Tweaking Made My Comp Not Boot?

[Broham]

Hey.

I used Windows repair to run all it's fixes because I was having an issue with one of my file extensions not opening with the correct program.  Then I reboot my Windows 10 comp and my start menu icons were all blank.  So I did a registry restore from my latest backup from Tweaking registry.  Now my comp won't boot and it hangs at "Diagnosing Your PC" after it blue screens me with sideways face once.

I've tried running chkdsk & scannow but nothing works.  Can I fix this with Tweaking Windows repair or do I have to do something from my windows 10 boot usb?

Any help asap is appreciated!  Hoping I don't have to clear my HDD ;-(

[Broham]

I do have a registry backup from after I did the windows fix when all the start menu items were blank, but at least it boots.  Maybe I can work backwards if I can get it to boot?  Can I restore the registry from boot without booting into windows somehow?

[Boggin]

If you are unable to boot into Windows then you can boot up with your install USB and navigate to the Install screen to select Repair your computer.

This will take you to the recovery environment where you can use the Windows restore point function.

I don't know why the program has caused this problem for you, but I'll pass it on.

[Broham]

If I use the restore point function it will make it so it looks like a clean install of windows.  I definitely don't want this.  I've done it before and can't get it back to normal after I do a restore point.  Unless you know how to do it so it doesn't look clean and will restore from actual good last boot.  Can I restore registry w/o being in windows any way?

[Boggin]

When you boot up with install media you are booting into memory and not Windows.

I'm not sure what you mean about the clean install look.

An alternate way to use your restore points so that you can choose which you want is to select Command Prompt in the recovery environment and enter rstrui.exe

EDIT - I've just tried that cmd on my other Win 10 machine and got an error message and this is on 1803.

I never used to so perhaps it was on 1709 when I used that option last.

[Broham]

What I mean by "clean install" is that, when I've restored in the past, there are no programs on my start menu and all Windows settings are reset to default.  I've never tried the rstui command, so maybe that'll allow me to restore to a more recent point that has a proper start menu etc?  I'll try it.  Hope it works, since you got an error msg.

What do you mean by 1803 & 1709?  U talking about Windows builds?

[Boggin]

The restore option in the recovery environment will give you exactly the same choice of restore points and yes, I'm talking about builds of Win 10.

Perhaps we are talking at cross purposes about restore points.

When I'm talking about restore points, these are part of System protection which can either be made automatically by Windows or manually by yourself and after restoring with one, they would take you back to a recent point in time and before a given event.

When you factory reset, that would remove all of your personal stuff and any programs you may have installed.

A clean install with install media would do the same, but you wouldn't have the bloat of OEM preinstalled programs.