Dubious disk issues, Windows 8/Ubuntu dual boot

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CressAlbane
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Dubious disk issues, Windows 8/Ubuntu dual boot

Post by CressAlbane »

I hard-reset my laptop recently while working in Windows, and after that point I was unable to boot into Windows. Windows 8 runs its Auto Repair and I'm shown an error screen for a split second before the system restarts itself. On the second run-through, Auto Repair hangs on a black screen for eternity. I cannot boot into Windows.

I rarely use the Windows partition on this laptop, so it's not Windows 8.1.

Using a diagnostic tool that I can run from BIOS, I discovered that the hard drive fails its short self-test. Plugging the error code into the support website of my laptop's manufacturer sent me to a general-purpose "faulty hard drive" page.

However, I can still access my GNU/GRUB boot manager and boot into Ubuntu with no trouble at all. I can even mount all the volumes on the drive that correspond to my Windows install (a fact I took advantage of to back up my personal data there). I'm not sure there's a problem with the drive.

My suspicion is that something is triggering Windows 8 to run its Auto Repair instead of booting normally, and if I could do away with that, I could boot into Windows. I'm an admitted Windows novice, however, so there may be an underlying problem I'm not aware of. I don't have Windows recovery media available off-hand.

What I've attempted:
- Some Google searches suggested power management could have spurred the problem, but removing both the battery and the drive and replacing them didn't help.
- I tried deleting any hibernating Windows sessions on the partition after seeing it fail to boot, but this didn't change anything.

Do you think there is a hardware problem, or does the issue lie in Windows 8 being obtuse? How should I go about gathering more information?
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Re: Dubious disk issues, Windows 8/Ubuntu dual boot

Post by rc1207sev »

I had a similar issue, but I had Windows 10 (Evaluation Build) and Ubuntu instead. My advice is this:
Backup all of your personal files
Wipe hard drive, convert partition type to MBR
Two Options:
Use Windows 8 Recovery disk
Shrink that volume using diskpart
OR...
Install Windows 10 (It's Wayyyyy better :D , and Battlefront II and Republic Commando run just as easily (Windows 8 sucks for gaming)
Shrink the Windows 10 partition
THEN...
Install Ubuntu by creating a partition in the Ubuntu installer
Now, all you have to do is change the boot order to run different OS's (Windows Boot Manager won't let you go into Ubuntu for some reason)

Summary: MBR Partition type works better. But I don't think MBR Works on Windows 8.....

IMPORTANT: When you run the Windows 8/10 installation disk, NEVER change the boot type, it doesn't let you install Windows Boot Manager correctly, so it will take you right back to the beginning of the Windows installation. ALWAYS stick to the UEFI boot type. Don't switch to Legacy BIOS

Note: This just worked for my laptop, I'm not sure if it will for you

Also: Good for you to not use Windows 8.1. I think it sucks
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