Removed drivers to fix BSODs....now stuck in repair loop in Windows 8.1 Pro

[phidelt649]

So I recently completed an HTPC build that ran beautifully for a few days. I started having BSODs and the recommended course of action was to remove the MB's Bluetooth drivers. Stable for a day, then started getting more BSODs that warned of driver malfunctions. Went through device manager and removed a couple GPU drivers that I didn't need anymore. Went to reboot and immediately got trapped in a repair loop.

I've looked at all the stuff I could find online and I am unable to get into any sort of repair mode or safe mode. I've tried every combination. I also disconnected all my USB peripherals as that was recommended as a possible fix. I tried booting Windows 8 from a USB drive still no dice. Basically, the system turns on, goes to Preparing to Repair...., and then goes to Diagnostic for half a second before crashing. The BSODS screen is up for literally half of a second.

I used the slow mo feature on my phone to try and nab the error code. It read PFN Corrupt. I pulled my primary boot drive and reformatted it with another computer (no big deal as this was a brand new build anyway). Reinstalled, fired it up.....and nothing. I'm out of ideas and open to anything.

Thanks!!!!

 

[MarkW]

Never remove drivers. Replace them. But do not just leave a device dead. Which is what taking its driver away does. It kills it.

Can you get into Safe Mode? Power up, and start tapping F8 quickly. Some systems need F8 to tapped, and others want it held down. Get into Safe Mode with Networking.

Since we do not know what you deleted, lets just redo everything with the latest drivers.

Once you are in Safe Mode with Networking, click on the DDU icon below, and it will uninstall and clean up the video card drivers. We will install the latest video drivers a bit later. When it is done, it will restart the machine. Let it restart and go back into Safe Mode with Networking.

Next, lets make sure the registry is cleaned up, to make sure no issues pop up from that. Click on the CCleaner icon below, download and install it. Run it, and click on the Registry button on the left side, then Analyze, and then Fix all issues found.

After that, go to your motherboard (or computer) manufacturer's website, find your motherboard page there, and select the Support or Downloads page, and download all of the latest drivers and install them while still in Safe Mode.

If you have an Intel based motherboard, Click on the Intel logo below to go to the Intel Download Center and update those drivers as well. If you are also using Intel graphics, get those drivers there as well.

If you have AMD or Nvidia graphics, click on the appropriate icon below to download the latest video drivers. Install those while still in Safe Mode as well.

Once all of these drivers have been installed, restart the computer and see if it can get to the desktop.

 

[phidelt649]

I am not able to get into safe mode. I've tried everything. The only driver I uninstalled was an incorrect MSI GPU driver and the BT drivers.

I also downloaded memtest to check my RAM just in case but now, all of the sudden, I don't get any video output. I've tried plugging in to the GPU and the onboard. Monitor just reads no signal. I keep moving backwards instead of forwards.......

 

[MarkW]

Can you boot from your Windows disk?

If so, go into recovery, and have it refresh all Windows files.

 

[phidelt649]

No, I am unable to get into anything. It goes from Auto repair to Diagnosing to instant crash. I can't boot from USB flash either.

 

[MarkW]

If you can't even get access to the hard drive, you have no choice but to reformat the drive and start over with it.

 

[phidelt649]

I pulled the drive and put it in an USB enclosure and reformatted it. Still no dice. I get the same error even with a blank drive which boggles my mind.

 

[MarkW]

Have you reset the BIOS?

 

[phidelt649]

Yup and flashed it just in case. Still no dice.

 

[MarkW]

Strip that motherboard down to 1 stick of memory, the CPU and its cooler, the power supply, and the video card. If you have a CPU with onboard graphics remove the video card from the mother board as well. No mouse, no keyboard, no hard drive, no optical drive. Anything you are going to boot from must be physically disconnected. Make sure the power cables are disconnected from items not included in the boot cycle as well.

Then try to boot. If it gets to a message saying it could not find something, power down, add that 'something', and power up again.

Keep doing that until either you add a device, and it starts giving you error(s) again, or you get everything connected again, and the problem has magically disappeared.