Help needed with Windows 10 laptop that will not boot.

bartatranch · 31 Oct 2017

Trying to help a friend fix a sick laptop. It will not boot to Windows 10. I keep getting the blue screen with the message that a boot disk could not be found. The hard drive is still in working order and the files are still accessible through booting to LINUX on a pen drive.

I have tried a couple of rescue utilities that are supposed to fix the boot process. These have not solved the problem.

Is there away to use a backup of the Window 10 files to recreate his system. Maybe overwriting a clean Windows 10 install.

mrgeek · 31 Oct 2017

"The hard drive is still in working order and the files are still accessible through booting to LINUX on a pen drive."

Back these up immediately !

"Is there away to use a backup of the Window 10 files to recreate his system."

Can you get to the Advanced Repair Options by holding down power button as soon as you see the manufacturer's logo appear, repeating 3 times until the options console appears ? Then you can attempt a Reset of Windows or System Restore.
Otherwise, not unless they have a system image like Macrium Reflect. Do a clean install per Brink's tutorial here after you've salvaged the personal data on an external drive. Good Luck -
Clean Install Windows 10

bartatranch · 31 Oct 2017

The built in restore/repair features don't solve the problem. I should have added that I am trying to preserve the installed apps and data, so I don't want to do a full reinstall and lose them.

zbook · 31 Oct 2017

1) create a bootable windows 10 iso:
Download Windows 10
2) Use the applicable keyboard key to boot to the external USB hard drive:
List of PC brands with their corresponding hot-keys
3) It may take 5 -10 minutes viewing the Windows icon for the iso to load.
4) Choose language, time, currency, and keyboard
5) Do not click install as this is the method to delete partitions, format, make an unallocated drive and install windows 10.
6) Look in the lower left corner and click repair your computer
7) This should open the Windows advanced troubleshooting menu on the Windows 10 iso.
8) First try system restore. Make sure you view all restore points and select the oldest one and keep moving to a more recent date until you find a restore point that works. If none of the restore points work or if there are no restore points move to the next step.
8) Next try startup repair
9) If the above steps do not work open command prompt > administrator X:\Windows\system32\cmd.exe >
type: sfc /scannow
(report the results into the thread).
If all of the above fail to correct the underlying problem there are more troubleshooting steps.

If you can boot to Ubuntu/Linux please use HD Sentinel and run a test on the drive. Please post the results into the thread with images of overview, and smart tabs. If you are able to click on disk and run the surface scan please post an image into the thread.

Ztruker · 31 Oct 2017

If the above doesn't help, do as zbook describes. Once at the command prompt, enter these commands:

bootrec /rebuildbcd
bootrec /fixboot
bootrec /fixmbr

Restart and see if the system will boot now.

bro67 · 31 Oct 2017

If I had to guess, the hard drive is on its last legs. Order a SSD, preferably one of the Samsung 3D drives like the 850 Evo and take the other drive and place in a external enclosure so that you can pull the data. At some point that old drive will freeze up and you will not get anything off of it. I would also suggest to store your needed files up on a NAS, along with a second copy on a Cloud drive.

zbook · 31 Oct 2017

Please update the system specs in the "My Computer" section:

How To Fill Out Your System Specs
How To Fill Out Your System Specs
System Specs - Fill in at Ten Forums:
System Specs - Fill in at Ten Forums General Tips Tutorials
In the left corner below in your post you find 'My System Specs'.
After clicking it you can find a link a little below that says 'Update your System Spec', click on this link to get to the page where you can fill in your system specs.
System Info - See Your System Specs - Windows 7 Help Forums

robertosburn · 03 Nov 2017

Step 1. Boot PC with Windows Installation Media

1) Create a Windows Installation Media.
2) Change the boot sequence in BIOS and then boot your PC from the bootable disk.

Step 2. Open Windows Advanced Options menu

1) In Windows Setup page, press "Next" button.
2) Then select the "Repair your computer" option
3) In Windows Boot Options menu, choose Troubleshoot --> Advanced Options.

Step 3. Try different options to fix Windows 10 won't boot or start after update problem

Fix#1. In Windows Advanced Options menu, choose "Command Prompt" option to open the command line, here, type: sfc / scannow and press "Enter" button. It will scan system files and repair the errors or corruptions it has found. When it finished, restart your computer when the process is finished.

Fix#2. In Windows Advanced Options menu, choose " Startup Repair" option. Next, select the target operating system to fix. Windows will initiate the repair and then restart.

Fix#3. In Windows Advanced Options menu, choose "System Restore" option. Next, select a previous working state (date) to restore your computer. Wait until Windows restores your system and restart.

Sometimes, it is possible that System File Checker doesn’t help, Startup repair cannot repair this computer automatically, System Restore gets stuck at restoring your previous version of Windows screen and can’t complete.