Windows 10 windows 10 uninstall rabbit hole

[TDPD1]

I had numerous problems with win10 so I tried to uninstall to an earlier version(win 8). I am caught in the start up loop. No system disk to boot from. No valid system restore point. Start up repair is ot working. HDD diag is ok.
Toshiba satellite laptop.

 

[MikeHawthorne]

Hi

Does the computer still have it's recovery partition?

Mike

 

[TDPD1]

what is a recovery partition? Sorry begginer nerd.

 

[Saltgrass]

What process did you use to go back, the Return to Windows 8.1 option in the Recovery settings?

 

[TDPD1]

while uninstalling win 10, i chose to go back to an earlier version, I think it was win 7. I googled recovery partition and looked for it on the boot menu but did not find the option.

 

[TDPD1]

From the command prompt I typed D: <enter> then dir. it shows the boot and recovery at 0 bytes.

 

[bochane]

On internet it says Power on while holding down the "0" / zero key.
If there is anything left from a recovery partion...

 

[TDPD1]

Screen says ntldris missing cntrl alt delete to restart loop now.

 

[bochane]

Screen says ntldris missing cntrl alt delete to restart loop now.

So your recovery partition has gone. There is nothing else left then rebuilding from zero, I think

 

[TDPD1]

Is there any way to recover data from hard drive.

 

[bochane]

Is there any way to recover data from hard drive.

Yes, you may try booting a live rescue OS on CD / USB, see for instance KNOPPIX Linux Live CD
Or go to a repair shop for that job

 

[TDPD1]

Bochane, Saltgrass and Mike, thanks for your time.

 

[Saltgrass]

When it says it is looking for ntldr, it is looking at the MBR of a drive and expecting to find an XP type bootloader. Since Bootmgr has been used since Vista, possibly the bios is not seeing the correct drive.

If you cannot access the Bios or some type of Boot device menu to adjust the system to boot to a Windows Boot Manager, I suppose you are stuck... I have been unable to tell if such a situation is caused by the OEM boot setting utility being overwritten or something else. But try hitting the keys and do it very, very early in the boot scenario and keep tapping.

It is basically impossible for us to tell the exact situation, but if you could boot to any install media, it might give you some options. I don't think you are the only one recently to have this exact same situation.

 

[MikeHawthorne]

Hi

If you were running Windows 7 and you have a sticker on your laptop that has your Windows Serial Number on it, then you may be able to download an ISO file for Windows 7, (you will have to know what version you had, Home, Pro, etc., 32 or 64 bit) then you can make a bootable install disk that will reinstall Windows 7 from scratch.

Download Official Windows 7 SP1 ISO ( 32bit / 64bit ) from Microsoft

Once you have it saved on the computer you are using to download it, you will have to write it to a disk using ImgBurn, (free software) that you can also download.

The Official ImgBurn Website

Use the function "Burn image file to disk".

Select the ISO file as the source and the DVD drive as the target.

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You should end up with a DVD that you can insert into your computer that will reinstall Windows 7.

Mike

I just noticed that you said that you updated from Windows 8, but tried to go back to Windows 7.
If you were using the recovery application built into Windows 10 it will only go back to the OS it was updated from.

And the serial number on you Windows sticker on you computer will be for the operating system that was installed when the computer was new.

If it was 8 that's what you have to reinstall.

Here's some information on how to enter the bios setup on a Toshiba Laptop...

Toshiba Satellite BIOS keysequence? - Tech Support Forum