Windows 10 Repair/Upgrade

[microbert]

Hi,

I have a client with Windows 10 PC. For some reason, windows is not booting up. When you switch on the computer it will start "Automatic Repair..." then "Diagnosing..." it will fail.

tried to do the startup repair from the installation media, but with no luck. tried to do check disk but didn't find any problems.

then tried to run "bootrec /scanos" and it is not finding any installations. I browsed the hdd on another computer and it looks good all files are there.

So my question is, is there a way to repair the windows installation without losing the data or software installed?

I don't want to just do a new installation because this is a new client, and I don't know what the computer had and how it was set up, and the client is not that computer literate.

 

[Diggs]

Image the drive so you can go back if needed......

You can re-install over the top and Windows will ask if you want to save any data. I always wince when I hit the enter key for this but it works.

Pull all the data with FABs and reinstall Windows and then the data.

 

[microbert]

Image the drive so you can go back if needed......

You can re-install over the top and Windows will ask if you want to save any data. I always wince when I hit the enter key for this but it works.

Pull all the data with FABs and reinstall Windows and then the data.

When I booted from windows installation media and tried to upgrade install, it didn't let me since it needs to be run through windows while logged into the user.

When I tried to do the reset windows, it will tell you that the apps will be removed. it will only keep the data. that something that I need ... that the software is kept also.

 

[Diggs]

Yep - Data is preserved, the apps can be re-installed. Same with a N&P and FABs.

 

[microbert]

Yep - Data is preserved, the apps can be re-installed. Same with a N&P and FABs.

That's my problem, since the client doesn't have all the licenses of the software available, and some of the software needs to be configured specifically for the client needs, but he doesn't know what he had. This for me is a very big problem, and when a client like this was still using winXP I just repair install windows XP and everything is working with all the software, but that option is not available anymore and I really like to find another workaround.

 

[Diggs]

Put down his keyboard and back away slowly......... Then RUN!

In reality, tell him there is little you can do and he needs to get current. The longer he waits the worse it will be (which is why he is still running XP). You're in a tough spot. He needs to hear the bad news.

That said - There are programs that can massage the boot sector (Lazesoft comes to mind) and possibly get you booting again. (Others will chime in with their favorites.) I wouldn't try any without a full image of his drive.

 

[cyabro]

A trick I found for this type of boot issue is to install another copy of windows 10 to a vhd file, on the same hdd.
This seems to fix the boot problem of the existing windows 10 as well.
Once it’s installed you get a boot menu where you can select which copy of windows to boot into.
You can then delete the vhd file and remove that option from the boot menu.

 

[Slaters Kustum Machines]

Have you tried restoring the SYSTEM registry hive from RegBack?

 

[microbert]

none of the above worked. I decided to install windows from scratch and then figure out with the client help how he was using the computer to set it up as he needs it.

This is the part of my job that I don't like; when a solution cannot be found

 

[GTP]

Running Fabs AutoBackup from a Windows 10 PE would have allowed you to backup all the users data and files to be restored to the new install.
In fact you could have also installed a second copy of Windows then used Fabs Autobackup to transfer everything across from the bent OS to the new install.
That would have alleviated yours (and your clients anguish) because it would have effectively been almost identical.
Fabs Autobackup would have given you a list of installed software, along with whatever license keys it found for those programs.
In conjunction with Fabs, you could have run the portable "License Crawler" (and others) to capture software license keys as well.
My .02

 

[glricht]

Running Fabs AutoBackup from a Windows 10 PE would have allowed you to backup all the users data and files to be restored to the new install.
In fact you could have also installed a second copy of Windows then used Fabs Autobackup to transfer everything across from the bent OS to the new install.
That would have alleviated yours (and your clients anguish) because it would have effectively been almost identical.
Fabs Autobackup would have given you a list of installed software, along with whatever license keys it found for those programs.
In conjunction with Fabs, you could have run the portable "License Crawler" (and others) to capture software license keys as well.
My .02

Just did this three days ago. Customer's Win 10 would not start. After boot, the PC showed the spinning wheel for a while and would then go to System Repair. No matter what you did, the repair would fail and you'd be back to square one.

Tried restoring the registry from Regback and that didn't help either. (Later determined that one of the power outages we experienced from Hurricane Irma had occurred right in the middle of the update to Creator and Windows itself was corrupted.)

Booted up Win 7 PE and ran Fabs to backup the customer's data, plus Fab's additional reports (e.g. printers, installed software) helped to determine what was installed. Did a clean install of Win 10, used Fabs to restore the user data, and then some cleanup to address the remaining items. Took a while to do it all, but the user got a working PC back with all his data intact.

 

[Your PCMD]

I decided to install windows from scratch and then figure out with the client help how he was using the computer to set it up as he needs it.

This is the part of my job that I don't like; when a solution cannot be found

I would say a solution had been found, just read the red text. Your interpretation of a solution differs from mine it seems.

 

[microbert]

I would say a solution had been found. Your interpretation of a solution differs from mine it seems.

I believe that everything depends on the user. For me, a new installation is a solution, but it all depends on the user. If the user is old and not computer literate just knows how the things he needs a new installation is not always a solution.

 

[Your PCMD]

If the user is old and not computer literate just knows how the things he needs

Right. And he was used to XP right? You know things like Classic Shell work on Windows 10 right? And you can make it look like Windows XP. Shiny new updated OS with the same ole look of an unsupported and outdated OS. A win win for you and your client IMO.