[Designing5]

This laptop was bought from a private seller. I bought it online, these are the system specs. I tried to make a partition on the C drive and after restarting it, the only thing that popped up was an error screen that I can't get past. I did not make rescue disks for it :banghead:I've tried to restore by pressing "0" (before I turn it on). I have tried to go the start up settings by pressing F8 but the screen just flickers.
What else can I do?

 

[OldGrayGary]

If you need the laptop working again in a hurry, your quickest bet is to order replacement recovery DVDs directly from Toshiba. I'd guess they cost somewhere around $30 (including shipping, in US dollars).
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If you can get to a Command Prompt in the Windows 8 Recovery Environment, you might be able to try a few tricks to get the boot files' location discovered by a tool that can repair such things.

You can borrow a "Windows 8 Repair drive " to help with your repair. Anyone who has a same-version Windows 8 computer of the same bit-depth as yours (64-bit or 32-bit) can make you one. All that needs to be done: from the Charms bar, select the Search icon, the click on Settings, then type in "Recovery drive", and select the "Create a recovery drive" icon. You can choose to create either a USB drive or a CD or DVD. The option to copy the entire recovery partition will require a larger capacity medium than not selecting that option (as little as 500mb or so will do for a basic recovery CD, DVD, or USB ... ).


... I apologize, it's getting very late here ... but I'll check back in the morning as see which route you'd like to go. And I can continue the advanced repair instructions then, if you want to try them.

Should you wish to continue researching the command line available tools, you can start with a webpage that gives a quick summary of the commands and utilities available from the command prompt --- How to use the Windows 8 System Recovery Environment Command Prompt

If nothing else, you could let chkdsk have a go at correcting any file system tangles - this sometimes can be a savior after partitions have been expanded, contracted, or cloned.

See you after some shut-eye, Good night!
. . . Gary

 

[Designing5]

You most definitively know your stuff, particularly about recovery. I have a big problem though: I can't get my laptop to boot from the DVD ROM. I set it in BIOS to boot from there BUT, after the installation CD spins in there, it ends up taking me back to the infamous blue screen here:

Keep in mind that I've tried to hit F8 to get to the Start Up options from there but it only flickers when I press the key or when I hit "Try Again".:facepalm:

I just want to know what to do to WIPE the drive completely and do a clean installation of Windows 8. I'm so tired, frustrated and frantic already. Thanks for your input Gary!

 

[OldGrayGary]

Hi again


Tell you what, let's concentrate for a bit on seeing if we can get your computer to start from a DVD . . . any DVD. If everything is mechanically OK, we should be able to do that.
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You mentioned that you didn't create any "Recovery DVD", but did the computer come with any kind of Windows 8 operating system DVD? (Most don't, so I'll expect your answer to be 'No').

Note: If you do happen to have a Windows 8 installation DVD, or are able to borrow one from someone who has a Windows 8 DVD that matches your version, you can ignore all the advice below, and use that DVD to re-install Windows 8 = just be sure to use your current license key (and NOT the license key of the borrowed DVD).
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I talked about how to create a Windows 8 "recovery drive/disk" (can be created on either a USB stick or a DVD) --- was it this sort of DVD that you weren't able to boot from? [To make it easier to talk about it = let's call it a "repair disk" (which is what they were called in Windows 7 - because nowadays the word 'recovery disk' most often refers to a complete-system-image rather than the modest little repair disks with a few tools on them).

Perhaps something went wrong when your first repair disk DVD was made. Try making another one. Remember that it must be created from a Windows 8 computer of the same type as yours (64-bit or 32-bit). If you still can't get a repair-disk DVD (made with the "Create a Recovery Drive" option in Windows 8) to boot your computer, try making a bootable USB-stick instead. Then try booting your Toshiba from the bootable USB-stick "repair disk".

There is also an alternative way to create the DVD version of the Windows 8 "repair disk". From the Start Screen or the desktop of a computer running a version of Windows 8 that matches your Toshiba's, press the Windows key and the letter X key at the same time, then select RUN from the pop-up menu. Into the run box, type recdisc and press Enter. Put a blank recordable DVD into your DVD drive, and then select your DVD drive from the drop-down menu.

Here is a link to a webpage that includes screenshots of the steps we just talked about: How to Create and Use a Recovery Drive or System Repair Disc in Windows 8 - How-To Geek

Since your Recovery and System partitions are likely still present on the hard drive, you have a good chance that starting a reinstall will eventually succeed. It might not happen at first - it could be that we'll need to run a few utilities first. But we'll see how it goes.
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Test your DVDs on another computer if they aren't able to start on your Toshiba, just to see if there's something wrong with your DVD drive. And of course, try making a bootable USB "repair disk" recovery drive & see if your Toshiba will boot from that.
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If you can get your Toshiba to boot from either a "repair disc" DVD or USB, you should be able to try such options as "System Reset" or "System Refresh" again. It's likely that you will once again see the same error screen as before, but at least we'll know that the error repeats even when booted from a DVD or USB.

Should neither System Reset or System Refresh work at all, see if you can navigate through the menus to an option that says Command Prompt. If you see an item marked Advanced Options, selecting it may bring up a screen that contains the Command Prompt option.

As a first step from the Command Prompt, type chkdsk /r

I believe the command prompt usually starts from the system partition, so the chkdsk program should start to check and repair any file system errors that it finds on the system partiton (usually called drive C on most computers).

There are other commands we might have to use, but we'll worry about those if we need them.

Try a restart of the computer & let me know how it goes.
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I'll check back in the morning -
. . . Gary

 

[Designing5]

Wow! This is a lot of rich information! I really hope that some or any of it works for me. I would hate to find out that my HD is faulty or something. I promise that I will go ahead and try to do this, especially the repair disk from Windows 8 out of another computer. I will use the link that you gave me ( How to Create and Use a Recovery Drive or System Repair Disc in Windows 8 - How-To Geek)
I will give you the answer to do later in the day. Thanks again Gary!

 

[Designing5]

Hi again! :flowers: Well, I finally finished doing what you suggested. I got a Windows 8 installation disc. I set up the order to boot from the DVD-ROM. I however can't get to command prompt, by hitting F8 as you said. I don't know if there is another way to do it but I sure don't know it.

I heard that you could possibly boot up with the help of another computer somehow. Is that right or was someone just making fun of my situation?:ermm:

By the way, should I gone to "Advanced" tab (Configurations) to change the booting order there?

 

[OldGrayGary]

Sorry I'm so late today in replying - as is fairly common in the repair business, several emergency repairs had to get done (so that my clients could go back to enjoying their weekends).
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Windows 8 Installation DVD
You mention that you now have a Windows 8 installation DVD. If it is the same type as your computer's Windows 8 (for example, Windows 8 Pro 64-bit), you should see a prompt when you start your computer with it: Press any key to start computer from DVD. When you see that prompt, press the Enter key on your keyboard to continue.

Note: there is a guide that has screen-shots for each step of this process, you can refer to it to get a more visual look at it --- How to Reinstall Windows 8 with Large Images

Next you should see a screen that asks what language and keyboard type you want - if you are in the US, and prefer English, you can accept the defaults and click Next. On the next screen, you'll see a prompt to enter your Windows 8 product key. Enter the product key from your original Toshiba Windows 8 (it should be on a sticker on the bottom of the laptop). Then click Next.

Since you want to completely start over, you can next click Install Now, and then click to Accept the license terms, and click Next.

Select Custom as the type of installation you want. Setup will next ask you "Where do you want to install Windows?" ... select Drive Options (advanced). You will want to select and then delete at least two of the partitions, so that Windows can replace them with new ones. Do NOT delete the Toshiba Recovery partition - make sure to leave it alone (it is probably about 12gb to 20gb in size). The two partitions you want to delete are a tiny little partition of about 100mb to 400mb that contains Windows 8 recovery files, and the original main Windows 8 partition, which should say "System", and which is usually the largest partition on the drive (generally about 320gb to 700gb).

From here the rest is fairly straightforward - pretty much follow the prompts. Let Windows install to the empty "unallocated space", and allow it to create its little system utility partition. The system will reboot during the installation of Windows 8, but DON'T press a key for the restart prompt "Press any key to boot from DVD" - because you do not want to boot from the DVD, you want to continue installing Windows 8.

When all done with reinstalling Windows 8, you can then restore your documents and pictures and other personal files from your backups.
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Windows 8 "repair disc" DVD (or USB)
If it turns out that you don't have a Windows 8 installation DVD, but in fact have a Windows 8 "repair disc" DVD, which you made from the instructions in one of my earlier posts, you should have seen a screen from which you could choose to try a System Reset, System Refresh, or Troubleshooting. Should a System Reset not work, you could then go on to trying some utilities from the Command Prompt, which you can access from the Advanced Options menu. These steps get a bit more complicated, so I'm going to point you over to a site with step-by-step instructions that can walk you through each process. Pay special attention to the points they raise about the "UEFI only" setting in some computers Bios settings, that is very important if your computer's hard drive is partitioned as a GPT drive (don't worry, it's all explained very clearly in the article ... and it's explained a couple of times!). Here's the link --- Repair your computer in Windows 8 | www.winhelp.us

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If you take your time & follow the steps one at a time, I think you should have a pretty good chance of getting your Toshiba back to normal.

And if too many things went missing with a partitioning accident, don't worry -- you always have the option to order new Recovery DVDs from Toshiba. They shouldn't cost much, and they definitely should work.

Once again, I'll check back to see how you're doing. (Though on Sunday mornings, I am fond of some coffee, chocolates and the crossword puzzle ... so it might be a little bit later than average: and, luckily, I'm more of a baseball fan than a football fan .... )
. . . Gary