W8.1 won't boot "Your PC did not start correctly", Startup Repair error : "root cause found: registry is corrupt"

1

My PC (Windows 8.1, dual booting with Windows 10 Dev Preview) won't boot, every time I try it just goes to Automatic Repair which always fails.
Things I tried:

  1. Safe mode doesn't work (goes to Automatic Repair).
  2. sfc /scannow doesn't work (message: There is a system repair pending ...)
  3. sfc /scannow /offbootdir=d: /offwindir=c:\windows didn't work either. (message: Windows Resource Protection could not perform the requested operation.)
  4. I did chkdsk /r c: twice didn't find any errors.
  5. Tried Startup repair with installation USB a couple of times, most recent one said "root cause found: registry is corrupt"
  6. When I first tried System Restore I was able to see restore points (the latest restore point was a windows update of the 13th but it didn't let me restore saying that I need to enable the system protection, my PC stopped working on the 14th) but I can't see any restore points.
  7. Refresh doesn't work. (message: There was a problem refreshing your PC. No changes were made)
  8. bootrec /fixmbr, bootrec /fixboot, bootrec /rebuildbcd none of them worked.

I do have registry back ups, but I'm not sure how to do a restore if I can't go to safe mode. Is there anything else I should try before giving up and reinstalling?

MrT3chGuy

Posted 2015-01-17T23:48:54.990

Reputation: 11

Question was closed 2015-04-25T10:51:47.097

Could you check your boot disk mode in BIOS settings: IDE or AHCI mode? or RAID mode? – JosefZ – 2015-01-18T10:39:03.497

@JosefZ Thanks for the reply. It says Native IDE. – MrT3chGuy – 2015-01-18T17:45:32.117

Did you find a solution to this?, I have the same problem – Mina Samy – 2015-02-16T15:02:40.957

@MinaSamy No, not yet, I'm close though. I found a backup of my registry, but when I restored it, the blue loading Windows flashes then goes to automatic repair. I'll update the post if I find the solution. – MrT3chGuy – 2015-02-21T16:50:22.397

Well, I had to do a fresh install, re partitioning the hard disk as in this video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xvoYCdHvJSc

– Mina Samy – 2015-02-22T13:27:58.257

@MinaSamy I see, I'll do that too if I can't get it to work. – MrT3chGuy – 2015-02-23T05:34:05.333

Sounds like the same situation I found myself in when I asked Is it possible to enable System Protection from the command prompt?.

– Rob Watts – 2015-04-18T21:03:51.613

I'm voting to close this question as off-topic because OP gave up and reinstalled OS – Nifle – 2015-04-25T10:51:47.097

Answers

0

I couldn't solve the problem so I reinstalled the OS. But I did a fresh install over the non-working W8.1 so that my stuff will be stored in Windows.old so that I can retrieve them later.

MrT3chGuy

Posted 2015-01-17T23:48:54.990

Reputation: 11

0

I hit the same thing yesterday.
When booting, select the "advanced" option, and you can get to system restore.
Choose a restore point at least a few days before the problem.

This worked and got me running again, but the overnight automatic update broke it again.

I repeated the system restore, this time disabled the automatic update, as it now automatically breaks the system.

Bill Kelley

Posted 2015-01-17T23:48:54.990

Reputation: 1

Thanks for the reply but I when I go to System Restore I don't see any restore points :( – MrT3chGuy – 2015-01-19T00:47:47.827

Asked: 2015-01-17T23:48:54.990

Viewed: 16 598 times

Active: 2015-04-25T10:52:51.477