How can I save my computer?

Thedarkhorse · 14 Oct 2017

Hi.

I'm using a Samsung Windows 10. I was updating to the most recent Windows 10 on Wednesday night and stupidly turned off the computer half way.

Now I'm stuck in a boot loop (screen says it will restore previous version of windows and then restarts itself) or occasionally I end up with a blue screen. The blue screen says... "Your PC ran into a problem and needs to restart. We'll restart for you." Stop code: Machine Check Exception. This is a new development and happened this morning.

I cannot access safe mode. I can access Aptio Setup Utility, but I don't know what to do when I'm there.
I purchased a Windows 10 repair/recovery disc. But the computer does not recognize it.

Is there a way to recover my files/desktop/harddrive? Would a harddrive enclosure be the best option for me?

FreeBooter · 14 Oct 2017

If you have working computer create yourself a Windows 10 setup media using Windows 10 Media Creation Tool.

Boot your computer with Windows 10 setup media and from Windows Recovery Environment (WinRE) try System Restore tool and Startup Repair tool.

If those tools won't work, use the DISM command:

Code:

dism /image:C:\ /cleanup-image /revertpendingactions

Where C: is the drive where Windows 8/8.1/10 is installed.

Please replace partition letter C: with Windows installed partition letter. When computer boots into Windows Recovery Environment (WinRE) environment the drive letter assign to Windows partition may not be C: drive letter because Windows 7, 8 , 8.1 and 10 creates a separate system partition when it's installed from scratch. The system partition contains boot files WinRE assigns the system partition the C: drive letter and the Windows installed partition will be assign any other drive letter usually D: drive letter is assign to Windows installed partition. The Bcdedit /enum | find "osdevice" command can be use to find out the drive letter of the Windows installed partition the output of the Bcdedit command is similar to this osdevice partition=D:. The drive letter after partition= is the drive letter of the Windows partition.

dalchina · 14 Oct 2017

You may well not be able to recover that as a working bootable Win 10 configuration by any repair actions solely on the disk. If you have not got backups of anything on the disk, you should be able to recover those (below).

I cannot access safe mode.

- you can only do that if you can at least boot to a login screen with Windows as normally configured. You cannot do that from a boot disk - even if your Windows was functional.

System Restore

- I understand you were upgrading to a new build. System restore points are (quite correctly) deleted as part of this procedure.

You should be able to access your disk if you
- download and create Kyhi's boot disk, available from the top of the Software and Apps section here.
- boot from that disk (you should see a form of Win 10 as per the picture in that section).

You can then use file explorer to access files and folders. This would allow you to recover critical files and folders to an external disk.
If you have a data partition on your disk, make sure you have a backup of it.

If you examine your Windows partition, you should be able to see whether Windows.old has been created or not.
If not, there's an outside possibility of recovering your Windows partition intact, but no promises. That would depend on the installation process not having made changes to your system partition.

I would recommend you recover what you can, then clean install Win 10. Activation should be automatic - no serial needed.

Note: we repeatedly recommend the routine use of disk imaging. If you have disk image sets you have previously created of Windows and ay other partition or disk then you can restore a suitable image and have your system up and running quite quickly and without technical help - even if your disk fails and you need to buy a new one.

E.g. Macrium Reflect (free) + external storage for image sets.

Thedarkhorse · 14 Oct 2017

Hey guys. I've tried both your methods... And put both Windows 10 setup media and then Kyhi's boot disk on a USB... Both times my computer is not recognising my USB. Still caught in a boot loop/blue screen.

I'm not too concerned about my laptop. More concerned about my files/documents/desktop... Would a hard drive enclosure be the way to go?

dalchina · 14 Oct 2017

It sounds as if you haven't created a bootable disk correctly. Simply copying the iso to it leaves it as a data disk with a file on it. I'm guessing that's what you may have done. Or, you may not have directed your PC to boot from an external bootable medium - perhaps by pressing the appropriate Fn key as your PC starts up...

Creating a bootable USB drive.

with thanks to @NavyLCDR
To reliably make a bootable USB flash drive from an ISO file, do this:

Plug the drive into a USB port of a functioning Windows PC.

Open a command prompt.
Run diskpart.

Once diskpart is running, enter the following commands in sequence:

list disk
select disk #
- replace # with the actual disk number of the USB flash drive
clean
- this will erase the selected drive, make sure it is the USB flash drive!
create part pri
format fs=fat32 quick
active
exit
exit

Then mount your ISO file.
(By default you can simply right click the iso file, and click Mount. However, Mount will not be available if iso files have been associated with a different program).

Copy all the files and folders from the mounted ISO file to the USB flash drive.

(If stuck you can open the iso with 7-zip, a free program).

Discussion here:
Reinstall Windows 10 from DVD but no DVD drive[/U][/URL]
- includes content of flash drive.

OR -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Create Bootable USB Flash Drive to Install Windows 10 Installation Upgrade Tutorials
Option 2 (Rufus).

==========================
Otherwise, yes, take the disk out, stick it in a caddy as a USB disk, and copy off what you need.

Thedarkhorse · 14 Oct 2017

Hey. I tried both your methods. Command prompt did not recognize the USB flash drive. We just have Disk 0 and Disk 1. And then I used Winzip, extracted the files onto the USB. Still the computer is not recognizing it.

Bree · 14 Oct 2017

dalchina said:

... Or, you may not have directed your PC to boot from an external bootable medium - perhaps by pressing the appropriate Fn key as your PC starts up...

Dalchina has covered making a bootable disk, I can add nothing to that.

I can say a bit about getting a Samsung to boot from it though. On mine there's no way to get a choice of boot device at power up, it will always look for boot devices in the order held in the bios. If the HDD is the first device it will always try to boot from that.

The only way to boot from a USB or CD/DVD drive is to previously have gone into the bios and changed the boot order. To enter the bios setup I have to press F2. Then I can put the HDD after the USB in the boot order.

NavyLCDR · 14 Oct 2017

You say that your computer is not recognizing the USB flash drive, and then follow that with extracting files to the USB flash drive. You can't extract files to a drive the computer is not recognizing.

Thedarkhorse · 14 Oct 2017

I've been using another computer to extract files to this USB flash drive. And then plugging the USB into the failed computer with no luck.

dalchina · 14 Oct 2017

Hi, can you access your BIOS? Do you know how?

Heres' a video for a Samsung laptop- I don't think we know which your 'laptop' is other than that..
How To Boot Samsung NP530U3C Laptop From USB Drive | How To Use DBAN From USB Drive

How to boot from USB drive in samsung laptop | USB boot option not found in SAMSUNG BIOS boot menu - YouTube