Smeone with a bit of experience in Windows 8 / UEFI Firmware.

Michaeljcox24 · 24 Feb 2015 at 08:32

Mods can you move this to laptop section if you think it needs to be in it?

I have been given a laptop to look at that my friends says won't boot into windows 8. Model is Asus X401A.

When you boot it up, this error is displayed

I have tried the F9 system recovery trick, but that doesn't work. Infact, none of the Function keys work. The machine boots straight into this screen.

When you press escape, you go into the UEFI firmware settings (which I have had very little experience with). The only things I can do is change the date and time. None of the arrow keys work to change boot settings etc, or the tab button.

Bit stumped as to what I can do next.

snips86x · 24 Feb 2015 at 08:41

Does it work if you try with an external keyboard?

Michaeljcox24 · 24 Feb 2015 at 08:52

Not tried that.

meandu229 · 24 Feb 2015 at 08:52

Michaeljcox24 said:
Mods can you move this to laptop section if you think it needs to be in it?

I have been given a laptop to look at that my friends says won't boot into windows 8. Model is Asus X401A.

When you boot it up, this error is displayed

I have tried the F9 system recovery trick, but that doesn't work. Infact, none of the Function keys work. The machine boots straight into this screen.

When you press escape, you go into the UEFI firmware settings (which I have had very little experience with). The only things I can do is change the date and time. None of the arrow keys work to change boot settings etc, or the tab button.

Bit stumped as to what I can do next.

I think the next step will be to grab the HDD out of it and put it into a PC (usually pretty easy). From there you will need to mount the UEFI partition (its ~100mb) so you can view the files. Use disk part or similar to give it a letter.
This will let you find the fix/replace the /BCD file it is after.
But I am not too well versed with UEFI stuff so Im not sure if you can just take one from an existing PC or have to "make" one. Im sure someone else will come along and give more info.

Michaeljcox24 · 24 Feb 2015 at 08:54

Or me. This is the first time I've had to work with it. Is it specific to Win 8 ?

mushtafa · 24 Feb 2015 at 10:58

Have you tried booting it with Windows 8 media connected to the PC? DVD or USB

Michaeljcox24 · 24 Feb 2015 at 11:06

No. I haven't got an external DVD player to connect to it. Most of the posts you read on the machine say F9 should get you into the recovery mode, but nothing happens.

scotsdragon · 24 Feb 2015 at 11:21

Have you tryed these options form Asus's own website?

http://www.asus.com/uk/support/FAQ/1008226/

Michaeljcox24 · 24 Feb 2015 at 11:32

None of those options are available to me. The machine boots straight into the screen I uploaded in the first post.

leigh_boy · 24 Feb 2015 at 11:38

go in to bios and turn off secure boot.

Michaeljcox24 · 24 Feb 2015 at 11:41

Herein lies the problem. I can't change anything in UEFI firmware. All I can change is the date and time. The arrows keys don't do anything.

lude1962 · 24 Feb 2015 at 12:43

try removing the hdd then power on and try
'If you need to run the BIOS Setup to set or modify the
system configuration, press [F2] upon bootup to enter the BIOS
Setup'

Michaeljcox24 · 24 Feb 2015 at 12:53

ok thanks. I'll try that when I get home. Sounds logical

AthlonXP1800 · 24 Feb 2015 at 17:16

The only easy way to fix the issue is to boot Windows 8 media, you would need to download Windows 8 media to USB stick.

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-GB/windows-8/create-reset-refresh-media

When done then insert the stick in laptop USB port, power on and press Esc button to display boot option menu and select USB stick and Windows 8 setup will load then click Repair your computer, click Troubleshoot, click Advanced Options and finally click Automatic Repair.