If you can't recover Windows; it's your own fault

[holdum323]

Hi Like the title says, if you can't recover windows, it's your own damn fault. Windows has given you lots of ways to recover. Windows has given you a way to create recovery media when a problem pops up. Even if you failed to listen; and create recovery media, windows has given you ways to recover. I'm going to try and post links that hopefully help you recover from a windows system that won't boot.
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/17101/windows-7-system-recovery-options
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/12415/windows-10-recovery-options
If you were lazy and failed to create rescue media, you can find it here. Use it to repair or reinstall Windows. Here's the ISO files that you can use to create the media.
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/
Hopefully you created the media. It's not to late if your PC is running now. The best recovery you can have is a back up image of your OS created by a 3rd party image program. I preach these things all the time. Some listen and so I keep preaching.
How to create and use recovery media
https://www.howtogeek.com/131907/ho...ery-drive-or-system-repair-disc-in-windows-8/
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/17423/windows-7-create-system-repair-disc
Hopefully This will help someone. If anyone here on techspot has any thing to add, it will be appreciated.
PS you can usually get these discs from your manufacture for a small fee. Team work is good.
I'll be good now. I love sharing what I have learned from others. These may not be all the answers but hopefully they will get you started in the right direction.

 

[Rich M]

All great ways to recover but how about talking about ways to not need any of those?
How about backing up important program files and data on a regular basis?
If I had a $ for every client I walk into who says they have a backup drive of some type but have forgotten to use it until now
I would not have to work. And you don't need any software just copy and paste whatever is important to you on to a standing or portable usb hard drive regularly.
How about making image files of the hard drive weekly. There are plenty of fully functional free programs such as Macrium Reflect or EaseUs Todo Backup that will image the entire file to another hard drive so the most you lose is a week. You could use the Windows software to do so but unfortunately it has always been a bit primitive and better options are available free as I said.
However preaching to the choir is what this is because almost everyone who doesn't currently do any of this but will be quick to say "what a great idea" and then proceed to do nothing at all!
Oh and what about decent protection for your computer. Today Windows Defender is among the best but there are better and few know about either. Antivirus programs are dinosaurs desperately trying to survive and yet every computer sold has one on with a 30-60 day trial period that no one pays in to update and as a result Windows Defender that could protect the system and function properly while the dead trial version of the useless product is still there yet nothing changes.

 

[DelJo63]

There are plenty of fully functional free programs such as Macrium Reflect or EaseUs Todo Backup that will image the entire file to another hard drive so the most you lose is a week.

I just read a review on Macrium wherein it was asserted that to restore a backup, the user had to first pre-load a version of Windows that uses the MBR legacy boot. In other words, performing a restore directly on a new, replacement disk only leads to frustration.

One reason I opted for acronis true image was to avoid multiple steps when restoring.

 

[Rich M]

Jobeard that is ridiculous I'm afraid....I looked in Macrium Forum and Wilder Security Forum and see nothing about that so my guess is what you read is not correct. I was a Acronis Beta Tester for years and used to love it until it tried to be all things to all people and became too complicated to figure out how to use because of that. I own a current version as I wanted to keep up but can't figure out how to run an incremental. The reason I stopped using it as my main program was back in Windows 8 in 2013 trauma when none of the linux rescue disks worked and Macrium was king for a short while with it Windows rescue disk and Acronis maimed a perfectly good image file and actually killed a brand new hard drive with a failed restore. The drive could never be viewed again and I had to send it back for replacement and that was the last time I depended on Acronis. It also always bothered me that Acronis was always too demanding and would not restore to a poor running hard drive or a hard drive with any bad sectors on it. Not that I would run a system on such but I could clone a poor drive and then save it once completed to save time.

 

[DelJo63]

I sincerely hope you are correct. I just searched for reviews and commented upon one. No, I'll not duplicate that search as it is now in question.

 

[holdum323]

Hi! I just created a recovery flash with the latest W10 updates.I guarantee you will wish you had one in your desk drawer one day. Why wait until your PC won't load windows? Create one now while your PC is running on all cylinders. You can get all the Windows ISO files here. Create a media flash now and put it in your desk drawer. Wait around and you will regret it, when your PC won't boot.
Why are you not doing this? It's so simple and it will make you feel a lot better having this tool in your desk drawer.
Here you go. https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/
PS I just used mine tonight.