Windows 10 Recovery Gone BAD

GreatestOne

Limp Gawd
Joined
May 15, 2005
Messages
488
I'm working on a crappy Dell all in one that I think it's an i3 with 4GB RAM, a gift to my client last year from a family member... Yes that's right, last year LMAO.

Anyways it kept popping up with the annoying missing files error messages on Windows boot, have to click like twenty times before they finally go away. One was WerFault.exe and the other was explorer.exe.

Because the computer is painfully slow, decided to just do a recovery while maintaining the current files.

Now that's done, it loads Windows with a black (No desktop wallpaper) screen with just the recycling bin... The Start icon doesn't even respond to clicks, the Windows key doesn't respond, but ALT-F4 works to shut down the PC. Meaning I can't really do anything here.

The right click works but when I try to get to personalize or another setting from the desktop, I get another error message:

"This file does not have an app associated with it for performing this action. Please install an app or, if one is already installed, create an association in the Default Apps Settings page."

Luckily I don't think there were many critical files on this PC, but this is still annoying nevertheless and want to fix if possible.

Suggestions?
 
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When I tried to recover again, this happens upon windows loading... And that's when it comes up with the black desktop with nothing but the Recycle bin.
 

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Even if I have to trash it, I'm curious why this is happening... What's the cause... This is a pretty routine process... Can the system be so corrupted that it screws up this badly upon recovery attempts?
 
Since I'm pretty Linux incompetent I'll try loading the hard drive to my pc and try to recover the files that way first... I'll have to learn using Linux recovery at some point though, can you tell me what that process is called exactly so I can Google or YouTube it?

Meanwhile is this just another dumb windows glitch plus possibly degrading memory? If this is preventable for next time....
 
Even if I have to trash it, I'm curious why this is happening... What's the cause... This is a pretty routine process... Can the system be so corrupted that it screws up this badly upon recovery attempts?
As stated above the PC isnt stable.
Fix that before attempting an OS recovery otherwise it will continue to corrupt.
 
Sounds like a bad hard drive is you ask me. Subsequent starts cause different files to be missing.
 
Bad ram, bad motherboard (likely failed caps), or bad drive.

Or all of the above plus more.

I'm with everyone else. Until you figure out what component or components are bad you're not going to be doing anything useful with that machine.
 
Since I'm pretty Linux incompetent I'll try loading the hard drive to my pc and try to recover the files that way first... I'll have to learn using Linux recovery at some point though, can you tell me what that process is called exactly so I can Google or YouTube it?

There's no special process, many Linux distros can be booted off of removable media.

Once it's up you should be able to see the contents of the hard drive and copy them over to a network location or a USB drive.
 
If you cant get Windows 10 to boot after 30 minutes using all the usual methods then just give up. It wont be worth your time. MS have made so much effort to add so much extra recovery stuff into 10...and none of it works.

You can just remove the drive, copy the user data off and rebuild it in 30 minutes in most cases. If the build was that flakey it probably isnt worth saving. Remember if its an old machine it might have gone through three OS and numerous updates since new. Never had a clean build on it. Sometimes I think the builds just give up.
 
The Windows 10 recovery process is, in 90% of cases where it's really needed, downright useless.

All I want is the ability to install an OS 'overtop' of the existing OS like under Windows 7 and earlier, but in 90% of cases I can't even do that.
 
The Windows 10 recovery process is, in 90% of cases where it's really needed, downright useless.

All I want is the ability to install an OS 'overtop' of the existing OS like under Windows 7 and earlier, but in 90% of cases I can't even do that.

I've fought with it recently, in likely the most strenuous scenario: cloning an internal drive to an external drive, then swapping the drives and attempting to boot- with secure boot and Bitlocker in play.

I tried a lot of things and got nowhere, and wound up rebuilding. On the plus side, the system seems even faster now (it did go from a SATA SSD to NVMe, but a slow one), but also appears to have received newer drivers for some things. The Intel graphics are certainly performing better than before.
 
Whilst I prefer Windows 10 over 7 in 98% of ways. The one thing I did like about 7 was if it didnt boot, 9 times out of 10 you could just mash the keyboard, boot in Safe Mode and if it booted in that usually another reboot was all that was needed to get back up and running. If it booted in Safe Mode you knew things were reasonably okay, you had a chance.

Simple.

But now Safe Mode is usually only available if you can boot the damn thing, which kind of negates the need for Safe Mode. Doh!
 
Actually getting to safe mode is a little harder, depending on the hardware you're using. On the laptop that I was using above (an ASUS folder), I couldn't get to safe mode without the system first going into recovery mode, and then it still wouldn't boot.
 
I'm working on a crappy Dell all in one that I think it's an i3 with 4GB RAM, a gift to my client last year from a family member... Yes that's right, last year LMAO.

Anyways it kept popping up with the annoying missing files error messages on Windows boot, have to click like twenty times before they finally go away. One was WerFault.exe and the other was explorer.exe.

Because the computer is painfully slow, decided to just do a recovery while maintaining the current files.

Now that's done, it loads Windows with a black (No desktop wallpaper) screen with just the recycling bin... The Start icon doesn't even respond to clicks, the Windows key doesn't respond, but ALT-F4 works to shut down the PC. Meaning I can't really do anything here.

The right click works but when I try to get to personalize or another setting from the desktop, I get another error message:

"This file does not have an app associated with it for performing this action. Please install an app or, if one is already installed, create an association in the Default Apps Settings page."

Luckily I don't think there were many critical files on this PC, but this is still annoying nevertheless and want to fix if possible.

Suggestions?

Clearly, there is a hardware issue with this machine and since it was painfully slow, it is safe to assume the machine had a hard drive in it. Would not be surprised if it also has a faulty stick of ram. Therefore, replace hard drive with an SSD, upgrade the ram since it is so cheap nowadays, and install Windows 10 from scratch. The problem was ignored for a long time and now it is coming back to bite you in the butt.
 
Whilst I prefer Windows 10 over 7 in 98% of ways. The one thing I did like about 7 was if it didnt boot, 9 times out of 10 you could just mash the keyboard, boot in Safe Mode and if it booted in that usually another reboot was all that was needed to get back up and running. If it booted in Safe Mode you knew things were reasonably okay, you had a chance.

Simple.

But now Safe Mode is usually only available if you can boot the damn thing, which kind of negates the need for Safe Mode. Doh!

Nah, you can boot off the install media and select safemode from there. However, if the drive is going bad, chances are that will not work, anyways.
 
Whilst I prefer Windows 10 over 7 in 98% of ways. The one thing I did like about 7 was if it didnt boot, 9 times out of 10 you could just mash the keyboard, boot in Safe Mode and if it booted in that usually another reboot was all that was needed to get back up and running. If it booted in Safe Mode you knew things were reasonably okay, you had a chance.

Simple.

But now Safe Mode is usually only available if you can boot the damn thing, which kind of negates the need for Safe Mode. Doh!

A simple trick is to hold the power button and restart the machine just as those horrible spinning balls appear on the black screen on boot, do this three times. On the third time the 'recovery' (hardly) screen should appear and you can enable safe mode.

Either that or you corrupt your HDD even more trying to force recovery mode by forcing the PC off while booting - But this is recommended on the MS help forums. :rolleyes:
 
A simple trick is to hold the power button and restart the machine just as those horrible spinning balls appear on the black screen on boot, do this three times. On the third time the 'recovery' (hardly) screen should appear and you can enable safe mode.

Either that or you corrupt your HDD even more trying to force recovery mode by forcing the PC off while booting - But this is recommended on the MS help forums. :rolleyes:


Yeah you can try that but 99% of the time...it doesn't work. You still end up going round in circles. You can ask for Safe Mode but it will go right back to Automatic fix loop before it gets there. Basically if 10 screws up in half a dozen ways (as it has since it was released) you are screwed. It's rebuild time.

MS really needs to fix this.
 
Yeah you can try that but 99% of the time...it doesn't work. You still end up going round in circles. You can ask for Safe Mode but it will go right back to Automatic fix loop before it gets there. Basically if 10 screws up in half a dozen ways (as it has since it was released) you are screwed. It's rebuild time.

MS really needs to fix this.

Yes, the recovery loop of insanity is quite common.

Honestly, the recovery system is so useless under Windows 10, you'd get far better assistance asking the wall for help most of the time. At least it's cheaper and easier to fix when you repetitively smash your head into it in frustration.
 
Yes, the recovery loop of insanity is quite common.

Honestly, the recovery system is so useless under Windows 10, you'd get far better assistance asking the wall for help most of the time. At least it's cheaper and easier to fix when you repetitively smash your head into it in frustration.


Oh no question. Amazing how MS have screwed this up. I do wonder if all that junk actually causes more boot issues than it fixes.

The one I love is when you check that system restore is working and I specifically create a restore point.

Something goes wrong a bit later.

Okay lets use that restore point...No restore point exists! WTF!!??!!
 
A simple trick is to hold the power button and restart the machine just as those horrible spinning balls appear on the black screen on boot, do this three times. On the third time the 'recovery' (hardly) screen should appear and you can enable safe mode.

Either that or you corrupt your HDD even more trying to force recovery mode by forcing the PC off while booting - But this is recommended on the MS help forums. :rolleyes:

No need, just boot off the install usb drive, select safemode and that is all. However, if Windows is badly damaged, usually do to a failing drive or ram, you will not get into safemode anyways. (Nor will you get into safemode in Windows Vista, 7 or 8.1 either.)
 
Welp, looks like the OP fixed or trashed the computer, I have not seen him around anymore. Now this is just going to turn into a bash or complain about Windows 10 thread, oh well, at least we are consistent around here.
 
No need, just boot off the install usb drive, select safemode and that is all. However, if Windows is badly damaged, usually do to a failing drive or ram, you will not get into safemode anyways. (Nor will you get into safemode in Windows Vista, 7 or 8.1 either.)

No,

That rarely works at all because when you boot off install media you are running off 'the install media' and not the failed OS in question. Furthermore, as much as your besotted imagination likes to conjure up ways that Window can fail that have nothing to do with the actual OS in question and try to blame hardware as the cause of the issue - i can assure you that in literally every case it's all got to do with Windows update and it's shockingly woeful implementation.

Getting into safemode under Windows 7 'without' some pathetically useless recovery system was far easier and far more useful. Furthermore, I could simply install the OS over top of the failed OS without formatting and most of the time everything worked out just fine.

Just why Microsoft, in their infinite wisdom, disabled system restore by default also defies all reasonable logic.
 
No,

That rarely works at all because when you boot off install media you are running off 'the install media' and not the failed OS in question. Furthermore, as much as your besotted imagination likes to conjure up ways that Window can fail that have nothing to do with the actual OS in question and try to blame hardware as the cause of the issue - i can assure you that in literally every case it's all got to do with Windows update and it's shockingly woeful implementation.

Getting into safemode under Windows 7 'without' some pathetically useless recovery system was far easier and far more useful. Furthermore, I could simply install the OS over top of the failed OS without formatting and most of the time everything worked out just fine.

Just why Microsoft, in their infinite wisdom, disabled system restore by default also defies all reasonable logic.

For those who will be looking for help in the future and come across this thread, yes, do use the usb install media to get into safemode in Windows 10, if you cannot access Windows in the first place. It works every time, just so long as the hard drive / ssd is good and the Windows installation is not badly corrupted. As for installing Windows 7 over the top, you must be able to access Windows 7 directly, must be in the full administrator account itself and must have the exact same version of Windows 7 that is on the computer, right down to the service pack. Otherwise, you cannot install over the top of it. Booting from the Windows 7 media will allow you to install Windows 7 again on the same drive without formatting but not over the top, it will backup Windows and install a new copy instead.

For those who are looking at this thread for help, check the hardware first and go from there. Chances are, if your Windows install is running very slowly, you have a hard drive issue and doing a recovery will not fix the problem.
 
For those who will be looking for help in the future and come across this thread, yes, do use the usb install media to get into safemode in Windows 10, if you cannot access Windows in the first place. It works every time, just so long as the hard drive / ssd is good and the Windows installation is not badly corrupted. As for installing Windows 7 over the top, you must be able to access Windows 7 directly, must be in the full administrator account itself and must have the exact same version of Windows 7 that is on the computer, right down to the service pack. Otherwise, you cannot install over the top of it. Booting from the Windows 7 media will allow you to install Windows 7 again on the same drive without formatting but not over the top, it will backup Windows and install a new copy instead.

For those who are looking at this thread for help, check the hardware first and go from there. Chances are, if your Windows install is running very slowly, you have a hard drive issue and doing a recovery will not fix the problem.

For those stuck in a Windows 10 recovery loop, don't follow this advise - It won't do shit.

The recovery loop has little to do with hardware failure - In fact I've never, ever seen hardware failure result in a Windows 10 recovery loop. What actually happens is the hand grenade of a Windows 10 updater fails, either because it's so unbelievably slow and the user forces the PC off in frustration or the updating system is just so unbelievably poor it simply fails for no good reason whatsoever. When this happens, in many cases you can be left with half an OS, in this case installation media is not going to boot you into any form of safe mode.

There are instances where you can be left with half a desktop, all black, no start bar, no icons. In this instance you can restart the update via CMD prompt provided task manager still works - The thing is you have to be booted into the failed OS in question for the updater to recognize an actual installed OS, simply raising a CMD prompt from installation media will not work. What's more, contrary to the comments provided by the individual that didn't know part of the Windows 10 default installer's OOBE is actually cloud based, I've installed the Windows 7 over top of an existing install many times with no issue whatsoever - For that matter I've actually done the same with Windows Server, although it was early variants. Don't bother with latter variants as the cloud based solutions are far more suitable in 90% of cases.

Essentially, in the case of a recovery loop, the Windows 10 recovery system is absolutely useless.
 
No need, just boot off the install usb drive, select safemode and that is all.

I can't say that I've tried this while troubleshooting issues- perhaps it could have helped. Without doing Safe Mode from install media I had exactly zero luck.
 
For those stuck in a Windows 10 recovery loop, don't follow this advise - It won't do shit.

The recovery loop has little to do with hardware failure - In fact I've never, ever seen hardware failure result in a Windows 10 recovery loop. What actually happens is the hand grenade of a Windows 10 updater fails, either because it's so unbelievably slow and the user forces the PC off in frustration or the updating system is just so unbelievably poor it simply fails for no good reason whatsoever. When this happens, in many cases you can be left with half an OS, in this case installation media is not going to boot you into any form of safe mode.

There are instances where you can be left with half a desktop, all black, no start bar, no icons. In this instance you can restart the update via CMD prompt provided task manager still works - The thing is you have to be booted into the failed OS in question for the updater to recognize an actual installed OS, simply raising a CMD prompt from installation media will not work. What's more, contrary to the comments provided by the individual that didn't know part of the Windows 10 default installer's OOBE is actually cloud based, I've installed the Windows 7 over top of an existing install many times with no issue whatsoever - For that matter I've actually done the same with Windows Server, although it was early variants. Don't bother with latter variants as the cloud based solutions are far more suitable in 90% of cases.

Essentially, in the case of a recovery loop, the Windows 10 recovery system is absolutely useless.

What I said is correct but ok, whatever, do not listen to me, not my problem. :D Wow, you installed Windows 7 over the top many times, that's good and still, you had to do it exactly as was outlined in my post above, or it would not do it. Oh well, at least the System Readiness update tool because useful, 7 years after it was released. (That is a good tool to use as well, for Windows 7 installs.)

"For those stuck in a Windows 10 recovery loop, don't follow this advise - It won't do shit." Seriously? Do you have actually proof to verify this? So, that is your solution to those looking for help, do not do something because I cannot agree with the person giving it? The Windows 10 recovery stuff can work but you need to do some actually hands on work, just like with Windows 7 or any other version as well.
 
I can't say that I've tried this while troubleshooting issues- perhaps it could have helped. Without doing Safe Mode from install media I had exactly zero luck.

Using the recovery media is exactly the same as booting into the recovery screen. It is the safemode of the existing Windows 10 installation and if safemode is accessible, it will work.
 
Using the recovery media is exactly the same as booting into the recovery screen. It is the safemode of the existing Windows 10 installation and if safemode is accessible, it will work.

Ah, maybe I've wound up there and still not been able to recover.


With respect to one of the issues brought up in this thread- I'm also surprised that there isn't a 'rebuild Windows' function built-in that takes whatever is left and combines that with whatever install reference it has to form a working operating system.
 
I'm also surprised that there isn't a 'rebuild Windows' function built-in that takes whatever is left and combines that with whatever install reference it has to form a working operating system.
Time. Sounds like something that would take a lot of time -- more time than it should and more time than simply admitting defeat and going with a quicker / less frustrating option. :p
 
For those stuck in a Windows 10 recovery loop, don't follow this advise - It won't do shit.

The recovery loop has little to do with hardware failure - In fact I've never, ever seen hardware failure result in a Windows 10 recovery loop. What actually happens is the hand grenade of a Windows 10 updater fails, either because it's so unbelievably slow and the user forces the PC off in frustration or the updating system is just so unbelievably poor it simply fails for no good reason whatsoever. When this happens, in many cases you can be left with half an OS, in this case installation media is not going to boot you into any form of safe mode.

There are instances where you can be left with half a desktop, all black, no start bar, no icons. In this instance you can restart the update via CMD prompt provided task manager still works - The thing is you have to be booted into the failed OS in question for the updater to recognize an actual installed OS, simply raising a CMD prompt from installation media will not work. What's more, contrary to the comments provided by the individual that didn't know part of the Windows 10 default installer's OOBE is actually cloud based, I've installed the Windows 7 over top of an existing install many times with no issue whatsoever - For that matter I've actually done the same with Windows Server, although it was early variants. Don't bother with latter variants as the cloud based solutions are far more suitable in 90% of cases.

Essentially, in the case of a recovery loop, the Windows 10 recovery system is absolutely useless.

Your hate blinds you.
 
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