Any tool to do a repair install of Windows if it doesn't log in?

Doing a repair install of Windows, as shown in the link below, has fixed me many issues. I wonder if there's any way to do it if Windows won't boot fully, so that you cannot log in even in safe mode. Even if it requires having a backup done before with a backup tool or something.

Frank15 said:

Doing a repair install of Windows, as shown in the link below, has fixed me many issues. I wonder if there's any way to do it if Windows won't boot fully, so that you cannot log in even in safe mode. Even if it requires having a backup done before with a backup tool or something.

Repair Install Windows 11 with an In-place Upgrade Tutorial

This tutorial will show you how to do a repair install of Windows 11 by performing an in-place upgrade without losing anything. If you need to repair or create a new recovery partition or having problems with the Windows 11 operating system on your PC, and the usual solutions will not fix it...

www.elevenforum.com

Click to expand...

Well, just about all backup software has bootable rescue media, which can access your backups...
even if Windows won't boot.






And there's this...

Consider performing a Windows 11 custom installation:

a) files are saved to Windows.old
b) a fresh version of Windows 11 is installed
c) drivers and applications need to be reinstalled
d) Important files are restored from Windows.old









The above is for failure to boot Windows.
Or failure to open the logon window.
A custom installation typically requires a Windows password.
If the password is forgotten then manually backup files and perform a clean install.

@zbook and @Ghot always give the best advice, but I have a question. When you say "Windows doesn't log in", can you further elaborate on that. Are you saying that Windows boots to the login screen OK?
If so, I assume your user pops up for you to signin. Are you saying it won't take your password?

zbook said:

Consider performing a Windows 11 custom installation:

Click to expand...

Thanks for your answer. Well, the thing is that a custom installation wipes installed apps, so what I'm looking for is way to reinstall withough affecting installed apps, like an repair install does. But a repair-install requires logging in to start the install. I'd like to know if there's a way to reinstall Windows w/o affecting data and apps and settings, like a repair isntall does, if the machine won't boot to the log in screen. My assumption is that Macrium and others don't offer that, even if you created a backup before.

glasskuter said:

@zbook and @Ghot always give the best advice, but I have a question. When you say "Windows doesn't log in", can you further elaborate on that. Are you saying that Windows boots to the login screen OK?
If so, I assume your user pops up for you to signin. Are you saying it won't take your password?

Click to expand...

This is just something I always wondered about, I don't have any issues with my PC now. Thanks all the same.

zbook said:

Consider performing a Windows 11 custom installation:

a) files are saved to Windows.old
b) a fresh version of Windows 11 is installed
c) drivers and applications need to be reinstalled
d) Important files are restored from Windows.old

Custom Install Windows 11 Tutorial

This tutorial will show you how to do a custom clean install of Windows 11 on your PC. When you perform a custom install of Windows 11, a clean install of Windows 11 is performed only on the same partition as the current installation of Windows to replace it. The previous installation is moved...

www.elevenforum.com

Restore Files from Windows.old Folder in Windows 11 Tutorial

This tutorial will show you how to manually restore files from the Windows.old folder in Windows 11. When you upgrade to Windows 11 from Windows 10, repair install Windows 11, custom install Windows 11, or update to a new version of Windows 11 (ex: Windows Update), a copy of the previous...

www.elevenforum.com

Download Official Windows 11 ISO file from Microsoft Tutorial

This tutorial will show you how to download an official Windows 11 ISO file from Microsoft. Microsoft provides ISO files for Windows 11 to download. You can use these ISO files to clean install or in-place upgrade Windows 11. The Flight Hub can also help you keep updated on which Windows 11...

www.elevenforum.com

Download Windows 11

The above is for failure to boot Windows.
Or failure to open the logon window.
A custom installation typically requires a Windows password.
If the password is forgotten then manually backup files and perform a clean install.

Click to expand...

When I attempted to repair an W11 home installation that's not booting by performing a Windows 11 custom installation, I see

Please run Sea Tools bootable Long Generic test > take pictures > post a share link





Boot the Windows 11 MCT (Windows 11 iso) > command prompt

Type:

notepad
notepad
notepad

Type these commands > save commands with results to notepad > save to a flash drive > post a share link



bcdedit

Thank you zbook. Working on it. I had to order more USB flash drives... Seems you need a lot of these...

Frank15 said:

what I'm looking for is way to reinstall withough affecting installed apps, like an repair install does

Click to expand...

A Repair install re-writes non-configurable system files and is not actually an installation of Windows.
You are assuming that re-writing those non-configurable system files would correct the configuration fault that is preventing startup.
That does not seem likely, to me.


All the best,
Denis

Try3 said:

A Repair install re-writes non-configurable system files and is not actually an installation of Windows.
You are assuming that re-writing those non-configurable system files would correct the configuration fault that is preventing startup.
That does not seem likely, to me.


All the best,
Denis

Click to expand...

Thanks Denis. That makes a lot of sense. So a tool like Easy Recovery Essentials for Windows might be a good choice? I can try it when I get some more flash drives.

TurtleInTheSky said:

So a tool like Easy Recovery Essentials for Windows might be a good choice?

Click to expand...

Your Macrium boot disk includes a startup repair tool [that Macrium users have said is much better than the equivalent on the Windows installation USB].
Macrium Reflect Boot disk - Fix Boot Problems - MacriumReflectKB
Use Macrium Reflect Rescue Media to Fix Windows Boot Issues - TenForumsTutorials

Startup Repair - ElevenForumTutorials


I don't know anything about the NeoSmart tool you mentioned.
NeoSmart are best known for their EasyBCD which I've seen recommended in these forums a lot - Download EasyBCD 2.4 for Windows - Uptodown This is, as I understand it, useful for dual-boot problems but not for solving booting errors themselves. As they say themselves, "EasyBCD can't fix a PC that won't boot.". But the link to their alternative EasyRE tool, which does address boot problems, now takes us straight to the same page that you linked to. So I suppose they've been consolidating everything for the new tools.


All the best,
Denis

I did try that and, kind of not knowing what I was doing, it created the current problem I'm trying to fix (not this installation that won't boot question).

Sorry, lots of details.... Skip it if you want, I'll figure it out in time.

It found 3 installations on my 6 drives and boom, created all new BCDs on all of them. Yikes. I'd prefer some details on what's in all the created BCDs. They can I think have multiple entries for any installation. And, the BIOS boot order... trying to understand that too. And there's the macrium recovery option.

Here's what I saw last night and some comments:

First, the BIOS boot menu I see pressing F12 upon restart has two entries for my "main" working W11 install on a Samsung SSD. So I see:
Windows Boot Manager (Samsung SSD 990 PRO 1TB)
UEFI:Kingston Data Traveler 2.01.00, Partition 1 (KingstonData Traveler 2.01.00)
Windows Boot Manager (Samsung SSD 990 PRO 1TB)
Windows Boot Manager (P5:TOSHIBA DT01aca100)

One of the Samsung SSD entries I think is using a BCD store on the Windows partition, not the EFI partition like the other Samsung SSD entry. (DiskGenius shows me this: one has partition 0, the other partition 2). And the TOSHIBA is the non-booting installation on a hard disk, G: aka \Device\HarddiskVolume11.

So I boot using the above TOSHIBA menu option in BIOS and 1st boot manager option and see:

C:\Windows\System32>bcdedit /enum

Windows Boot Manager
--------------------
identifier {bootmgr}
device partition=\Device\HarddiskVolume11
path \EFI\Microsoft\Boot\bootmgfw.efi
description Windows Boot Manager
locale en-us
inherit {globalsettings}
default {current}
resumeobject {ea36afa0-220d-11ef-a232-74563c48d00b}
displayorder {current}
{ea36af9f-220d-11ef-a232-74563c48d00b}
toolsdisplayorder {memdiag}
timeout 30

Windows Boot Loader
-------------------
identifier {current}
device partition=C:
path \Windows\system32\winload.efi
description Windows 11
locale en-us
inherit {bootloadersettings}
isolatedcontext Yes
allowedinmemorysettings 0x15000075
osdevice partition=C:
systemroot \Windows
resumeobject {ea36afa0-220d-11ef-a232-74563c48d00b}
nx OptIn
bootmenupolicy Standard

Windows Boot Loader
-------------------
identifier {ea36af9f-220d-11ef-a232-74563c48d00b}
device partition=G:
path \Windows\system32\winload.efi
description Windows 11
locale en-us
inherit {bootloadersettings}
isolatedcontext Yes
allowedinmemorysettings 0x15000075
osdevice partition=G:
systemroot \Windows
resumeobject {ea36af9e-220d-11ef-a232-74563c48d00b}
nx OptIn
bootmenupolicy Standard
bootlog Yes


If I try:
C:\Windows\System32>bcdedit /store c:\EFI\Microsoft\Boot\bcd

Windows Boot Manager
--------------------
identifier {bootmgr}
device partition=C:
path \EFI\Microsoft\Boot\bootmgfw.efi
description Windows Boot Manager
locale en-us
inherit {globalsettings}
default {default}
resumeobject {eea1def7-214f-11ef-8eda-60e9aa1ff7d5}
displayorder {default}
toolsdisplayorder {memdiag}
timeout 30

Windows Boot Loader
-------------------
identifier {default}
device partition=G:
path \Windows\system32\winload.efi
description Windows 11
locale en-us
inherit {bootloadersettings}
isolatedcontext Yes
allowedinmemorysettings 0x15000075
osdevice partition=G:
systemroot \Windows
resumeobject {eea1def7-214f-11ef-8eda-60e9aa1ff7d5}
nx OptIn
bootmenupolicy Standard

I think this BCD is used by one of the Samsung SSD options and results no way to boot! Anyway, I was/am trying to select the installation in the BIOS menu and have an ESP partition on each installation disk with a BCD with options for only that installation and perhaps the Macrium recovery. (.vs. one ESP with entries for all the installations, like a "master ESP").

TurtleInTheSky said:

I did try that and, kind of not knowing what I was doing, it created the current problem I'm trying to fix (not this installation that won't boot question).

Click to expand...

I think you mean that this post is about a different computer but am not at all sure.

TurtleInTheSky said:

And there's the macrium recovery option

Click to expand...

I assume you have made a Macrium boot disk.
You might also have set up an additional Macrium boot option - Backup and Restore with Macrium Reflect - TenForumsTutorials
If you had already made a Macrium backup of all your disks then you could restore them to return to the software state your computer was in at the time the image was made.
What system images had you made before this problem appeared?

TurtleInTheSky said:

the BIOS boot order... trying to understand that too.

First, the BIOS boot menu I see pressing F12 upon restart has two entries for my "main" working W11 install on a Samsung SSD. So I see:
Windows Boot Manager (Samsung SSD 990 PRO 1TB)
UEFI:Kingston Data Traveler 2.01.00, Partition 1 (KingstonData Traveler 2.01.00)
Windows Boot Manager (Samsung SSD 990 PRO 1TB)
Windows Boot Manager (P5:TOSHIBA DT01aca100)

Click to expand...

The 'Boot options menu' is better understood from a photo.
Some of the options might be in a UEFI section & some might be in a Legacy section.
I can only guess that your options 1 & 2 are in the UEFI section whilst 3 & 4 are Legacy.
You would normally prefer the UEFI mode.

TurtleInTheSky said:

bcdedit /enum

Click to expand...

There is some guidance on the topic of BCD entries in
Add Safe Mode to Boot Options Menu - ElevenForumTutorials
I'm not suggesting you add Safe mode, I'm just hoping that its discussion of BCD entries will help you.
You might be better off creating a new thread that includes BCDEdit in its title so one of the members who knows about that will be encouraged to read the thread & chip in.


All the best,
Denis

OMG, you read all that. Thanks!

Try3 said:

I think you mean that this post is about a different computer but am not at all sure.

Click to expand...

No, all one computer with the usual SSD for Windows and a bunch of hard drives. My approach is to get cheap ($5/TB now, lol) drives from a tech recycling non-profit here (FreeGeek) and have lots of copies. And they've all worked fine for many years.

Try3 said:

I assume you have made a Macrium boot disk.
You might also have set up an additional Macrium boot option - Backup and Restore with Macrium Reflect - TenForumsTutorials

Click to expand...

Yes, I did both for the various problems they would address.

Try3 said:

If you had already made a Macrium backup of all your disks then you could restore them to return to the software state your computer was in at the time the image was made.
What system images had you made before this problem appeared?

Click to expand...

I'm testing Macrium with the old free version and making Saturday full images of the entire windows SSD and daily differentials. Keep 12 weeks. The other disks are personal files and robocopy mirrors of it, or scratch disks i.e. restore/cloning tests (or 1 macrium BU area). I'd strongly avoid restoring my windows SSD or risking anything with it. Well, until I'm confidently restoring, fixing issues, etc. on scratch drives.

Try3 said:

The 'Boot options menu' is better understood from a photo.
Some of the options might be in a UEFI section & some might be in a Legacy section.
I can only guess that your options 1 & 2 are in the UEFI section whilst 3 & 4 are Legacy.
You would normally prefer the UEFI mode.


There is some guidance on the topic of BCD entries in
Add Safe Mode to Boot Options Menu - ElevenForumTutorials
I'm not suggesting you add Safe mode, I'm just hoping that its discussion of BCD entries will help you.
You might be better off creating a new thread that includes BCDEdit in its title so one of the members who knows about that will be encouraged to read the thread & chip in.


All the best,
Denis

Click to expand...

Well, it boots UEFI and I didn't know you could mix in Legacy boots. That's "enable CSM" I think. I'll have to check.

F12 gives me, for example:


Thanks so much for your time. I'll read that tutorial.

It's not uncommon to have Legacy boot choices e.g.


All mine make it quite clear which is a UEFI option & which is a Legacy option.



Denis

zbook said:

Please run Sea Tools bootable Long Generic test > take pictures > post a share link

SeaTools Bootable | Seagate US

https://www.seagate.com/content/dam/seagate/migrated-assets/old-support-files/seatools/USBbootSetup-SeaToolsBootable.zip

...

Click to expand...

Ok. I did all that but what stands out is the cloned disk testing with SeaTools reports:
Short Self Test Passed
Long Generic Test Aborted
Long Self Test Aborted

Summary: I can't tell if this disk is ok. BTW, if you don't have time for this, that's fine. I'm learning here, not recovering important data.

The Long Generic passes on a couple other disks, all are passing the Short Self Test (even the clone) so I'm thinking SeaTools isn't faulty. Thus, I'm not sure since "aborted" isn't specific but I don't have high confidence in this drive any more. I was using it as my C drive 4 years ago, cloned it and kept it around just referring to old files until now. I see to be able to read random files fine, never got a message of a disk error, so... idk. Toshiba (the manufacturer) doesn't provide diagnostic SW for consumer drives. I thought perhaps somethings just not supported with Toshiba drives?

For example, I just computed an md5 hash on each of 6000 files (total, 2 GB, in about a minute) on this drive, and verified them so it.... "mostly works", And chkdsk is ok:
G:\>chkdsk G:
The type of the file system is NTFS.
Volume label is Clone.

WARNING! /F parameter not specified.
Running CHKDSK in read-only mode.

Stage 1: Examining basic file system structure ...
466176 file records processed.
File verification completed.
Phase duration (File record verification): 36.95 seconds.
19434 large file records processed.
Phase duration (Orphan file record recovery): 5.19 milliseconds.
0 bad file records processed.
Phase duration (Bad file record checking): 0.42 milliseconds.

Stage 2: Examining file name linkage ...
666 reparse records processed.
647368 index entries processed.
Index verification completed.
Phase duration (Index verification): 6.60 minutes.
0 unindexed files scanned.
Phase duration (Orphan reconnection): 321.52 milliseconds.
0 unindexed files recovered to lost and found.
Phase duration (Orphan recovery to lost and found): 0.29 milliseconds.
666 reparse records processed.
Phase duration (Reparse point and Object ID verification): 2.78 milliseconds.

Stage 3: Examining security descriptors ...
Security descriptor verification completed.
Phase duration (Security descriptor verification): 777.23 milliseconds.
90597 data files processed.
Phase duration (Data attribute verification): 0.17 milliseconds.
CHKDSK is verifying Usn Journal...
3272 USN bytes processed.
Usn Journal verification completed.
Phase duration (USN journal verification): 0.31 milliseconds.

Windows has scanned the file system and found no problems.
No further action is required.

975950847 KB total disk space.
140168864 KB in 281504 files.
243556 KB in 90598 indexes.
4 KB in bad sectors.
555323 KB in use by the system.
65536 KB occupied by the log file.
834983100 KB available on disk.

4096 bytes in each allocation unit.
243987711 total allocation units on disk.
208745775 allocation units available on disk.
Total duration: 7.23 minutes (434176 ms).

G:\>

This drives clone is just kind of a test, a learning experience and nothing I need so I'm not sure how to proceed. Format and test? How? It's cheap to replace.

Diskpart and bcdedit results in the file:

glasskuter said:

@zbook and @Ghot always give the best advice, but I have a question. When you say "Windows doesn't log in", can you further elaborate on that. Are you saying that Windows boots to the login screen OK?
If so, I assume your user pops up for you to signin. Are you saying it won't take your password?

Click to expand...

Frank15 said:

This is just something I always wondered about, I don't have any issues with my PC now. Thanks all the same.

Click to expand...

I'm wondering what's the point of this ongoing thread ...... informative as it may be.

See if you can find a working Windows computer with an empty bay or a HD enclosure.


Test the problematic drive in the bay or HD enclosure.

a) Health
b) Full error scan