PC fails to start and doesn't allow safe mode or media creation.
PC fails to start and doesn't allow safe mode or media creation.
Windows 10 issue, I’m not sure what happened but while I was asleep something caused my PC to shut down. It’s brand new, only four months old, and since this morning it hasn’t booted into Windows properly. Most people would upgrade or reinstall, but that didn’t help. The media creation tool made the USB, but the installer said to remove the media and restart, then let Windows start normally, insert the media again, and begin the upgrade. I can’t get into Windows at all. Safe mode didn’t work; it showed a blue screen saying “BAD_SYSTEM_CONFIG_INFO” for normal mode, but in Safe Mode it was “CRITCAL_PROCESS_DIED.” Resetting the PC isn’t fixing it—it just goes to 1% and fails. Is my hard drive bad? Should I consider a replacement and data recovery? Thanks for your help, even if you’re writing this from your phone.
The final option is to set up the drive on another machine or use a bootable utility and reinstall Windows, which could result in losing all data.
I mainly want to retain all my personal documents. I’m fine with reinstalling programs, but I don’t want to lose my personal files.
You used Windows 10 Home for a short time, then left it unattended overnight. Something happened that caused the system to stop working properly, and now it won’t boot or crashes when you try to use it.
It seems the bootable OS USB is damaged. You should create a fresh one from another machine. Here are your choices: Begin with a safe mode using CMD (bcdedit) to diagnose and fix issues via command line. Safe mode might not start, but it allows you to run CMD in recovery. If unsuccessful, perform a system repair using a Windows copy. If that fails, install a new OS from a Windows installation media on another drive. If needed, use a different machine with an OS installed elsewhere. Treat your current drive as a non-boot device and restore all personal files, then reinstall a clean Windows copy.