Laptop Failure after Windows 10 Creator upgrade.

[Barbara348]

Laptop Failure after Windows 10 Creator upgrade.

Hi, I would be very grateful for any help/advice with the following problem I now have, thanks to the latest upgrade of Windows 10.
I have a Windows 7 HP Laptop, bought in 2011 and upgraded last year to Windows 10.
Had teething problems with Windows 10 upgrade but since then has been o.k and  updated to Windows 10 1607.
All was fine until Windows 10 Creator installed a few days ago, now Laptop is useless.
Laptop couldn’t start up and I got the following.

 Message1.
“ SMART HARD DISK ERROR.
The Smart Hard Disk check has detected an imminent failure. To ensure no Data is lost, please backup the content immediately and run the Hard DiskTest in Systems Diagnostic.
Hard Disk 1 (301)
F2 Systems Diagnostics
Enter.Continue start up”.
Ran the above test as suggested and got

Message 2.
“Preparing Automatic Repair”
Message3 :
“Your PC couldn’t start properly. An unexpected  1/0 has occurred  ‘Error Code 0xc0000e9’
Press Enter & try again”
Did that and got a blank screen
 Message 4:
“RECOVERY.  Your PC needs to be repaired. File\Windows\System32\Config\System.
Error Code 0xc000014c.
You’ll need to use Recovery Tools.If you don’t have any installation media (disk or USB Device) contact your PC administrator or Device Manufacturer.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
When I bought the Laptop with Windows 7 on it, I made up Back up Recovery Disks (5) following
HP instructions.
I have very little technical abilityand I just don’t know where to start with trying to fix the Laptop –
Do the whole 5 backup Disks have to be used or is there a recovery section contained in the start of the Backup Disk for Recovering the System or does it all have to be installed.
Also, as the original system was Windows 7, will that system be installed again.
Sorry if this sounds a bit dim but I’ve never had to tackle this sort of problem and I do struggle with the tech side of things.

 Can anyone give me some help/advice please?

Thanks.

Barbara.

[Mart 'n' Al]

Barbara, firstly that reminds me of the old Bob Newhart sketch, I can't remember the exact details, but he says something like " Oh, wow, not that one..."

Anyway, I have searched for the error code ' 0xc000014c' and found that it is quite common.  Searching for an error code is such a good way to find very focussed help.  I haven't done that upgrade myself yet, but I found many links, including a couple of YouTube films. 

I suggest that you look at them all, and you will easily find more like them.  I am a crusty old IT Consultant, but have never used Windows 10 professionally.  I suggest that you take photos of screen shots at various stages, so that if you get any error messages, you will be able to accurately report them here or elsewhere.

Also, I have found 'Tom's Hardware' very helpful and reliable in the past.  Links:

https://neosmart.net/wiki/0xc000014c/

https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_10-power/windows-10-error-code-0xc000014c/80d9c6d1-f45d-42f8-bcf4-a94d1a345111

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Ne6C3i54rM

http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/forum/id-2785979/file-boot-bcd-error-code-0xc000014c.html

http://www.techsupportforum.com/forums/f338/windows-10-boot-config-data-missing-error-0xc000014c-1103386.html

I just hope that you have lots of recent backups, AND THAT YOU TESTED THEM.  I'll be happy to help anymore if I can, but the net seems full of solutions from many people who have had the same problem.  Be optimistic, stay calm, and get as much information as you can before you start, by reading these links to find the one most like your own situation.  At the moment I am very confident that your data will still be intact, but I'm not enough of a Win 10 expert to instruct you myself.

Martin

[smudwhisk]

Message "1" suggests that there is a physical hardware problem with the hard drive rather than simply a windows software fault.  If there is a physical fault in one or more sector of the hard drive, chances are it has corrupted part of the windows installation files saved to that area and that is why you are getting subsequent messages.  The Windows 10 upgrade won't have caused the physical fault, but may have subsequently saved files to an area of the disk that wasn't being used before and has a problem.

You may need a new hard drive and, unless you take a regular full image of the laptop, windows will need to be reinstalled from scratch with all other software.  Probably better to take it to a friendly PC shop to see, although probably not a certain nationwide retailer as they will simply replace and reinstall anyway.  Depending on the condition of the drive, they may be able to access and transfer files saved on it prior to replacing/reinstalling windows.

[locksmith]

And in answer to your last question regarding the original recovery disks, if you used those successfully it would simply put your laptop back to the state it was in when you first bought it. It would then have to install 6 years worth of updates, including the upgrade to windows 10, days/weeks of fun (not really  )

Plus if you do have a hard disk problem it may fail anyway.

I also have to agree with Smudwhisk and it is almost certainly the start of a disk failure. The error message is telling you that there has been some degradation of the disk and it is on its way out, (but not as a result of the Windows 10 upgrade).

Simon

[Berlin-Bob]

I have also had the experience that Windows 10 worked for a while on an older computer, but gradually showed up so many "not compatible" error reactions (although not previously flagged up as such) that I ended up buying a new laptop.

It sounds good in theory, that you can upgrade your OpSystem, but it is simply a fact of life, that newer operating systems make demands on the hardware that some older machines can't cope with.  Sometimes you're lucky, that it doesn't "show" but sometimes the installation of the new operating system coincides with the normal "shelf-life of various hardware components.

Bob