computer boots to RECOVERY see attachment

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computer is 10 yr old Dell XPS 2720 AIO
W10 pro 22H2 likely updated with Jan 2024
patient is some distance away so I’m likely to provide help over phone or chat,
how to start?

I’ve watched several videos and guessing the solution lies with bootrec commands
will that get us a working driver?
The only thing done so far is to talk them through command prompt to turn OFF
auto repair with set recoveryenabled NO, now it boots as per att pic and if left
alone pc shuts down within several minutes.

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I’d suggest doing an over-the-top repair install from an ISO.

https://www.tomshardware.com/how-to/fix-windows-10-repair-install

Desktop mobo Asus TUF X299 Mark 1, CPU: Intel Core i7-7820X Skylake-X 8-Core 3.6 GHz, RAM: 32GB, GPU: Nvidia GTX 1050 Ti 4GB. Display: Four 27" 1080p screens 2 over 2 quad.

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PFC

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And hope the disk is OK. Worth checking the SMART data on it.
2 utils in this post.

cheers, Paul

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PFC

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TechTango wrote:

I’d suggest doing an over-the-top repair install from an ISO.

https://www.tomshardware.com/how-to/fix-windows-10-repair-install

but the problem computer will NOT boot into windows, my understanding is that this won’t work, am I wrong?

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Yes, you are wrong.   
When you boot from a Windows USB and select install, Windows checks if you already have Windows. If so it gives you options.

cheers, Paul

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TechTango, PFC

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Paul T wrote:

When you boot from a Windows USB and select install, Windows checks if you already have Windows. If so it gives you options.

It gives you two options…

1. Upgrade (keeping all files and data).
2. Custom (aka clean install).

However, when selecting Upgrade, the following screen tells you that it’s not an option when booting from install media, and to restart Windows and run it from there.

 

 

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PFC, Zig, PKCano

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OldNavyGuy wrote:

Paul T wrote:

When you boot from a Windows USB and select install, Windows checks if you already have Windows. If so it gives you options.

It gives you two options…

1. Upgrade (keeping all files and data).
2. Custom (aka clean install).

However, when selecting Upgrade, the following screen tells you that it’s not an option when booting from install media, and to restart Windows and run it from there.

 

 

yes, I ran into the same thing.

most of the options under F8 end up back to the corrupted driver (1st attachment).
Any more suggestions are welcome.
I now have the computer in my possession.
The primary objective is still to keep data as owner is unsure of File History
backups, they do not appear to be recent. To that end, can we verify the status of the HDD in place?

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I don’t want to appear rude but I would recommend to recover what you can and advise the purchase of a new / recon PC. 10 years, the machine has served well but time to go to PC gods in the sky …. Best of luck !

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recovering what I can is what I want to try first, looking for ways to get by that driver issue.
I can get into repair then command prompt from a bootable w10 22h2 usb
are there repair options to fix or replace that bad driver?

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PFC wrote:

are there repair options to fix or replace that bad driver?

You could try using PnPUtil –

https://www.thewindowsclub.com/update-drivers-using-command-prompt

 

 

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PFC

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I would boot from a backup app recovery disk and attempt to make an image of the internal disk to a USB disk. After that you can play.

PFC wrote:

can we verify the status of the HDD in place?

There are several 3rd party boot disks that have HD test utilities on them, but it does rely on having a suitable disk driver on the boot disk. Odds are good for a 10yo Dell.
Try: https://www.ultimatebootcd.com/

cheers, Paul

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TechTango, PFC

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Paul T wrote:

I would boot from a backup app recovery disk

If you can give me the steps to create this on a USB stick I’ll try that first.
I have a bootable usb created from ISO windows 10 22H2.
It has the two options (mentioned earlier) after clicking Install Now, and at the
bottom left there is a “Repair your Computer” option that provides access to CMD Prompt that may provide some tricks I’m not familiar with.

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Depends on your backup software, but there will be a menu item to allow creation.

If you don’t have backup software on your machine (why not?) then one of these should be fine.
https://www.minitool.com/backup/system-backup.html
https://www.paragon-software.com/free/br-free/

cheers, Paul

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I opted to reinstall windows losing apps and data.
Owner has a locked external hard drive that had satisfactory data backup.
Thank you all for your help.

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