you tried resetting the BIOS?

 

[LOLZpersonok]

I do agree with Paul in that case. Take the hard drive over to your brothers, and see if by booting on his system, you can get to the data on your hard drive.

As for the locked drive, this may well be what you need to do:
http://www.boyans.net/RepairWindows/The_drive_where_Windows_is_installed_is_locked.html

But it's a laptop, my brother's computer is a desktop. I do have other machines which are SATA capable, but as far as I know the laptop connections are different. Or maybe they aren't. If that's true, I do have a computer with enough storage to back up almost everything.