Windows 8 stops booting after installation of Visual Studio 2012 Desktop

Solution 1:

There is a known issue with the Gigabyte motherboard, caused by an incompatibility of its on board USB3 controller.

See the last tip in the info below, from the emulator faq:

Problem: Installation of the SDK causes Windows 8 to fail to reboot.

This item is included in this troubleshooter because there is a known issue with Hyper-V interacting with third party software, and Hyper-V is used by the Emulator.

When this happens, restore your system by using the F8 option at reboot and choose the last known good OS instance.

Try manually installing the Hyper-V Windows feature before installing the SDK, via Control Panel->Programs and Features, “Turn Windows features on or off”.
Check whether you have any BIOS setting similar to: "Limit CPUID Maximum Value to 3". If yes, try setting it to disabled and see if that helps.

One possible root cause of this is if you are using a Gigabyte motherboard’s USB3 controller.

More information: Boot failure after installation of Hyper-V role on Gigabyte systems

http://social.msdn.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/wptools/thread/75251ed8-22a3-4387-bfed-94bd2aa8c6ac

Solution 2:

I had the issue with my Gigabyte MB and now it's solved.

My issue started after the installation of the Windows Phone 8 SDK that activates the Hyper-V.

The issue is linked to that (even with the latest version of Windows 8): http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2693144?wa=wsignin1.0

First you need to download the latest version of the U1e(UEFI BIOS) on the Gigabyte website.

The archive contains 3 files that you need to copy on your USB stick but wait... You need to do something special and not just copy the files.

You need to create a bootable USB stick.

I used the Rufus tool for that: http://rufus.akeo.ie/

Launch the tool and choose the FreeDOS (in the dropdown). No need to change the default value for other options. When it's done, copy the 3 files from the archive you downloaded on your USB stick. If Windows asks, replace the autoexec.bat

Ok now it's time to reboot your computer.

Enter the BIOS settings and choose to boot on your USB device then save and exit.

The system will reboot on your USB stick and if you don't touch your keyboard the setup will start after a few seconds (I didn't choose the keyboard language, the setup started alone).

When the BIOS is updated the system will ask you to shutdown your computer and to remove the power cable. So turn it off, remove the cable, remove the USB stick and then plugin your cable and start your computer. The system will ask you to choose the default setup and boot/reboot -> Choose default setup with reboot.

Windows will boot, it will configure your system for a few minutes and then... Surprise! It's ok! (It was for me).

If you go back to your BIOS settings (after a reboot) you'll see that the USB3 controller is enabled by default.