Windows10 -Automatic Repair loop, now showing missing registry file...

Hello,

 

I feel I must first point out that my tech knowledge is very shallow, so apologies for any awkward terminology I might use!

 

I'm running an ex-works PC, formally running Windows8, which I then updated to Windows 10 after a few months of prompting, and all worked well for several months…

 

I think it was after a Windows update (which appeared to have completed correctly) that my PC falied to boot up.

A message would pop-up:  'Preparing Automatic Repair'

Then, a blue screen:  'Diagnosing your PC'

Then Automatic Repair informed me:  'Your PC did not start correctly', and would offer a two options:  'Restart' or 'Advanced Options'.

 

Restart would return to the same set of errors, and all the adavnced options seemes to come to dead ends too -suggesting I re-start windows.

there was a message regarding:

Log File E:Windows\System32\logfiles\Strt\StrtTrail.txt

(but I didn't know what to do with this info)

 

I found what I thought was some help on this page:

http://windowsreport.com/windows-10-automatic-repair-couldnt-repair-pc/

 

I tried the four stages of solution1-

(via command prompt:  bootrec.exe/rebuildbcd  …etc, and run: chckdsk /r on the drives)

–This made no apparent difference.

 

I then tried solution3-

Disable Automatic Startup Repair (via command prompt: bcdedit /set {default} recoveryenabled No )

–This resulted in the current situation, which is….

 

When I turn on the PC, a blue screen appears, with the following information:

 

Recovery

Your PC/Device needs to be repaired

The operating system couldn't be loaded because the system registry file is missing or contains errors.

 

File: \WINDOWS|system32\config\system

Error code: 0xc000014c

 

Choose one of the options below to address this problem.

 

Press Esc for Recovery

Press Enter to try again

Press F8 for Startup Settings

Press F9 to use a different operating system

 

but the keyboard does not respond any more.

 

So, it looks like my biggest mistake was blindly trying the suggestions on the Windowreport page, for which I'm now very embarassed.

 

My question is…  is this salvageable? 

Am I looking at a possible re-install of windows? (not that I know much about doing that (yet))

 

-any advice would be most welcome!

 

Thanks,

Bill.

It doesn;t sound like good news…. but I guess you know that already.

I would be inclined to reinstall Windows,,, lets hope your back ups are good…( other wise you could boot into Linux and try and copy off any important stuff and keep it safe on removable media, if you do this make sure you have several copies…

or take it in to a local competent computer technician for a quotation for the work.

thanks, Paws,
Yeah, I was suspecting it would need something pretty drastic like this….
The good news is that all the files I need to keep were backed up already (a habit I got into a while back after losing a pile of stuff when a hard-drive died -there's nothing like learning the hard way! ☺)

I'll have to look into the Windows reinstall options… I updated to Windows10 from 8 via Microsoft's download invitation all that time ago… so I don't have the usual instaĺl disks (but I assume this will be the case for a lot of people).
Sorry if this is an obvious question, but what/how would you recommend setting about a reinstall?
(I'll search around in here too as soon as I've posted this, but I thought I'd ask anyway)

thanks,
Bill.

just to conclude this one, I downloaded the Windows10 install for a USB flash drive, and using the serial that came with my original copy of Windows, have the PC running again.

 

Thanks for the guidance, Paws

Although I'm on here as a newbie, I've been reaping the benefits of this site since the Tom Coyote days -but I'd lost my old log-in/password details once or twice in the usual turmoil of life and re-registered a few times…   but I'm so glad you guys are still here doing what you do

 

deepest respect, and all the best,

Bill

Well done Bill, it looks like you did exactly the right thing and now its all working again… excellent.

 

Here's a tip for you…

 

When you have everything working well and just as you like it, download and install a good disc imaging utility (Macrium Reflect Free is good, and available here:

 

http://www.macrium.com/reflectfree.aspx

 

With a good disc image or two safely stashed away on a couple of USB external hard drives and a bootable USB key or CD/DVD to boot it up kept somewhere safe, in the event that software/operating system problems crop up in the future, re-imaging will have your computer up and running again in less time than it takes to walk the dog!.

 

Thanks for your kind words…. on behalf of us all here, many thanks and keep safe.

Regards

paws

…more sound advice … thank-you again, Paws.

 

I'll pick up a couple of USB drives just for this, and keep them safe (!)

 

My old Great Dane a bit arthritic these days, so dog walks are quite short, but hopefully I won't need to put this to the test

 

Many thanks,

Bill