The device cannot start Windows 8.1.
The device cannot start Windows 8.1.
Hello everyone, I'm seeking assistance as I'm feeling overwhelmed by the financial commitment involved. I've faced challenges with my Windows 8.1 system, particularly a hanging error that prevents closing programs and forces a hard reset via power or reset button. After a refresh, the problem persisted for about two months. Recently, I encountered the same issue again—mostly when using WoW, but also while browsing the internet. The situation has deteriorated; now my computer won't boot into Windows at all. The UEFI BIOS loads fine, but once it enters Windows it displays an error that Windows isn't functioning. It cycles back to UEFI and then pauses for ten minutes before attempting recovery. I'm currently trying a Windows 8.1 refresh but am stuck on the "Drive is Locked" message. I've searched online and am using CMD commands to troubleshoot, though I'm still unsure. Do others experience similar recurring problems? I suspect an update might be the culprit, possibly related to one of the Windows 8.1 updates. It's possible the SSD I installed is faulty or my motherboard is the issue. I've had past instances where the system freezes at the Asus boot screen and doesn't launch Windows, but this is the most severe case yet. Resets used to work before, but now I'm at a standstill. My hardware is listed in my profile, though I'll update it here—motherboard: ASUS Republic of Gamers Maximus VII Hero CPU: Intel 4790k (OC'd to 4.4 GHzz) RAM: 16 GB Corsair Vengeance Pro 2400 GPUs: EVGA ACX SSC 2.0+ 980Tis SSDs: 1x 120 GB Sandisk (~3 years old, OS installed), 2x Intel 730 480 GB SSDs. I should also mention that the Windows Recovery interface is extremely slow; it takes around 30 seconds for the system to confirm a locked drive, and the command prompt remains unresponsive after typing "diskpart" for over two minutes.
Currently, the situation isn’t very promising. Besides the three SSDs already installed (games on two Intel 730s), the main alternative is my old Sandisk 120GB drive from a previous system. It’s roughly six months past its prime compared to the one in this build. It still runs Windows 7 from the earlier setup and contains some files I haven’t managed to recover yet.
Do you have a hard drive available for testing? A newer solid-state drive will also work. You'll need a device to determine whether the issue lies with the SSD.
Currently I don’t have any HDDs; I only have four SSDs available.
After connecting the remaining 120 GB SSD, the device tries to install Windows 8. When the original drive and the Windows 8 disk are taken out, the system freezes in "Attempting to Repair" and can't start properly.