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How screwed am I? (Can't boot Windows 10 on my PC anymore)
Raiden333
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
So today I got home from work, and my computer wasn't booting right. Or rather it was, but somehow my monitor was on a different channel, so I THOUGHT it wasn't. But because I'm an idiot, I turned it off manually via holding down the power switch to reboot it. Apparently I did this at a very very bad time, because now Windows refuses to load entirely. I'll turn my computer on, and after the BIOS splash, I'll get a windows logo with "Preparing automatic repair" followed by "Diagnosing your PC", followed by an error message saying "Your PC did not start correctly. Press restart to restart your PC, which can sometimes fix the problem. You can also press Advanced Options to try other options to repair your PC."
Under Advanced Options, I have Reset this PC (choose to keep or remove files and reinstall windows), and some advanced options, System Restore, System Image Recovery, Startup Repair, Command Prompt, Go Back To Previous Build (no previous builds found), and Startup settings (which seems to imply it'd let me access safe mode, but doesn't seem to do anything).
Thinks I've tried: Startup Repair just drops me back to what happens when I first boot up the PC. When I cancel out of it, it gives me a filepath to SrtTrail.txt in the Windows directory, which might help if I could access it. System Restore has a single restore point from yesterday, but trying to restore to it brings up an error saying the registry at that restore point has damage that system restore can't work around. Reset This PC just says "There was a problem", real helpful there. I ran chkdsk from the command prompt on the hard drive, and it says the drive itself is honky dory. A friend who's been giving me some help over the phone found one random guy on the net who solved a similar problem literally by "unplugging the power source and everything but the keyboard and mouse, waiting 15 minutes, replugging in just the power source, and attempting to reboot 10+ times". I'm on try #15 or so as I'm typing this on a laptop.
Basically, the only thing I really care about is not losing the data on the hard drive. I have a TON of huge games and movies stored, and more importantly, I'd really hate to lose my game saves. So I'm wondering where I fall along the following scale:
1. "Oh I know exactly what you need to do, easy fix."
2. "You're gonna need to do some trickery with another hard drive, but it's doable."
3. "You're going to need to go out and buy a new copy of windows 10, install it on a fresh hard drive, and then you should be able to move the data over."
4. "You need an old priest and a young priest."
I DO have an un-used hard drive, and I'm willing to resort to #3 if necessary. My main question though if it comes down to that, in a few months I was planning on buying a Solid State Drive and doing a fresh windows install on it, would I be able to use the same fresh-bought copy of windows to do the fresh install, if I use it on the normal hard drive I have now just to get me back up and running?
Under Advanced Options, I have Reset this PC (choose to keep or remove files and reinstall windows), and some advanced options, System Restore, System Image Recovery, Startup Repair, Command Prompt, Go Back To Previous Build (no previous builds found), and Startup settings (which seems to imply it'd let me access safe mode, but doesn't seem to do anything).
Thinks I've tried: Startup Repair just drops me back to what happens when I first boot up the PC. When I cancel out of it, it gives me a filepath to SrtTrail.txt in the Windows directory, which might help if I could access it. System Restore has a single restore point from yesterday, but trying to restore to it brings up an error saying the registry at that restore point has damage that system restore can't work around. Reset This PC just says "There was a problem", real helpful there. I ran chkdsk from the command prompt on the hard drive, and it says the drive itself is honky dory. A friend who's been giving me some help over the phone found one random guy on the net who solved a similar problem literally by "unplugging the power source and everything but the keyboard and mouse, waiting 15 minutes, replugging in just the power source, and attempting to reboot 10+ times". I'm on try #15 or so as I'm typing this on a laptop.
Basically, the only thing I really care about is not losing the data on the hard drive. I have a TON of huge games and movies stored, and more importantly, I'd really hate to lose my game saves. So I'm wondering where I fall along the following scale:
1. "Oh I know exactly what you need to do, easy fix."
2. "You're gonna need to do some trickery with another hard drive, but it's doable."
3. "You're going to need to go out and buy a new copy of windows 10, install it on a fresh hard drive, and then you should be able to move the data over."
4. "You need an old priest and a young priest."
I DO have an un-used hard drive, and I'm willing to resort to #3 if necessary. My main question though if it comes down to that, in a few months I was planning on buying a Solid State Drive and doing a fresh windows install on it, would I be able to use the same fresh-bought copy of windows to do the fresh install, if I use it on the normal hard drive I have now just to get me back up and running?
There was a steam sig here. It's gone now.
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#1 Question - Whats wrong with your current copy of Windows? Windows installs go by MAC address, so any install on the same system will be fine.
If you've still got your Windows 7 key handy, is there any way you can get a digital copy of Windows 10 and put it on a USB from another source? Your Win 7 key is no longer a Win 7 key, but a Win 10 key (unless you go through the steps of downgrading it through MS), and when you purchase windows the only thing you're really buying is that key. The software is easy to legally find online.
It sounds like your hard drive is corrupted, though it probably wasn't due to the power cycle. Windows doesn't just skid to a halt and crash if you power cycle by holding the button down.
If at all possible, reinstall your current copy of Windows 10 on the un-used HDD, but that can be kind of ugly. You may have to physically remove the afflicted drives cable first and plug it in after you assign the new drive to E: or what have you, or reorder the boot order in your BIOS to prevent an interrupt.
http://www.pcworld.com/article/2984712/windows/how-to-enter-windows-10s-safe-mode.html
I would recommend #2 if you have a copy of Windows handy...
Also I would, if you have or can make a bootable USB copy of Win10 (go here: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows10/ ), try the reset with keeping files from that bootable copy.
Lastly your Win10 is tied to your PC, not to your hard drive, so if you can get a bootable copy on a USB stick you're only out the cost of the new HD. Then you can throw the old one in a SATA-USB external converter or enclosure and copy your data off it.
It breaks down between steps 3 and 4:
Even using that particular restart button, I go straight from BIOS splash into trying to automatically fix it, no option for safe mode.
I can try making a bootable USB windows copy tomorrow using my dad's computer.
Having recently done something stupid while trying to mess with drivers, i found that if i could get to the use last good system restore point that usually windows 10 was able to resolve most things itself. that will also not affect your data in any way.
Blizzard: Pailryder#1101
GoG: https://www.gog.com/u/pailryder
So I made a bootable USB key, but when I try to boot from it, I get the message "It looks like you started an upgrade and booted from installation media. If you want to continue with the upgrade, remove the media from your OC and click Yes. If you want to perform a clean installation instead, click No."
Removing the flash drive and clicking yes drops me back where I was at square one.
If I click no, I then have the option to start a fresh Windows 10 install, but it doesn't say whether or not it will wipe my files or just reinstall windows and leave my files alone. I also have a "Repair" button on that fresh install screen, but it drops me back into that repair menu I broke down in my OP where nothing helps.
Is there any way to be sure that the fresh install option won't completely wipe my hard drive, or am I better off doing the fresh install on the clean hard drive?
HOWEVER, based on the problems your having, my personal choice would be to install on a fresh drive, load the other one and copy the files over.
Blizzard: Pailryder#1101
GoG: https://www.gog.com/u/pailryder
If you're doing a fresh install you're going to want to do it on a new hard drive. Unplug the old drive when doing the install to make sure you don't accidentally write over it, and also Windows sometimes gets ornery on an install with more than two HDDs attached.
fuck up once and you break your thumb / if you're happy at all then you're god damn dumb
that's right we're on a fucked up cruise / God is dead but at least we have booze
bad things happen, no one knows why / the sun burns out and everyone dies
Also take this as an opportunity and do this immediately, and bask in the glory of 10-second bootup times
Because I just mounted the new HD, I'm trying to install windows, and it's asking me for a key now.
edit: Derp, next time read more than 1 line of the box, Raiden. Missed the "I don't have a key I'm reinstalling" thing.