Windows 8.1 won't boot up after corrupt hard drive

[TheArtOfWar]

Good morning (if it can be described as such) my computer won't boot the OS anymore after I received an error of corrupt C: drive (where my OS is installed). This message came up after I restarted my computer with the forced restart button after I forgot to switch it off last night.

Now, the windows logo appears but after that a grey screen appears with nothing on it where normally the login page should be.

I can access the UEFI BIOS Utility with Delete or F2 but not safe mode. What do I from here? I have tried changing the boot priority to my HDD but nothing. I've also tried mashing Shift+F8 but it only brings up a menu with the option to load from the CD drive, HDD or access the UEFI BIOS.
I've tried all three and now I'm desperate.

What can I do in the BIOS program? Help please...

Motherboard is ASUS Z87 Pro with Win 8.1, there's a Boot menu in the BIOS program called ASUS UEFI BIOS Utility

 

[Paul NZ]

Replace the hdd

 

[TheArtOfWar]

@Paul NZ, so there's no way I can access recovery mode? In the secure boot menu I have to option to select between Windows UEFI mode or an other OS, currently the UEFI is selected

 

[Paul NZ]

No point trying to reinstall it if this is what youre trying to do. If it's corrupt. It'll have probs reading the hdd

 

[TheArtOfWar]

@paul NZ Is there nothing at all? How does an HDD become corrupt?

 

[Paul NZ]

Could be old / faulty. Malware MAY have corrupted files on it

Try another SATA cable. It maybe faulty. Or try another SATA port

Remove the hdd and put it in another system. See if the system can read it.

If it hangs on the post screen, then it maybe too corrupt to use it

Do you have the Windows 8 DVD?

 

[TheArtOfWar]

@Paul NZ

I have it, just need to find it. First I'll try changing SATA port. What is the exact command to enter safe mode? It used to be F7, now? Is it shift+ what?

 

[Paul NZ]

I've never used safe mode in windows 8

But]http://www.howtogeek.com/107511/how-to-boot-into-safe-mode-on-windows-8-the-easy-way/]But this should work[/url]

But if you want to use safe mode for the dvd boot from the dvd instead.

 

[TheArtOfWar]

@paulNZ I just switched SATA ports, nothing to be done. I guess I'll try reinstalling windows and if not, it's a new HDD. Got any tips? Thanks a lot man

 

[Paul NZ]

See if windows can be reinstalled. If it takes forever (which may happen if the hdd is corrupt) or it crashes or something. Replace the hdd. Hopefully (files maybe corrupt, not the whole hdd), then it maybe OK / install OK

There's no point trying to install Windows on a corrupt hdd

 

[TheArtOfWar]

@paulNZ somehow you make me feel a bit better.. Knowing I just lost all my Ableton projects, uni docs & etc I am ready to kill the nearest virus coder to me

 

[Paul NZ]

lol. umm if there are any docs etc (not programs ) you want to try and salvage. Connect it to a working system, and see if windows will load. If you can get access to it then, copy them to something then format it / reinstall windows

 

[TheArtOfWar]

Is there a possibility that viruses nest within documents as well? I don't mind rewriting a few assignments so I guess I won't risk it. Thanks again, I'll probably have a few questions about partitioning & what not, so please stay on a few more minutes.

 

[Paul NZ]

Did you have viruses on the hdd / was it infected with something then?

If you did you could burn some kind of rescue cd to cd or you could try extracting it to a flash with rufus. (thats if it works)

Then boot from it

 

[TheArtOfWar]

@PaulNZ I regularly performed virus scams with Malwarebytes, Windows defender & adware cleaners but I still think there were a few left. I even used a registry cleaner a week ago. Could this be the cause of the corrupt HDD? A regcleaner?

 

[Paul NZ]

reg cleaners can delete valid entries in the registry. They may not corrupt a hdd. But if you delete something important (if the program doesnt back up what you remove). It can make windows unusable. Or even screw things up completely

I avoid using reg cleaners.

But if you can download that ISO I posted then burn it or extract it to a flash drive. Boot from it.

If your system has a rootkit, it maybe or can be possible that something like this has corrupted the files or hdd somehow

 

[TheArtOfWar]

Seems like the perfect storm: regcleaner and viruses.

So how do I start anew? I have my 8.1 DVD, what now?

 

[Paul NZ]

Reboot. Put the DVD in go into the BIOS.

If this is a UEFI system / mobo change it to UEFI in the BIOS first. Look for AHCI in the BIOS. Enable it as well

Change the bootdisk to cd/dvd. Save settings restart. When it reboots it may say press a key. Press a key. Wait for the setup screen

 

[TheArtOfWar]

@paulNZ I have the option between "upgrade windows" and Custom: Install Windows. I suppose the latter

 

[TheArtOfWar]

@paulNZ I now have the options to partition the drives but as I can see, the drive is half full from the previous install. I guess I format the partition 1 (system reserved) and partition 2 (files, programs, etc)

 

[TheArtOfWar]

Reboot. Put the DVD in go into the BIOS.

If this is a UEFI system / mobo change it to UEFI in the BIOS first. Look for AHCI in the BIOS. Enable it as well

Change the bootdisk to cd/dvd. Save settings restart. When it reboots it may say press a key. Press a key. Wait for the setup screen

How would recommend partitioning my 1Tb drive? I have 931Gb available, what is best? Only two partitions: one for the OS and the other for dat, or multiple partitions like 1 of 331Gb and 3 of 200Gb each?

 

[Paul NZ]

Delete all partitions first. Then you can recreate them. Down the bottom right if you want 4 partitions of 250 gb each type in 250000 then OK

I'm using a 1 Tb 3.5 here and partitioned it into 4 250 GB partitions. Up to you really how many partitions you want...And how big . Dont go over 4 partitions tho. I think the max is 4... If you make the partitions too small, you wont be able to add any more once you're in windows.

Then click on the partition (not the reserved partition) you want to reinstall Windows on. Then it should start installing Win8

Yup select custom on the setup screen

 

[TheArtOfWar]

Delete all partitions first. Then you can recreate them. Down the bottom right if you want 4 partitions of 250 gb each type in 250000 then OK

I'm using a 1 Tb 3.5 here and partitioned it into 4 250 GB partitions. Up to you really how many partitions you want...And how big

Then click on the partition (not the reserved parttition) you want to reinstall Windows on. Then it should start installing Win8

1 partition for OS and 3 others, will this help in future for data recovery if something of the sorts happened again? Also what antivirus do you recommend?

 

[Paul NZ]

I find that most of the other AV programs slow the system down, or they'll crash it.

I'm using Win8 here and just using windows defender. I know it's not the best.

But I would rather have something thats stable, than install something else thats going to crash all the time. Or slow the system down when I boot into windows

 

[TheArtOfWar]

I find that most of the other AV programs slow the system down, or they'll crash it.

I'm using Win8 here and just using windows defender. I know it's not the best.

But I would rather have something thats stable, than install something else thats going to crash all the time. Or slow the system down when I boot into windows

I used to think the same but when I went looking into my program files and registry, I saw a few dodgy keys and entries so I decided to try malware bytes. There were quite a few but it still wasn't enough I guess :/
In future, how do you recommend to clean my registry?