Can't boot to Windows 10 after changing SATA mode and RAID

So at first, I was trying to resolve an issue with my BD-ROM drive described here: XPS 8700 - BD-ROM (HL-DT-ST DVDRW/BDROM CH20N) Not Recognized Windows 10 - Disk Drives (HDD, CD/DVD, Blu-ray) Forum - Disk Drives - Dell Community


However, when attempting to try different things, I am now in a position where I can no longer boot to Windows 10. More specifically, when I turn on my computer, I get an error saying no bootable drives found and it just lists my SATA 1, 2, 3, etc. drives with an option to restart or go to BIOS setup. In other words, I don't even see Windows anymore existing.

My basic computer specs:
Dell XPS 8700 SE
Intel Core i7-4700
Windows 10 with 1511 update
2TB hdd with 32GB mSATA SSD cache drive
16GB RAM
BD-ROM

I need help to get Windows working again, and hopefully, get back my data. Here's what I did to cause the problems:

1) I went to Dell UEFI BIOS setup, and changed the SATA mode from "RAID" to "AHCI". Saved and exited BIOS.
2) After rebooting, Windows failed to load, had a consistent blue screen with the sad smiley face with error "IO1_INITIALIZATION_FAILED", automatic repair also failed.
3) I tried reverting back to "RAID" in SATA mode in BIOS, but it failed to change anything. Windows still wouldn't boot
4) I then entered into the special BIOS menu showing devices which listed my mSATA cache drive and hard drive and RAID settings. Since it showed that the cache drive was "Disabled", I thought I could fix my issues by re-creating the RAID array.
5) I tried to delete the current RAID setup shown in that BIOS menu, then chose the option to recreate the RAID0 array by selecting the option to create a "Striped Disk Array".
6) Once I did the above, Windows itself disappeared, and trying to undo the RAID0 option did not fix anything

So now I am no longer seeing Windows, not sure if my data on the hard drive still exists, and my cache drive (obviously) is not working.

Any ideas how to fix without doing a clean reinstall and losing all my previous data in Windows?

Thanks for any help you can provide!

axe0 said:

IO1_INITIALIZATION_FAILED is caused by an improper setup or improper configuration after setup.

I'm no expert at the BIOS configurations, even not an advanced user, but I think you need to set in the raid array the hard drive you want to boot from. I guess that configuration went gone after you changed the SATA mode.

Right, the problem is I am no longer getting even the Windows BSOD error, it's now just showing no bootable drives to choose from (Windows I guess is not recognized). I already tried playing around with the RAID settings in BIOS and the way it is now is that it is disabled; however, my computer still doesn't work or boot from the OS drive. Perhaps when I changed to RAID0 - Striped Disk Array, I am worried if that caused a loss of my data and boot partition; if so, is there any way to recover from that? I suspect my data is still on the drive, but just not Windows partition or something, as it's not booting to Windows anymore

axe0 said:

The data shouldn't been lost, you only have destroyed your setup to say it rough.
As I stated I am a novice, I wouldn't know a recovery method. My guess would be that a clean setup of the RAID should resolve this.

Thanks, hoping someone can point me in the right direction to fix. In terms of RAID, since I had a SSD cache drive, I think me selecting the Striped Disk Array option was wrong, but now I am not sure how to go back.

Hi,

2TB hdd with 32GB mSATA SSD cache drive

What were you thinking setting that up as a RAID drive anyway ?

Sorry.......

Cheers,

fdegrove said:

Hi,



What were you thinking setting that up as a RAID drive anyway ?

Sorry.......

Cheers,

I mistakenly thought it had something to do with making it a cache drive and re-enabling that option. I only realized afterwards that cache drives are handled in Windows not BIOS

Hi,

Sorry to say so but a reinstall is in order.

Best of luck,

No other suggestions here? I think just the Windows boot and EFI partition needs to be fixed, no?

Hi,

Do you have a backup of that drive ?

If not you can try to fix the boot problem using Macrium Reflect Free's menu when booted from it's rescue DVD/USB drive.

Cheers,