Windows 8.1 won't boot black screen with with blinking underscore.

[Shameful]

Pc went into sleep mode and a whole bunch of crap happened got pc to turn back on and I come across a blank screen with blinking cursor

 

[dodger46]

Pc went into sleep mode and a whole bunch of crap happened got pc to turn back on and I come across a blank screen with blinking cursor

Usually indicates HDD failure, but in this case might be your boot data corrupt. Ideally need an Installation disk or Recovery disk to boot your machine.
Create Recovery
If you don't have a Recovery/Installation disk get a friend running Windows 8/8.1 to create a Recovery Drive at the very least. Ensure their Installation is the same (Both 32 or64 bit). You'll need a blank CD (Win 8) or a small (1Gb) USB Pendrive. Simply type 'Create' at your Start Screen. Choose Create Recovery Drive from Settings (Win 8) or from list (win 8.1).
CD can only be created in Windows 8 using Windows 7 File Recovery.
Leave the box unchecked for the Recovery Partition.
Get into BIOS (Setup) and make USB Drive or Optical Drive 1st choice in the Boot menu, and boot from the Recovery Drive/Disk. Proceed via Troubleshoot to Advanced Options and first try System Restore to a point prior to your problem arising.

 

[Pyrithion]

i have the same issue. I tried to boot from my windows disk but it doesn't work. For some reason on the hp startup screen it will not let me select f11 for system recovery it just goes to the blank screen. I have tried all possibilities in bios. I ran diagnostics which showed everything pass. Is there another way to boot from the disk.

 

[DanisT]

How do I even get into bios? I tried F1, F12, F8, even ctrl F8 and nothing helped. I have a Lenovo K450e, Windows 8.1 and got the same problem.