Solved Help needed re reinstall W 11

barryman · Jan 23, 2026

I am having continuing problems with my Windows 11. I think the problems are connected to the fact that my Windows Update is not working. I cannot download any updates and also cannot download programs from Microsoft Store. I have tried every known “fix” I can find to get update going again ie permissions etc and am also missing something called Feedback Hub which doesn’t even show on my PC apps. So the only option for me is to reinstall W 11,

How can I reinstall without losing data. I was online to Microsoft support for hours yesterday but they have not given me any meaningful advice. What I have done so far is to download Windows Media Creation tool and have made a bootable USB. I go through the first few screens and am then presented with two options – Install Win 11 and also Repair my PC. I have tried the repair option but it has not fixed anything. Re the USB bootup I have read that there should be an option showing to reinstall WITH keeping files and settings. Unfortunately the only way to move forward to the next screen is to click a small box that says I agree that I will lose files / programs etc so this option does not appeal to me. If I tick the box to move to next page it looks like I have to do a 100% clean install and I want to keep personal files and apps.

So, my question is: Can anyone suggest any alternative (and straightforward method of reinstalling or upgrading Windows WITHOUT losing files and settings etc.

Thanks in advance

Ghot · Jan 23, 2026

@barryman

Do Option Two (ISO method), here...

Repair Install Windows 11 with an In-place Upgrade

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

barryman · Jan 23, 2026

Thanks for that tutorial. I will give it a try in the next few days . Thanks again

barryman · Jan 26, 2026

Well, over the weekend I did the reset/reinstall and all worked OK. My PC booted up to my normal desktop screen and everything looked fine. I'd lost a few programs etc but that was the least of my worries.

But one problem soon appeared:- I made two different bootable USB drives (one a brand new USB stick) using Media Creation Tool. Each USB seems OK with having all the expected files & folders on them. The trouble is that neither of them will boot up when I tried to boot with them for testing etc. I even tried using a third recovery USB that I had previously made using Aomei Backupper and which always worked fine in the event of a restore being needed.

I double checked my settings on the blue screen with Boot Order etc and made sure it was set to USB first. Again, it would not boot up. Is there anything under BIOS that could be wrong? Lastly I followed web advice to try plugging into the port on the back of PC but that made no difference.

Has anyone got any idea what I can do to make these recovery USBs fit to recover if ever it's necessary? I'm at a loss now.... what can I do ?

Thanks in advance

zbook · Jan 26, 2026

One or more of these links may be useful:

Create Windows 11 Bootable USB Installation Media

This tutorial will show you how to create a bootable USB flash drive used to install Windows 11 with UEFI support. You can use a Windows 11 installation USB flash drive to clean install, upgrade, reset, or repair Windows 11. The installation USB can also be used as a recovery drive to boot to...

www.elevenforum.com

Download Official Windows 11 ISO file from Microsoft

This tutorial will show you how to download an official Windows Server or Windows 11 64-bit or ARM64 ISO file from Microsoft. Microsoft provides ISO files for Windows Server and Windows 11 to download. You can use these ISO files to clean install or in-place upgrade Windows 11. The Flight Hub...

www.elevenforum.com

Download Windows 11

List of PC brands with their corresponding hot-keys

How to get to your Boot Menu or your BIOS settings? Use different hot-keys that go to these settings.

www.disk-image.com

barryman · Jan 26, 2026

Thanks. I'll look into that. Is this windows usb with UEFI support different to the bootable usb I made with Media creation tool?? And should I try that one first. The other option you've shown is downloading an ISO but surely it's size is too big for any USB stick or even a DVD?

zbook · Jan 26, 2026

The MCT / iso requires a flash drive that can be formatted and is > or = 8GB.

The first link has a Rufus option.

barryman · Jan 27, 2026

Following your advice I created a new USB recovery drive from an ISO, using the recommended Rufus method. I restarted my PC, interrupted boot up to change boot order to USB, then left it to restart. However, again it went straight into my normal bootup screen, no blue screen giving "reset/repair" etc options so it is obviously ignoring my USB stick. Would it make any difference if I changed boot order to "boot from UEFI" although that does seem counter productive. So, now what do I try ?

XxXxX · Jan 27, 2026

please try rebooting your system with the USB drive inserted to the system using
settings > system > recovery > advanced startup

this will boot to the recovery/advance system menu
then click boot other devices

this will show your USB drive
click on that and press enter

you should now boot into the USB drive installation menu.
best of luck Steve ..

barryman · Jan 27, 2026

I understand what you are saying but how would this work if my reason for needing to get into the recovery usb was, like the last time that I had the problem, that my system would not boot up at all - this would surely mean that I would not be able to access system/recovery etc etc. on my PC. The whole purpose of the recovery USB was to be able to get as far as it's own screen giving all these options as my PC would not boot up at all !

barryman · Jan 27, 2026

I presume my boot order setting is correct (see photo). There doesn't seem any other option ??

XxXxX · Jan 27, 2026

barryman said:
I presume my boot order setting is correct (see photo). There doesn't seem any other option ??

View attachment 161237

apologise i thought wrongly that it was the USB that would not boot not your system.

if you can enter the BIOS you will have the boot order menu
you can move boot from USB to first in the boot order list

save settings and with the USB stick inserted restart the system
it should then boot from the USB stick.

best of luck Steve ..

barryman · Jan 27, 2026

Just to clarify - it is my recovery USB that is not booting up despite me having it chosen in the boot order. At the moment when I go to boot up from USB it is ignored and it goes straight into my normal PC boot up procedure. What I am needing is a recovery USB that will boot up when/if my PC ever decides it won't boot into Windows at all. Sorry if I am being a pain but you can see what I am trying to achieve - a bootable USB !!

spapakons · Jan 27, 2026

Just download the ISO directly (scroll down, third option) and use RUFUS to make a bootable USB flash drive from the ISO. The default settings create a GPT disk which is UEFI bootable.

Download Windows 11

Rufus - Create bootable USB drives the easy way

Rufus: Create bootable USB drives the easy way

rufus.ie

zbook · Jan 27, 2026

Please test the flash drive on another Windows computer.

On the HP computer list the number of USB 2 and 3 ports.

With the flash drive in place, when the computer is powered on repetitively click F9 > report findings

Overnight, plan to run the HP UEFI hardware diagnostics (F2 or F10): system > extensive > loop until error >

the next day if it has made two or more loops > click > esc > take pictures >

post images or share links displaying the tests performed with results

Winuser · Jan 27, 2026

Will the USB drive boot if you turn off Secure Boot in the BIOS?

spapakons · Jan 27, 2026

From my experience booting from USB 3.0 ports (blue plastic inside) on old computers with both USB 2.0 (black plastic inside) and USB 3.0 ports has some incompatibilities. Prefer using a USB 2.0 port.

Megahertz · Jan 27, 2026

Unless the USB drive is the first on the BIOS boot priority (not recommended), it will boot the main drive.
To boot a USB you launch the Boot Menu during POST and from there you can choose the USB drive to boot from.
To access the boot menu on an HP 290 G1 SFF, turn on the computer and immediately press the F9 key repeatedly until the "Boot Menu" or "Boot Device Options" menu appears. Alternatively, you can press Esc to enter the startup menu, then select F9 for boot options.
Make sure that a Fast Boot option (If it has it) is disabled on BIOS

barryman · Jan 27, 2026

Well, I think we now have the problem solved !! When I was previously trying to amend the boot order I was scrolling down to USB, pressing F10 and then trying to boot. This was clearly not working. So I then used the arrows to move the highlighted USB option physically up to the top of the menu, saved changes and then rebooted. And it then booted into the recovery mode on the USB. (The USB had the ISO version on it). Tomorrow I will try my other previously made recovery USBs (like Aomei) and see if they work. Fingers crossed that maybe the simple omission I was making setting the boot order was what stopped it booting.

I will report back here when I've tried it a few more times. Thanks for all the advice so far.

Celery · Jan 27, 2026

The Media Creation Tool automatically creates a Windows USB stick that is bootable in both UEFI and BIOS mode.

Does the boot menu open with the F9 key?

This boot menu is also known as a one-time boot menu, since there is no need to set the USB stick as the first boot device in the UEFI/BIOS settings.

Note: the screenshot shows an HP 290 G1 MT, not an HP 290 G1 SFF.

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