[atrdriver]

Hi, My friend has a Gateway desktop PC that fried it's MB. He asked me to replace it for him, and I did. I can not boot into Windows now, either normal or safe mode. The thing came with Win 8.0 preinstalled, and he upgraded it first to 8.1, then to Win10. I am attempting to save his Windows install if I can, but worst case I would be OK with doing a re-install, however I have found that is an issue as well, because the Win8.0 product key he has doesn't work on the Win8.1 ISO, which is the only one available from Microsoft now.

I am able to get into the command prompt under advanced startup, but when I run sfc /scannow it errors out after saying 100% complete. It also won't allow me to run chkdsk with any switches, sating the the disk is write protected. This is driving me nuts.

The error I am getting when tying to start W10, either in normal or safe mode, is CRITICAL_PROCESS_DIED.

Any help would be greatly appreciated! Thanks in advance...

 

[atrdriver]

Also, I forgot to mention, there is a recovery volume on the HDD that I can see in DISKPART. However, with the new MB I can't figure out a way to get into it to just recover back to the original Windows 8.0 install. If I could do that I could clone the drive prior to doing that and then copy all the data over to the recovered install.

 

[spunk.funk]

When Windows is installed it takes a snapshot of all of the hardware and motherboard, chipset etc and it loads drivers specific to that hardware. If you change the motherboard, when Windows loads, it will look for the previous hardware, it will not find it and it will BSOD or not boot.
A clean install is always best. You can try doing a Factory reset, Restart the computer and hold down the ALT key and press F10. This should wipe the drive and factory restore it to Windows 8 so backup first. How to Activate Recovery on a Gateway Laptop | eHow
or if that fails try this Gateway Support - Full Factory Recovery
If you don't have that option and you still have your Windows key, you can download an ISO image here. https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows8

 

[atrdriver]

My question is, will that key combo work since it is a new MB and bios? I thought the key combinations were set up in the bios to enter recovery modes. I replaced the stock board that was fried with a gigabyte model.

 

[spunk.funk]

There is only one way to find out if it works

 

[atrdriver]

I will give it a shot in the morning. If not, is there another way to get into the recovery partition? Like I said, I can see it in DISKPART but it doesn't show up in the bios under boot devices, and it shows as hidden in DISKPART.

 

[spunk.funk]

I gave you two options. You can also un-hide it in Diskpart.

 

[atrdriver]

OK, I tried every key combo imaginable and none of them got me into the restore partition. I was also not able to unhide it in DISKPART. My friend had made recovery media when he first got the machine, so I re-installed Win8.0, figuring that I would just allow to upgrade to Win10 again. Problem now is it won't take the activation key for Win8.0. He forwarded me the e-mail from Microsoft so I know I have the correct key, and when it asked for it during the install it took it fine. But it didn't activate automatically, and when I go to Settings -> Activation it won't accept it. Any ideas?

 

[Stancestans]

The thing came with Win 8.0 preinstalled

then

He forwarded me the e-mail from Microsoft so I know I have the correct key

When you say the PC came pre-installed with Windows 8, do you mean your friend bought it with an OEM installation of Windows 8 (pre-installed at the factory, with product key embedded in BIOS) OR do you mean YOU received it pre-installed with a retail copy of Windows 8 that your friend bought separately (hence the email with the product key)?

If the PC came with a factory-installed copy of Windows, your friend wouldn't be having an email from Microsoft containing the activation key. The OEM product key would be encrypted in the BIOS of the original motherboard and would be applied automatically during re-installation of Windows/factory reset, but since the original mobo is dead, the OEM license basically died with it.

Replacing the motherboard makes it a different PC altogether, and as far as Windows licensing goes, it's a second machine that you're trying to activate using a previously used (retail) product key. That is no problem as long as the license is no longer in use in the first machine. You are allowed to transfer a retail license from one machine to another as long as it's in use in one machine ONLY and not both. OEM licenses on the other hand are not transferable to another system.

So, if the product key in the email from Microsoft is the same one that was used with the Windows 8 installation when the PC was first bought by your friend, it means the PC did not come pre-installed with an OEM-licensed copy, but rather your friend purchased a retail license and perhaps downloaded an ISO using that product key, in which case you can try activating Windows by phone, and if that doesn't work then call Microsoft support and have them assist with activation.

That recovery volume that you spotted on that hard disk is just the first partition created on a GPT disk which would contain the Windows Recovery Environment and any other OEM utilities, but not the recovery partition that contains the factory image of Windows.

 

[atrdriver]

OK, finally got the recovery disks that he mace to work. When I was installing it the first time I didn't have the ethernet cable plugged in, which is how I normally install Windows 7. When I tried it the third or fourth time I had it plugged in and it asked for his log in information. As soon as I logged him in to his Microsoft account everything worked fine. Thanks for the assistance!

 

[spunk.funk]

Glad you got it sorted! Please mark this thread Solved in the Thread Tools at the top.