Windows 10: ThinkPad Yoga Creators Edition won't boot, won't restore, won't reset.

Meanwhile to answer you question > Yes, there should be a lot of files in your ReAgent folder if this is the same folder. If it is, is yours empty?

Attachment 140018

 

Have you tried looking for a rescue disk or other support here?

Error

 

Restore points and the built in back up in 10 are unreliable at best as you learned.

As it was suggested earlier in this thread, I think a clean install is the way out of this mess now.
To me it looks like everything else you tried so far has only made more of a mess.

Do the clean install correctly, there is a tutorial here on exactly how to do it.
Clean Install Windows 10 Windows 10 Installation Upgrade Tutorials

Then, use Macrium Free version to make weekly back ups to an external drive,
also make a Macrium Recovery USB or DVD in case you have a problem in the future.
The external drive must be disconnected from the computer all the time unless making
a new back up.
Backup and Restore with Macrium Reflect Windows 10 Backup Restore Tutorials

 

Hi.
Just reading through here.
So the Yoga came with W8.1Pro, and it's been upgraded to W10Pro.
Your best bet, as Computiac said, is to clean install W10Pro, using media from MS. Don't enter a key if it asks for one. You really don't want to access the Lenovo recovery partition, and should get rid of it anyway.
If there is data on there you need, boot again to Kyhi's rescue media and copy it off the drive before installing Windows clean, and make sure you install to a completely un-allocated drive (to get rid of all the messy partitions you don't need).
p.s. System Restore Points are removed when Windows upgrades to a new major version. This is because it makes a "rollback" available for you for a short period of time.
(I don't understand how Macrium would mess up your boot - it does just the opposite...)

 

When I run a command ReAgentc.exe /info from the c:\Windows\System32\ I get

Code: Windows RE status: Disabled Windows RE location: Boot Configuration Data (BCD) identifier: 00000000-0000-0000-0000-00000000 Recovery image location: Recovery image index: 0 Custom image location: Custom image index: 0[/quote] I feel there should be more info here, like the recovery image location and a valid BCD identifier, an actual number, and not all zeros. When I run the same command on a working computer there is a path to the recovery image. Also, there should be a hidden directory named "Recovery" in c:\Windows\System32\ but I'm missing that as well.

Yeah, I've tried Lenovo site, but that's a dead end. They will send you a rescue media (by regular mail, no less) only if you're eligible, and apparently I'm not because I didn't get some kind of a flyer with my laptop. I'd have to call customer service to send me the rescue media and I'd need to pay $30 plus shipping, which is, honestly, appalling customer service, and I have no intention of paying for it. Why they can't just let people download it is beyond me.

 

I feel there should be more info here, like the recovery image location and a valid BCD identifier, an actual number, and not all zeros. When I run the same command on a working computer there is a path to the recovery image. Also, there should be a hidden directory named "Recovery" in c:\Windows\System32\ but I'm missing that as well.

Yeah, I've tried Lenovo site, but that's a dead end. They will send you a rescue media (by regular mail, no less) only if you're eligible, and apparently I'm not because I didn't get some kind of a flyer with my laptop. I'd have to call customer service to send me the rescue media and I'd need to pay $30 plus shipping, which is, honestly, appalling customer service, and I have no intention of paying for it. Why they can't just let people download it is beyond me.[/quote] Well, rescue disks are money maker for them. Computers/pads/phones is a highly competitive, toxic market. i.e. That recovery partition has extra software on it that Lenovo gets money for. Anywho, you should face the fact that you didn't make the recovery disk. Water over the dam > Lesson learned.

All 0's there means it's empty. I would think whatever you did deleted the files.

As others have said, a fresh install is the solution here, with or without the recovery partition. If you want to delete that, make a copy of it as simrick suggested.

Do you have Windows 8 keys by any chance?

 

Yeah, I doubt there's anything other for me to do than a clean install, but at this point, I'd really like to figure out how things work. I haven't had to resurrect an OS since Windows 7, and I'm finding out that a lot of stuff has changed since then. I've learned a lot in the last few days, and it would bug me if I didn't figure this out. Crazy, I know.

That's just crazy. How is one to fix things when exactly this happens without restore points? I have "Windows10Upgrade" on my c drive, can I do anything with that?

I clicked the "Fix Windows Boot Problems" button, and it went from bad to worse :/. I assume Lenovo has some custom BCD settings that point to the recovery partitions and stuff, but I just can't figure out what they are. And I didn't remember to backup the BCD before running Macrium *Sad.

 

I'd like to know too, but I'm not sure all you've done at this point. I'll keep an eye out if you need further help.

 

It's still a dick move. As good as the laptop is, it's still overpriced. One would expect better service for the money.

I've checked on the MS site, and according to the FAQ, I shouldn't need a key, since they have my hardware ID I should be able to simply install Windows 10, as long as it's on this hardware. We'll see how that turns out.

 

At the risk of being redundant, as much as you want to figure out what happened, to learn as you put it, a clean install certainly appears to be the best alternative. Just FYI for you....after a clean install, you will not need that Lenovo Recovery partition, it will be worthless.

 

I'll probably just reinstall in the morning. But I'm pretty sure it has to do with the BCD and/or ReAgent settings, I just don't know what they should be.

 

That previous link I gave you includes another link all about the recovery environment.

Windows Recovery Environment (Windows RE) How-to Topics

I'll be reading as well.

 

While I'm thinking of it, make sure you update your BIOS before and drivers shortly after installing 10. I'm thinking that's what started this whole mess with BSODs.

This page I would think you’d get them using the “Component picker”:

Error

I'm also learning how to create customized install disk with hardware-specific drivers using this tutorial:

Customize Windows 10 Image in Audit Mode with Sysprep Windows 10 Installation Upgrade Tutorials

And this:

Add Device Drivers to Windows During Windows Setup | Microsoft Docs

That's if you're interested of course.

 

This thread has been moved to the BSOD section. Hopefully @axe0 or one of the other BSOD guys will take a look. @tannalein, please look at and follow the BSOD Posting Instructions. The BSOD members will need that information.