# Formatting Windows 8.1



## insane225 (Aug 4, 2008)

I have formatted Windows 7 many times, boot from the Windows 7 disk, delete the C drive partition, create a new partition, then install Windows on it.
My cousin gave me his Windows 8 laptop with a Windows 8 disk and asked me to wipe his computer fresh. This, being my first time ever playing with Windows 8, I'm noticing the huge differences. I am having the hardest time getting the Windows 8 disk to boot at startup. The disk works fine, but everytime I (Shift+Restart) to tell the computer I want to boot the DVD drive at start up, it restarts to tell me "The selected boot device failed. Press Enter to Continue". 
I just want to wipe out his C drive (his only hard drive) and start it with a fresh copy of Windows 8. How do I go about doing this?

Thank you for your time.
-Coker


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## Masterchiefxx17 (Feb 27, 2010)

Use F8 , F12, or F2 to access the one time boot menu and then select the CD ROM.


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## spunk.funk (May 13, 2010)

First off, the laptop probably came with a *Recovery Partition *and you do not need a disc to restore it to factory defaults. What is the make and model # of the laptop? Depending on the brand there will be a particular key or combo that activates the recovery partition. In many models that is the *F11* key. This will set the computer back to factory defaults with all of the drivers installed. 
If your going to use a disc, boot into *Setup *(Bios) and go to the *Boot* tab and_ Move_ the CD/DVD drive to First Boot Device, _Save and Exit_. You will need to go to the manufacturers support/download drivers site after installing to install any missing drivers if required. 
Also If the laptops Bios is set to UEFI (eg) _Secure Boot_, it will not allow you to boot from the DVD or USB to reinstall unless you change the Bios to *Legacy Boot.*


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## insane225 (Aug 4, 2008)

Thanks for the replies. Sorry it took me so long to get back.

I would prefer to format the computer without the disk if that is an option. That would be awesome, and great to know for future reference. 

According to the barcode on the laptop that I scanned, its a HP Pavilion (G6 Notebook PC)
(G Series -- just in case if that's not what "G6" was specifying)


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## spunk.funk (May 13, 2010)

This should explain doing a HP System Recovery
Contact HP Support and Customer Service | HP®*Support


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## insane225 (Aug 4, 2008)

Thank you for your reply. You have taught me some valuable information. I am still having some trouble. Something tells me he deleted some important files from the problems i'm running into.

When I ESC then F11, screen goes blank, then it asks me to choose an option (Continue, Troubleshoot, or Turn off PC). I click Troubleshoot, Reset Your PC, then it tells me "Unable to reset your PC. A required drive partition is missing". Then if I go back to Troubleshoot and click "Recovery Manager", no luck. 
I might even add, when I'm on his computer, his Wifi icon identify's my Wifi SSID but when I click it nothing happens. It doesn't ask to me to connect or anything like Windows 7 did. Is there a special way to connect to wifi, or did he maybe just delete something important?

I'm going to have to have a heart-to-heart with him about deleting unknown files. lol


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## insane225 (Aug 4, 2008)

Some additional information:

System Restore: He has no restore points. 
Automatic Repair: Automatic repair couldn't repair your PC
Refresh your PC: The drive where Windows is installed is locked. Unlock the drive and try again.


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## insane225 (Aug 4, 2008)

Sorry I ended up stretching my reply out to 3 replies, I just keep forgetting to add additional information (and it won't let me edit my previous post). I also tried going to the search bar and typing in "Recovery".
I tried "HP Recovery Manager" first. First time I did this it didn't do anything. This time around it came up, so I'm starting by re-installing the drivers and then will try all the previous things that I did again. Sorry about this. I'll let you know how it goes.


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## Masterchiefxx17 (Feb 27, 2010)

Are you sure your recovery drive is there and hasn't been formatted? Do you have any recovery discs at all?


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## insane225 (Aug 4, 2008)

No, he just gave me the laptop and a brand new copy of Windows 8.

This thing has been installing the Synaptics TouchPad Driver (in the driver reinstall software) for the past hour. It won't let me X out in the cop right corner while the software is being installed. Can I CTRL+ALT+DELETE & restart this install or will I mess something up even worse?


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## spunk.funk (May 13, 2010)

> If your going to use a disc, boot into *Setup *(Bios) and go to the *Boot* tab and_ Move_ the CD/DVD drive to First Boot Device, _Save and Exit_.


Yes, you can right click the Task Bar and start the* Task Manager* and go to the *Processes *tab and* End* the process of the Synaptics driver install. 
Go to Search and type *diskmgmt.msc,* right click the *diskmgmt* results and *Run As Administrator*. In the Elevated *Disk Management* window do you see a partition named Recovery or something?


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