Windows 8 Recovery USB Issues - Help?

Hi folks,

Wondered if anyone has any ideas to solve an issue I am having. Unable to get the Dell Recovery & Restore process to get past the Backup and Migration phase. You Tube of the Process

Quick Review
- Dell Laptop with Windows 8
- Laptop "contracted" a UKash Ransom Malware through a fake Flash/Java update
- When trying to set the safe mode boot for Windows 8, at the MSCONFIG checkbox step, the laptop "crashed" and rebooted
- Now unable to get into windows, suspecting the partial safe boot mode setup steps
- F8 or Shift F8 do no work or provide any boot menu options
- attempted to clean malware with Kaspersky Rescue CD and after 2 hours only 2000 "infected" files were cleaned and thousands more to still be cleaned but it seems they are not able to "cleaned" but the rescue CD
- Obtained Recovery & Restore USB from Dell but at the Backup & Migration phase the laptop reboots never completing the process.

What I have tried and have not worked
- finding registry options to try and get back into windows
- tried to find options to get safe boot to be enabled without getting into windows
- tried to use Windows 7 recovery disks to resolve the safe boot steps

Appreciate any recommendations or thoughts.

You might have to go in to Bios and disable safe boot.

Thanks, I forgot to mention that I tried with Safe Boot off, on, Legacy OProm on, Legacy mode all with the same result.

Could it be because it is tried to read the infected files on the drive partition?
Could it mean the USB recovery stick Dell provided is 'buggered"?

Sounds like there might be something wrong with the disc format. Can you wipe the drive without trying to save files.

Yeah, that is my thoughts. Can I format the Windows Partition and have no issues? As far as I know there is no need to retain the content on the Windows Partition, right?

I mean the typical restore & recovery process wipes/formats that partition as far as I know correct?

Paladine said:

Yeah, that is my thoughts. Can I format the Windows Partition and have no issues? As far as I know there is no need to retain the content on the Windows Partition, right?

I mean the typical restore & recovery process wipes/formats that partition as far as I know correct?

Click to expand...

Usually a restore & recovery does not wipe the partitions.

Hey folks thanks for all your help and suggestions. Here is what I did and it worked. I first removed the existing laptop hard drive and installed a 160 GB laptop drive I had hanging around. I ran the Dell USB recovery process and it completed without a hitch. It did not the missing recovery partition but I was still am to install and boot into a re-freshed windows 8. I knew that the USB recovery disk was not the issue, so I removed the hard drive and replaced it with the original laptop hard drive, booted into gparted and formatted the OS partition on the drive. When I rebooted with the Dell Recovery USB inserted the Dell Automatic repair began and restored the system back to original factory state.

Thanks again!

Glad it worked out for you.