Hi Pepperfreez,
unfortunately it sounds like you've accidentally deleted the partition that contained the copy of Windows 8. Sometimes you can call the vendor who supplied the machine and they will send you the actual install disk, might be worth a try? Failing that do you have/know your actual Windows 8 activation key? It might even be on the machine, look for a Microsoft sticker. Let me know if you have a key.
I never do a dual boot on the same harddisk. But as kemical said, you have deleted your recovery partition. Did you create a recovery media on USB?
Sent from my HTC One X using WindowsForum mobile app
Damn.... Probably your cheapest and legit route is buying a new OEM copy of windows 8 but remember with OEM copies the licence is tied to the one machine.I do not, it was embedded in the bios and it is supposed to automatically fill in the product key but I am afraid it got deleted.
Damn.... Probably your cheapest and legit route is buying a new OEM copy of windows 8 but remember with OEM copies the licence is tied to the one machine.
When it says a required partition is missing, it doesn't necessarily mean it is the Recovery Image partition. I got it once when I deleted the OS partition and tried to reset. I recreated the OS partition and formatted it and the reset completed. It might also be related to trying to Reset with different OS versions, such as 8.0 and 8.1.
Does that system have an OEM recovery option, some key combination you can use at boot time?
It is hard to advise as to your situation when there is uncertainty about exactly what partitions are available. Looking at the drive with a third party partition manager might give us some clues, such as Partition Wizard (do not use EaseUS) and take a picture of the partition configuration. If you can get into a command prompt, you could also use
diskpart to show the partitions.
The OEM key is in the UEFI bios, you cannot delete it. If you reinstall the same version, 8.0 core or pro, it should pick it up during an install.
The condition of your Recovery options are in doubt. Knowing your current configuration may help, as I mentioned. An upgraded 8.1 system may be able to reset back to Windows 8, but it needs the special workaround added during the later 8.1 updates. If you still have the Recovery Image partition, there may be hope. If not you will need some recovery media such as something from the OEM or possibly an 8.0 core .iso, which I don't think is available. Since you did not state you had updated to 8.1, can we assume you did?
Hi
You could try this, if you are comfortable doing it.
Take the hard drive out of your sisters computer and plug it into yours.
See if your computer boots.
If it's really just like yours it may work.
If it does then put it back in her computer and make a clone of it.
There are a number of free cloning tools that are supposed to work with Windows 8.
Read through this...
http://www.disk-partition.com/windows-8/clone-hard-drive-windows-8.html
If it boots, I still suspect you will have registration issues but since you have a legitimate serial number you can probably iron that out with a phone call to Microsoft, they check mother board numbers etc, so they will know that the OS is on a different computer.
As far as saving your data, you can boot your computer using a Ubuntu boot disk and copy all of your data off of it, before restoring the drive.
http://www.ubuntu.com/download/alternative-downloads
I recommend version 12.04.4 32 bit for max compatibility.
Or you can buy a USB converter to plug your hard drive into your sisters computer and copy the data from it that way.
I had to do this recently when my wife's laptop died.
I just copied everything from her old hard drive to her new computer, this is the device I used.
It works great...
http://www.amazon.com/Apricorn-DriveWire-Universal-Adapter-ADW-USB-KIT/dp/B000QY9KIS/ref=sr_1_12?ie=UTF8&qid=1401562321&sr=8-12&keywords=usb hard drive adapter
I've used it many times and it fits virtually any hard drive.
Mike