Wiped disk, not able to boot

shady

shady

shady

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Not sure what I've done or what to do, but have a laptop which failed to boot. It is a toshiba and all the low-level options to recover system failed, so I wiped the disk assuming it would boot from a hidden partition.

Now says 'no bootable drive'

Came with windows 8, but died with Windows 10 and no record of licence key for either.

What should my next step be?
 
I recall it was the least destructive of two options, something like Erase the disk or erase the disk and destroy the partition, I chose the former
 
essentially they both sound the same other than the last one removes and partition definitions.

you sure there was a recovery partition at all?
 
So has it had Windows 10 running or not? I can't tell from the way you describe it but surely if Win10 has previously been installed just re-install 10 without entering a key and it'll authorize again online.
 
Sounds like he did a system recovery from the WinPE boot options in Windows 10. The two "wipe" options were to either format or low-level format, both will have re-partitioned the drive though, so personal data will be gone, but it should have left the machine in a bootable state if it successfully finished.

I'd go look in the BIOS options and make sure that the boot mode matches the install type (EFI/Legacy) and check that there is a valid boot option listed if EFI (Windows Boot Manager). Might be worth getting into recovery again and going through to the advanced (command prompt) options and ensuring that you rebuild the BCD and the bootsect.
 
howiepoohs said:
Have you tried tapping 0 when booting? I think that's for a tosh iirc.

That give you access to the hidden partition and reinstall the os.
Click to expand...

Whatever happened removed my ability to access the recovery partition, so I have done as suggested, downloaded windows and put it on a USB and now almost ready to reboot.

Thanks for all your help.
 
Generally when I get a laptop I re-partition the drive, delete the restore partition and just create a single 100% partition.

The restore image just takes up space, is a old version (no updates) old drivers and usually preinstalled with lots of crap.
 
OK, so I've made a disk image on a USB using software called Rufus, but the laptop won't boot from it, still says 'no bootable device – please restart system'

Does it matter what USB port I put it in?
 
have you told the pc to boot from usb? either by changing the boot order in the bios or via the boot options menu?
 
Also, which type did you set in Rufus? MBR for older computers or GPT for modern UEFI systems? And how is the system set to boot - legacy mode or the newer style? Both could be an option in the BIOS/UEFI.
 
I'd be tempted to pull the drive and pop it in a desktop if you have that luxury?

If not, check all obvious options in the bios, if it's not booting from the USB there's probably something you've missed. On my main rig there's a bios option which specifically allowed you to boot from UEFI USB boot media.

You shouldn't need your key for Windows 10, just enter 'I do not have a product key' when installing.
 
neil_g said:
have you told the pc to boot from usb? either by changing the boot order in the bios or via the boot options menu?
Click to expand...

This will need to be done first..

I do this with all new laptops, nuke all partitions then start over. Always a lot snappier without the extra junk they whack on. Plus more HDD space.
 
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