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Thread ID: 141435	2015-12-19 22:15:00	Windows 10 upgrade: The drive where windows is installed is locked	johcar (6283)	Press F1

Post ID	Timestamp	Content	User
1413126	2015-12-19 22:15:00	I have a friend who is relatively technophobic (and this issue is starting to make me feel the same way!) He has a reasonably new (less than 12 months old) ASUS V551L running Win8.1 Pro (upgraded online from the factory installed Win8). He can't tell me for sure, but I suspect (knowing his impatience with all things computer-related and the messages described below) that he turned off the laptop while an upgrade (unwanted at that point) was in progress Now when the laptop boots up (after many minutes of the ASUS splash screen and the circle of dots rotating) it goes into a "Preparing Automatic Repair" mode, after which appears a screen (which look more like Win10 screens than Win8) which gives me a few options: Choose Your Keyboard Layout - US selected Then Troubleshoot or Turn off your PC - Troubleshoot selected Refresh your PC Reset your PC Advanced Options Reset you PC selected Message: "Unable to reset your PC. A required drive or partition is missing". <Cancel> Next option: Refresh your PC Message: "The drive where windows is installed is locked. Unlock the drive and try again". <Cancel> Next option: Advanced > System Restore Message: "To use System Restore, you must specify which Windows installation to restore. Restart this computer, select an operating system, and then select System Restore". <Close> (This is singularly unhelpful in this scenario as I never get to a point on boot where is could select an OS!) Next Option: System Image Recovery Message: "An internal error occurred. The following information might help you resolve the error: The system cannot find the file specified. (0x80080002)" - So no help there Next option: Startup repair. Message: "Startup Repair couldn't repair your PC. Press "Advanced Options" to try other options to repair your PC or "Shut Down" to turn off your PC. Log file: " (there is no log file or path) Obvious options (for me) are now exhausted and a Google search, although throwing up others who have had similar problems, does not give any clear indication on how to resolve the issue. I have no restore media or Product Keys for this machine (although I know it's a genuine machine as I was with him in PBTech when he bought it - and it has a Win8 Pro sticker on the base). I would like to reset the PC back to Win8 (or 8.1) and then do the upgrade (properly) to Win10. Any assistance greatly appreciated.	johcar (6283)
1413127	2015-12-19 23:08:00	Simple fix -- The W10 install stuffed up ( not uncommon) Boot the Laptop from a bootable CD, or remove the HDD and slave it to another computer, use Partitioning software, wipe all the drive completely clean. Download Windows 10 from www.microsoft.com Scroll down the page a little, select the options, download the ISO and make a bootable USB or DVD. Make sure you are connected to the internet if Ethernet is available other wise carry on -- Boot from Windows 10 DVD / USB. When it boots it will automatically pick up the embedded key, if not and you get prompted for a key, don't worry, select I don't have a key /Skip, and carry on. Once its installed and connected to the internet it will automatically activate. NO NEED to install W8.1 first then upgrade, as the current W10 will accept all keys from W7-W10. Once installed you will need to allow some time for all the updates, drivers etc to download and install. To manually see this - Start/Settings/ Update & Security. You may have to manually run updates a few times. Then under Device manager check to make sure everything is loaded, if not go to Asus and get the latest drivers for the laptop relating to whats ever is missing.	wainuitech (129)
1413128	2015-12-20 01:49:00	Thanks wainuitech... You're a national treasure!!	johcar (6283)
1413129	2015-12-21 01:40:00	Got my son's HP win 7 home notebook here for win 10 install. He wanted a clean install so I thought I would take your advice above, WT, and do a clean boot install. BUT, it won't activate, in spite of winkey saying the OEM key marker was present in firmware. Unfortunately, I can't read the prod key on the sticker and I didn't extract the key before starting this exercise. Now restoring the win 7 image and will go the long route i.e. upgrade followed by clean install. Just hope that all works out!	linw (53)
1413130	2015-12-24 00:00:00	Long route worked!! Win 10 runs sort of OK in this Atom powered 2GB RAM little ol' machine. Probably similar to its win 7.	linw (53)
1413131	2015-12-24 00:05:00	Got my son's HP win 7 home notebook here for win 10 install. He wanted a clean install so I thought I would take your advice above, WT, and do a clean boot install. BUT, it won't activate, in spite of winkey saying the OEM key marker was present in firmware. Unfortunately, I can't read the prod key on the sticker and I didn't extract the key before starting this exercise. Now restoring the win 7 image and will go the long route i.e. upgrade followed by clean install. Just hope that all works out! Are you sure you used version 1511 and not 1507 1511 supports using Win7 product keys	nmercer (3899)
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