Windows 8.1 Automatic Repair Loop

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manshiny

manshiny

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Sep 7, 2011
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Good evening,

I recently did a fresh install of Windows 8 on my laptop and my partners. Upgraded my partners laptop to 8.1 and everything was dandy.

Today I bought some ram for myself and my partner. When I went to shut down, her laptop said it had an update. So I chose the update and shutdown option, as I have previously.

I installed the ram, launched the laptop and entered the BIOS. Ram was installed fine, things were still dandy. The MSI logo came up and said "entering automatic repair". I tried bypassing and just continuing into Windows 8. No luck.

I tried a few more times. No luck. Now it's an infinite loop. Great.

I did some googling and found these two forum threads:
http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows8_1-windows_update/how-to-fix-the-automatic-repair-loop-in-windows-81/bfc92bc7-031f-45d4-b623-bcb4847d32fd

And
http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows8_1-system/windows-81-automatic-repair-loop-after-system/d7f220e9-49b0-47b3-b1d0-c7a89dfbc3f2

I tried most, if not all of the suggestions with little luck.
I can't enter safe mode, there is no option in advanced settings. I can't launch from disk or USB (I installed a legit Windows 8.iso on a USB and Disk, and the laptop insisted on not loading either, I checked BIOS and the settings were correct, so it just wasn't willing to work), I can't do the CMD commands because I either get an error about not having the files or i don't have the disk.

EDIT: I just tried using F12 to enter boot menu, and it says that there is no media found, even though I have a USB with Windows 8 and a Windows 7 disk for insurance.

And I can't do a fresh install because my partner doesn't want that since we just did a fresh install and install all her software and information.

I tried using the dskchk in CMD for the SSD with Win 8.1, and that didn't do anything unfortunately.

I tried contacting Microsoft Support, which was pointless because the rep insisted it was the BIOS, and not Windows 8.1 as well. So now I'm getting desperate.

Right now, I've attempted bcdedit /set (long key from bcdedit) recoveryenabled No, and it's just sitting there with no response.

What can I do to get out of this loop and boot into desktop?

Should probably mention that my laptop model is MSI GT70 2OC.
 
Solution
jnewegger23
Try pressing F8 repeatedly to get into safe mode. If that doesn't work try again holding it down; for some computers holding it down is a requirement. Once in, try to start windows normally. If it goes back into loop go back into safe mode and see if the os image is corrupt:

http://www.kapilarya.com/fix-do-inbox-corruption-repair-using-dism-in-windows-8

This is not a guaranteed fix but your problem sounds eerily similar to a recent fix I had to do and this did work. Please keep us up to date. Also, check the hard drive to make sure it's not failing by performing some tests.
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Try pressing F8 repeatedly to get into safe mode. If that doesn't work try again holding it down; for some computers holding it down is a requirement. Once in, try to start windows normally. If it goes back into loop go back into safe mode and see if the os image is corrupt:

http://www.kapilarya.com/fix-do-inbox-corruption-repair-using-dism-in-windows-8

This is not a guaranteed fix but your problem sounds eerily similar to a recent fix I had to do and this did work. Please keep us up to date. Also, check the hard drive to make sure it's not failing by performing some tests.
 
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Solution


I tried spamming F8 and holding it down, it continues to go into Automatic Repair. Any other buttons I could try?

http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/tutorials/enable-the-f8-key-in-windows-8/

I did this and it's still not loading up in safe mode.
 
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Interesting...rare but sometimes ram can be the issue. Do you still have the old ram available? If so, see if a quick swap changes anything.

Also, here's a pretty well written guide that's more methodical than some of the microsoft forum answers:
http://pcsupport.about.com/od/findbysymptom/a/windows-update-frozen.htm

That may have to hold you over until tomorrow. I have to get some rest but will check this thread when I get up. Good luck!
 
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I had thought that it might be the issue. I'll take the new ram out and see if it fixes it. Seems like that's the culprit since nothing else is appearing to work.

EDIT:
Removed ram, no change.

Another edit:
I tried this in advanced settings:
bcdedit /set {default} safeboot minimal

It told me operation was successful, pressed continue, it restarted, it went back into the automatic repair. It's beginning to feel as though it's impossible to get out.

EDIT(Again): I'm able to put the SSD into the second slot into my laptop. From there I can access the drive. Is there anything I could delete that would stop this issue. I've been told that deleting the corrupted file usually fixes the issue.
 
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I have progress!

I attempted to boot into the USB with windows 8 installation without success. Instead of I got message:
It's on the lines of:

Your PC needs to be repaired
The boot configuration data for your PC is missing or contains errors.

File: \EFU\Microsoft\Boot\BCD
Error code: 0xc000000f

You'll need to use recovery tools on your installation media.

The problem is, I'm pretty much unable to access my USB, so I'll need to find an alternative. I'll continue looking


Update:
Because nothing is working and this issue needs to be solved asap, I'm going to just do a fresh install of Windows 8.
 
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I actually found out what the issue was. Unfortunately by that point, it was too late.
One of the ram sticks was damaged during installation lol. So unfortunate.
 
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