Old Program Files

[naddyg123]

I've watched a lot of Linus Tech Tips videos, but this is my first time actually asking for help on the forum.

 

I recently put together my first PC (March 2014) and have had really bad luck with it ever since. First I used a MSI motherboard (Z87-G45), but after having to RMA it twice, I figured I'd get from a different company. So I'm now using a Gigabyte Z97X-UD5H and it worked alright with a few quirks.

 

First off, it would take a couple seconds to load the Gigabyte splash screen. While it's a little slow, I may just be picky about this. Another weird thing is that However, now my Windows is having problems.

 

It can't read from the USB keyboard outside of Windows, so getting to the bios is always a pain. It almost ALWAYS would load a blank light blue screen after the splash screen, then if I pressed Reset it would load properly. At first I though this was a video card issue since I switched from an AMD card (HD 7850, gave it to my brother and got myself an NVIDIA card...I'm not a fanboy of either Team Red or Green, just wanted to try something else) to an NVIDIA. However, now I can't get into Windows at all. I go to a light blue screen of the same color and says:

 

"Recovery

Your PC needs to be Repaired

The Boot Configuration Data for your PC is missing or contains errors.

 

File:\EFI\MICROSOFT\BOOT\BCD

Error Code"0x0000185

 

You'll need to use the recovery tools on your installation media. If you don't have any installion media (like a disc or USB device), contact your system administrator or PC manufacturer.

Press Esc for UEFI Firmware Settings.

"

 

I tried putting the Windows install disc in and going to 'Startup Repair', but it goes to a blank light blue screen. The Microsoft tech support representative, they tried to make me go into safe mode, but it wouldn't even load that. So then she recommended to just do a clean install of Windows.

 

Anyways, I think I'm about to do a clean install of Windows and hope for the best. I have a small SSD (120GB) for the OS and a large HDD (3TB) that I use to install programs/games to and keep my pictures/documents on. What will happen to my programs/games installed to the HDD? Will they be recognized by the OS? Or will they need to be re-installed?

 

I'm a complete noob with this kind of stuff, so please dumb it down as much as you can with whatever explanations you might have.

 

Thanks.

 

 

Specs:

OS: Windows 8.1 Pro

Mobo: Gigabyte Z97X-UD5H

CPU: i7-4770k

CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 Evo

GPU: EVGA GTX 780 Ti w/ACX

PSU: Corsair RM1000 (way overkill, I know...I was planning on SLI and a bit of future-proofing in case I wanna upgrade GPU later)

SSD: Kingston 120GB

HDD: Seagate 7200rpm 3TB

Optical: Asus Blu-Ray Reader

Card Reader: Rosewill USB 3.0 Card Reader

Wifi Card: TP-Link Wireless N Card (uses PCI-e x1 slot)

Case: Cooler Master Elite 430

 

[Tro]

Welcome  

[Tazzy2040]

could you try a different hdd or ssd and install windows onto one of those?

[givingtnt]

id reinstal windows on a new harddrive and update the motherboard's bios if possible.. same things with all the drivers.

[UnknownEngineer]

If you re-install you may not need to re-install everything on the HDD.

If it is steam games you simply add (not create) a library and it should auto-detect all the games the library contains. Origin as well, but here you will need to change the directory and press the "download game" for each game. It will then detect said games files.

 

Some programs will simply ask to recreate the files and folders they need on C drive (team-speak comes to mind right away) while other programs will never know something changed. Of-course if you keep getting an error on some program it will need to be re-installed.

 

I could go on about this but I wont guess anymore about what you have on your HDD. Ps. you pics and movies are safe.

[naddyg123]

Thanks everyone!

 

I re-installed Windows and everything is working fine. Got my drivers up and running. Opened up steam and it said it needs to repair setup, but it auto-detected my games and stuff.

 

Only thing is now on the Gigabyte splash screen, it just goes straight to loading Windows. It doesn't give me the options on screen like for loading the bios :\

[naddyg123]

Never mind, I got it. There's something called Ultra Fast Boot...changed that to normal and now I can go to bios.

 

Thanks to everyone for their input!