So I tried to boot into my Windows 8.1 Bootcamp Partition and it was a no go. Showed the green windows window then went black and restarted back into Mac.
I think the problem is that because of my USB issues I had moved my keyboard and mouse to the USB 3 Ports of my CalDigit SATA and USB 3 PCI card, but I have not installed drivers as of yet in Windows. It was fine without them before because I never plugged anything in, but without the drivers, it sure was not happy, and would not restart. So I need to make sure to install those drivers if and when I get Windows working again.
Now I am lucky in that I also have a separate Windows 8.1 Parallels install, for those times when I don’t want to fully boot into Windows, or do anything Graphics intensive. With that I was able to use a USB Key to create a recovery partition, and let it run it’s utilities to fix Windows, but they didn’t work, neither the auto fix or going to a backup.
So then i downloaded the Windows 8.1 Setup program to try and create an ISO so I could have a Windows 8.1 Installer and wipe my drive except my data (a pain, but I don’t have that much installed), but I ran into another problem. The program only works with a Windows 8.1 Serial number, not a Windows 8 serial number, though it was a free upgrade to 8.1! WTF!
Luckily with a little google searching I was able to download the Windows 8.1 ISO thanks to PC Advisor. You basically have to download the Windows 8 Install program, and enter your license number, and get it to start downloading, then quit the program. Then from the same link download the Windows 8.1 installer and run it, and it won’t ask for your serial. When the program finishes you can either make a USB by clicking install by creating media, or create an ISO, which you can use multiple times.
To do the ISO to a USB stick you need to download the Windows 7 USB/DVD Download Tool, and install that, and point it at the ISO you saved. Once that is done you need to copy a file to it as explained by PC Advisor or it will make you use the same serial number as the one you used to download, instead of whatever one was used for your install (since I have 2 installs).
Once Windows 7 USB/DVD Download Tool finishes, it is time for me to try again. I will restart into Windows with the Recovery Partition in, and tell it to re-install but keep my data, and will insert my painfully created USB stick with the Windows 8.1 Installer, and then it is time to re-install all of my programs! YIPEE! And I have had to use a 3rd USB key to use Boot Camp Assistant, to redownload the latest Bootcamp drivers so I can get my mac working once Windows does a mostly clean install!
Will update and let you know how things go.