Upgraded my laptop to Windows 8.1, now it's stuck in a reboot loop!

October 18, 2013 7:47 AM

I upgraded my Samsung laptop to Windows 8.1. It is now stuck in a reboot loop. I cannot enter recovery mode. How can I fix this?

I upgraded my Samsung (Series 7 Chronos, if it matters) laptop to Windows 8.1 last night.

After completing the download I restarted, initialized blah-de-blah. When everything was completed, I saw the Windows logo. Then a quick flash of the Blue Screen of Death telling me it's going to restart. Then the Samsung logo.

Wash. Rinse. Repeat.

I tried turning it off and starting in recovery mode using F4. Nothing.

I've looked through the MS forums. The only response I can find relies on having the Windows 8 disc/USB drive. I don't have either, as I bought the thing from Best Buy and Windows came pre-installed.

Any ideas on how to fix this? I can take it to get repaired if I must but I'd really like to 1) learn how to do it myself 2) not pay for it if I don't have to.

Thanks in advance!

posted by Tevin to Technology (5 answers total)

I was going to type out this long reply, but go to the link I pasted below and read the second half of the #3 post. When you are finally able to see the blue screen error, write it down, then Google the error code and how to resolve it (I assume you have Internet access as you were able to post an AskMe). Oh, and F8 might not be the magic button for your model...try others like ESC, F12, DEL (or Delete), etc. And your error code won't be the same one in the link; the link below is just for instructions to stop the blue screen during an endless boot cycle so you can read the darn thing:

http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/forums/t/432768/endless-reboot-cycle-after-power-outage/

If/when you do solve the issue, make your own recovery/back-up OS discs for the next time something like this happens. Even when Windows is pre-installed OEM on a computer, you usually get an annoying pop up for a while after you bought it asking you to make your own recovery discs. (I know, there are exceptions, but 8 out of 10 models of computers I have sold all ask you to do this; 1 out of 10 will ship with discs; 1 out of 10 won't mention it.)
posted by TinWhistle at 10:01 AM on October 18, 2013 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: I'll try that, TinWhistle. Supposedly F4 is supposed to be may magic button but it didn't work when I tried it this morning. I'll try the other ones though, and hopefully that will do it.
posted by Tevin at 10:15 AM on October 18, 2013

Once fixed, here are the instructions for creating your own recovery media.

If for some reason you can't get it working, you can try downloading a trail copy of Windows8, (make sure it's the exact same version eg: 32/64 bit, Pro, etc) and enter the product key on certification sticker on your laptop, and it should work. From there you can re-upgrade to Win8.1 and then create a recovery disk.
posted by blue_beetle at 10:31 AM on October 18, 2013 [3 favorites]

Yeah, Paul over at winsupersite has done more helpful documentation than the entire Microsoft corporation. It's amazing.
posted by lattiboy at 11:37 AM on October 18, 2013

Response by poster: Ugh. I tried using F1-F12, escape, delete, alt, and ctrl. Nothing. Just keeps looping.

Any ideas?
posted by Tevin at 5:35 PM on October 18, 2013