I need a Windows 10 1709 repair disk!

Will it be possible for me to do a clean install of Windows even though the current boot files are causing problems? Will they be overwritten with a new install?

If this can't be fixed it looks like a new laptop which I want to avoid!

Any help greatly apppreciated.

Thanks

Rufus - Create bootable USB drives the easy way rufus will create a bootable usb drive as required minimum 8gig.
download the latest win10 iso file (media creation tool) download to the hdd
follow the directions on rufus interface to complete creating the bootable usb stick. make sure you direct rufus to the place on your hdd where the iso file is stored so it can copy the iso to the usb stick.(click the iso icon in rufus)
clear your c drive partition even the partition as well (clean completely)
boot the usb stick and install win10 its quick to do so and saves you a lot of time trying to repair the system

P.S. this junior member is 77 years..

Hi johnebadback,
I already have the Windows 10 1709 iso burnt on a DVD which works OK, I'm using it now. The problem is I don't know how to repair/correct the damaged bcd\boot file so that I can boot from the windows that is already on the system. It isn't a question of 'have I got Windows or not', as I do have it.

If I cannot repair the boot files I'm trying to find out if I can install a clean windows 10 on to my C:\ drive, in other words, will the install find the C:\ drive and allow a clean install and does it create new boot files? I'm assuming I will need to format the C:\ drive once I can get to it.

And my other concern is, if I format the drive will Windows 'know' that my copy has already been validated or do I lose that?

Thanks for the suggestion!


I know nothing about Ubuntu and for me that will cloud my thinking as it is yet another thing to get my head round! But thanks for the suggestion.

This junior is 83...

I'm looking for repair options.
Please post the commands if available for the problem or mistake.

For these images please make sure that the text is well seen on the images:

Open command prompt and type:
C:
dir
diskpart
list disk
list volume
select disk 0
list partition
select partition 2
detail partition
assign letter=b
list volume
exit
b:
dir
exit
bootrec /fixboot
bootrec /fixmbr
bootrec /scanos
bootrec /rebuildbcd
bcdedit /export c:\bcdbackup
attrib c:\boot\bcd -h -r -s
ren c:\boot\bcd bcd.old
bootrec /rebuildbcd
Y
reboot

It may take a couple of days to find alternative repair options.
There are ways to format the partition and rebuild the BCD.
I'm looking to see if a good resource can be found.

There are backup plans.
There is registry repair which can fix some boot issues, boot rescue and clean install.

well i found that mini disk wizard can repair the boot loader with out and worry about upsetting the partition

MiniTool Partition Wizard | Best partition magic alternative for Windows PC and Server i can recommend this software

Hi zbook,

I really appreciate tyour efforts on my behalf, I know how time-consuming research can be!

The last two chkdsk tests went through clean but this is the thing that I'm not sure about and I haven't been able to re-create it so that I can say N.

"I've been going through the list of commands you gave me and I remembered that when I first did the bootrec /rebuildbcd it came up with Total identified Windows installations: 0 and then when it asked me if I wanted to add installation to the boot list I very stupidly typed Y. I obviously wasn't aware of the implications and what it meant".

I will crack on with your list, I apologise for the poor quality of my mobile phone screenshots, I'm not sure that I can improve them but I will try.

Maybe you did not make a mistake.
If there are 0 installations there is unlikely a way to add to the boot list.
So don't fret about it.
One way or another there are options.

If you want to try the reg backup that can be done with these commands:

Please take pictures of the commands and results and post images into the thread:

Let's see if this is a possible fix.


1) boot to the Windows 10 iso
2) it may take 5 minutes displaying the windows icon
3) Use the default settings for language, time, currency, and keyboard
4) click next
5) In the left lower corner click Repair your computer
6) click troubleshooting
7) click startup repair (it is expected to fail)
8) click system restore (it is expected to fail)
9) click command prompt
You should see a pop up with title bar: Administrator: X:\windows\system32\cmd.exe
This is the registry backup method:
For each step you must see sizeable file sizes for this to work.
If you see zeros the method will fail.
The command: dir
will be used each step to make sure you are in the proper location and check the size of the files
10) type: C:
11) dir
12) type: D:
13) dir
Choose the C: or the D: drive to proceed. It should be the windows drive and not the USB drive.
14) type: bcdedit | find "osdevice"
This should display the location of the partition and in most cases is the location of the affected drive.
For this post I will use C: however you should pick the drive letter that you found that has the windows files on your computer.
The proper drive will display: perflogs, program files, program files (x86), users, windows, etc
15) type or copy and paste: cd \windows\system32\config
It should display: C:\windows\system32\config>
16) type: dir
It should display: bbi, bcd-template, components, default, drivers, elam, sam, security, software, system, vsmidk, journal, regback, systemprofile txr, etc.
All of the file sizes should be sizeable. If it displays zeros then abort.
Make a new directory and name it backup or something similar.
17) type: MD backup
Copy all of the files into this new directory.
18) type or copy and paste: copy *.* backup
It should now display: bbi, bcd-template, components, default, drivers, elam, sam, security, software, system, vsmidk indicating the files were copied.
Change the directory to regback
19) type: cd regback
It should now display: c:\windows\system32\config\regback>
20)type: dir
It should display: default, sam, security, software, system etc
All of these files must be sizeable. If it displays zeros then abort.
21) type or copy and paste: copy *.* ..
It should now display:
DEFAULT
Overwrite ..\default? (yes/no/all):
22) type: a
It should now display: sam, security, software, system and that the files were copied.
23) type: exit
24) click turn off your PC
Remove the USB flash drive if you had changed your boot order. Otherwise you can leave it and power on your computer.


If the repair works then you must consider the repair fragile.
1) Make a brand new restore point
2) Backup all files to another drive or to the cloud
3) Make a backup image using Macrium:
Macrium Software | Macrium Reflect Free
4) Place the backup image onto another drive or into the cloud.
5) Check the Drive with HD Tune:
http://www.hdtune.com/
Post images of the test results for these tabs:
a) Health (SMART)
b) Benchmark
c) Full error scan

bertie11 said:

johnebadback

the free one? Just had a look at the free one options but cannot see anything about boot loader repair?

OK got it. The free version won't allow me to create a recovery CD which I need for the faulty system!

download the iso win10 file from microsoft as previously mentioned either burn it as an image to dvd or make the bootable usb stick. the repair tools are in the iso win file

johnebadback

I'm not sure if I'm missing something here! I already have the Windows 10 iso on CD. I am currently using the Win 10 repair tools.

I cannot use the free Partition Wizard as it will not allow me to burn a recovery CD, I would have to buy the pro version.

I had already tried a similar function in, I think, Macrium Reflect but that didn't fix the fault.