Original Title : Windows 10 upgrade attempt, PC no longer can boot up.
I recently attempted to upgrade from Windows 7 to Windows 10 on my Alienware m14x laptop. Admittedly, I did not look up a guide on "what to do before you install Windows 10", because I just figured Microsoft would have made it idiot-proof. I started the
update and then went to make dinner, so if there was any error screen or other issue during the installation, I did not see it. Contacting Microsoft support chat was not helpful, and based on the short phone call I had with the agent who intended to transfer
me to the tech department for a call (but was unable to do so), I thought I would try my luck here. I would greatly appreciate any advice or assistance! If any additional information is needed, I'm happy to provide it, but I'm not the most tech-savvy, so I
may be a bit slow with figuring some things out.
Problem: Windows failed to start.
I turn on the laptop and I get to the "Windows Error Recovery" screen. "A recent hardware or software change might be the cause." It gives two options: Launch Startup Repair (recommended) and Start Windows Normally.
Either option leads me to the next screen: Windows Boot Manager. Status: 0xc000000f Info: A required device isn't connected or can't be accessed.
Only option is "ENTER=OS Selection" Then I get another Windows Boot Manager screen that lets me select Windows 7 as an operating system (Windows 10 isn't listed) or the Windows Memory Diagnostic tool. Windows 7 leads me back to the previous page. Running the Windows Memory Diagnostics doesn't seem to find any problems, it just runs and then restarts the computer.
When pressing F8 on the second Windows Boot Manager screen, I get the Advanced Boot Options.
Everything just cycles me back to the first Windows Boot Manger screen!
I have the Windows 7 disk that came with the laptop, and I made a USB with the Windows 10 so I could boot up from one of those, but I don't know which one to use for the startup repair. I managed to successfully start each one (I was wonder which, if either,
would work), but I'm afraid of making the problem worse by selecting the wrong one or doing a clean install when it wasn't necessary (I'd rather not lose all of my pictures if they aren't all lost already). My google-searching for solutions led me to like
50 tabs of "similar but not quite" problems. I tried/found some things that may be potentially useful, as listed below!
On the BIOS screen, the computer does recognize my hard drive, and I tried setting the boot priority to boot from the hard drive and still got nowhere. When I went into the system repair program and got to a spot where I could enter commands, I tried the following:
[Using the Windows 7 disk]
1. bootrec /fixmbr
"The system cannot find the path specified"
2. bootrec /fixboot
"The system cannot find the path specified"
3. bootrec /ScanOs
Total identified Windows installations: 0
[Using the Windows 10 usb]
1. bootrec /fixmbr
The operation completed successfully.
2. bootrec /fixboot
The operation completed successfully.
3. bootrec /ScanOs
Total identified Windows installations: 1
[1] F:\Windows
When attempting Startup Repair from the Windows 10 USB, it says "Startup Repair couldn't repair your PC"
It also won't let me reset to a previous build. When I choose "Reset this PC" and say I want to keep my files, it says "The drive where Windows is installed is locked. Unlock the drive and try again."