Recover or Repair
Windows 10
1
ADVANCED STARTUP OPTIONS
The first step to fixing Windows is to access the Advanced
Startup Options. In Windows, you can open “Settings,” go to
the “Update & Security” section, and click “Recovery” followed
by the “Restart now” button under “Advanced startup.” If
Windows is not starting up, you can press F11 during the boot
process. Select “Troubleshoot” [Image A] followed by “Advanced
options” from the blue menu.2
STARTUP REPAIR
You are presented with six options, the first of which
is “Startup Repair.” Use the arrow keys to select this,
then press Enter. When your computer restarts, select your
user account from the menu, enter your password, and click
“Continue.” Windows then tries to find and fix any startup
problems. If no problems are found, click “Advanced options” to
return to the main menu.3
STARTUP SETTINGS
Even if “Startup Repair” doesn’t find any problems, you
can still use “Startup Settings” to enter Safe mode. After
selecting the option, click the “Restart” button, and you’ll see
another menu. If your graphics card might be the problem, press
3 to enter a low-resolution mode that enables you to tweak
settings. Options 4 and 5 boot you into Safe mode either without
or with network access.4
USE SAFE MODE
Safe mode only loads the essential components of
Windows 10. You should be able to start your PC in
it, because anything that could cause a problem should be
bypassed. Things might look a little ugly, because only basic
graphics are used, but it gives you the opportunity to head to
“Settings” and uninstall any problematic software, or “Device
Manager” [Image B] to roll back to an older version of a driver.5
UNINSTALL UPDATES
Updates for Windows are supposed to either fix problems
or introduce new features—but things can go wrong. If
you’ve installed an update only to find it causes issues, select
“Uninstall Updates” from the “Advanced Options” menu. You can
choose to uninstall the most recent “quality update,” or expunge
the latest “feature update” (the big updates that come once or
twice a year) [Image C].IF YOU’RE LUCKY, you will have a trouble-free experience with Windows 10, but—realistically—
it’s quite likely that something will go wrong at some point. You may be experiencing a lot of
crashes or error messages, or you might even find that Windows won’t boot at all. If you can’t
even start your computer, how are you supposed to fix things?
Thankfully, there’s a number of recovery methods built into Windows 10 that should help you
get back up and running with the minimum of fuss.
While it’s natural to panic a little when Windows goes awry, the various recovery tools and
options that exist should mean that you can fix the problem without putting your valuable data
at risk. Even if you have to reinstall Windows because of a more serious problem, it should still
be possible to safeguard your files. –MARK WYCIŚLIK-WILSONYOU’LL NEED THIS
WINDOWS 10
You might also need to
resort to using your Win 10
installation disc.6
SYSTEMRESTORE FROMWITHIN WINDOWS
System Restore automatically backs up the
registry and key system files in case anything
goes wrong. You can also do it manually. Find System
Restore by clicking the “Start” button and searching
for it. If there are restore points available, select the
one you’d like to use, and click “Next” [Image D]. Click
“Finish” and the restoration process continues.7
SYSTEMRESTORE WHEN WINDOWS WON’T BOOT
If you can’t boot into Windows, you can access
System Restore from the “Advanced Options”
boot menu. Having selected “System Restore,” select
your user account when your PC restarts, enter your
password, and click “Continue.” You can then use System
Restore [Image E] as described in the previous step.8
RESET WINDOWS 10
Another way you can effectively rid your PC of
problems is by performing a reset. If you have
loaded the “Advanced Options” menu, click the back
button, then choose “Reset this PC” [Image F]. This
reinstalls Windows 10 for you, but first you are given the
choice of keeping your personal files, or wiping them.
Click one of these options followed by “Reset,” then sit
back and wait.9
SYSTEMIMAGE RECOVERY
The final option on the “Advanced Options” menu is
“System Image Recovery” [Image G]. This enables
you to restore Windows 10 from a backup. This could be
one you have created yourself, or it could be an image
that was included with your PC by the manufacturer. You
simply need to select the image you want to work with,
and you’re guided through the rest of the process.10
REINSTALL WINDOWS 10
Sometimes you may have no choice but to
reinstall Windows from scratch. If you have a
Windows 10 installation disc, you can boot your PC from
it and run through the reinstallation, otherwise you have
to use the Microsoft Media Creation tool (www.microsoft.
com/software-download/windows10) on another PC to
download Windows 10 and burn it to a DVD [Image H].70 MAXIMUMPC DEC 2019 maximumpc.com
R&D