Booting to windows 10

[candlerman53]

2 weeks ago I started having trouble booting up my pc.  I checked out online support and tried to do a Windows 10 reset  (savings all files option).   At the end of the process, I got an error message saying reset incomplete.  After that, I had more trouble trying to boot.  I couldn't even get to the Windows troubleshooting screen.  I finally got to download a recovery file from another computer.  I have not been able to fully boot up using that flash drive.  Usually if I get to Automatic Repair, and the screen with various options, I don't get far.  Once I tried to use the option to go to a recovery point and restore, but even though the C: drive and a valid April 2019 restore point, when I licked on it I got a message that it was not accessible.  

I've probably done a hard shutdown 100+ times.

I know the pc is old by any standard (2009), but I'd like to get it running and make sure I have all the files I know properly saved on my external hard drive.

I'm not a computer person, so please be simple in your suggestions.  Thanks. 

[WAWood]

@candlerman53 

You said your PC is from 2009 -- so clearly, it did NOT come with Win10 preloaded, meaning you must have Upgraded it to Win10 somewhere along the line -- and that Upgrade is known to corrupt the Recovery information. So after that, you can not successfully do a Reset anymore.  Which sounds like what happened to you.

Also, you said you downloaded a "Recovery File" but such files are not interchangeable between PCs.

Also, you mentioned that you can not do a System Restore even though the restore point is there -- implying that there is an underlying filesystem problem.

Your options now are the following:

1) Create Windows media to use to boot your PC so that you can connect the external drive and save off the stuff you want to keep.

2) Download and create new Win10 install media and use that to do a clean install of Win10 on your PC.

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As to the first ... you will need access to another PC to create a USB stick you can use to boot your PC.

1) Download and install Macrium Reflect (MR) from this link: http://www.macrium.com/reflectfree.aspx
2) Use the option to create a boot USB stick or CD

That will create MR bootable media. Then, you can boot your PC into WinPE using that media.

Have patience, as that can take a while to start and bring up the screen.

Once the screen is there, read this thread about using PE Explorer -- a simple file explorer: https://forum.macrium.com/PrintTopic15803.aspx

If your disk still works, you might be then able to retrieve some files and folders from it.

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As to the second, use another PC and this link to download and create Win10 install media: Windows 10 download

Then boot your PC from that media and install Win10 afresh.

[candlerman53]

Thanks for your support.  I'm sad to say I don't know much about this sort of thing. 

So I entered the Macrium website link, registered, and downloaded the free Home edition of Reflect through to a separate pc on a SanDisk 32GB micro card (the USB drives weren't working).   So,  I have these files and folders on my micro card, which I can use a USB adapter to plug into the pc.

Ive attached a word file showing the screen shots of the E:Recovery file I created.   Am I supposed to execute the file on the 2nd page while I'm still on the donor pc?    Or, is there a file on the 3rd page that I need to execute while I'm still on the donor pc?  Or just plug the card/USB adapter into my problem pc's USB port?  I'm really lost here.

[WAWood]

@candlerman53 

First off, you must be able to BOOT your PC from the boot disk you created using Macrium -- and most PCs can not boot from SD cards. So, you need something you can boot from -- USB stick or DVD.

Second, there is no attachment, so there is nothing for me to see.

Third, the Macrium program creates a boot "disk", not a file.  As mentioned up top, you create that and boot from it.  If you're writing a file to a disk, then you're doing it wrong.

[candlerman53]

screen 1

Screen 1   files downloaded from Macrium website

screen 2

Screen 2  Files loaded when executing  ReflectDLHF file in Screen 1

screen 3

Screen 3  Contents of Macrium folder in Screen 1

I have USB adapter that accepts various card sizes.  That works on the old PC. 

[WAWood]

@candlerman53 

The process is simple:

1) you download the MR application

2) you install it on a PC by running the .exe file -- which will download the other files needed in the process

3) you launch MR and then choose the option to make recovery media -- generally, a DVD or USB stick. You don't manually copy anything to a DVD or USB stick; instead, the MR app does all that for you.