Changing back letters after Win10 Update - can't start OS now

[Mike_282]

Hi

when restarting the Win10 a couple of hours ago I automatically updated the OS. After a unusually long restart I saw some of my Programms and links not working.

I saw my C: and D: have moved to H: and C: respectively.
C: is my Windows Drive, I migrated my Win10 on it from D: a couple of months ago.

So i followed these steps
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/223188
and changed registry keys to have my usual letters again, unfortunately with no backups.

After a required restart I found myself with an Error Message that I'm getting after logging on.

The error message is reappearing immediately and doesn't allow my OS to fully boot.

It says something about Microsoft.Messaging_8wekyb3... having a problem starting. I can close the error message window, but it reappears immedeately.

I tried to boot to safe mode and tried every single option there, the safe mode doesnt repair anything and doesnt allow me to restore the OS or to recover it.

Using the command line I tried rebuilding the boot sector, but it obviously was working before, so it doesnt help me.

I am really sorry I didnt back my registry up. Is there a way for me to somehow save my OS? A clean install would be a real disaster for me.

Thanks in advance for all your helpful comments.

 

[DigitalHamster]

Hello.
This does not sound good, I must admit.
Although the safe mode does not help you, perhaps you can try creating a windows image on a memory stick and booting off of that.
Once you are booted up, you will have the option of repairing your current OS installation.
Here is a helpful guide:
Booting Win10 on memory stick

I will be happy to defer to someone else's expertise in the matter, should they come up with a better idea.

Good luck!

A bit extra: How to get Win10 ISO

 

[Solandri]

The Microsoft link you provided is for fixing the problem in Windows XP.

It sounds like when you migrated Win 10 from your D: drive to your C: drive, you didn't actually make C: your boot drive. The computer was still booting off your D: drive, the bootstrap said the OS was on the C: drive, and it would go on booting from there. (Starting with Vista or Win 7, Windows did not have to be installed on the boot drive.)

The update noticed this, and "helpfully" made your boot drive (D: ) your C: drive. Did the D: drive still have the old Windows folder on it? That's probably what you ended up booting off of when you noticed your programs and links weren't working. I'm not sure what damage your registry repair attempt did, but hopefully it only affected the copy of Windows on (what used to be) the D: drive.

Try this:
https://www.lifewire.com/how-to-rebuild-the-bcd-in-windows-2624508

The key step is bootrec /rebuildbcd. This will scan all your drives and hopefully find the copy of Windows on (what used to be) the C: drive, and add it to your list of bootable options. That should get you up and running in a usable system again. The drive letter assignments are internal to the copy of Windows you're using, not the hardware, so what used to be your C: drive should still be your C: drive if you can get the system to boot off that drive.

Even if that works, you're still going to have the problem of Windows not being on your boot drive. Short-term this won't really affect anything. But should the non-Windows drive ever fail or should you replace it, your system will not boot. Fixing this is a bit more involved. You want to make appropriate backups, disconnect every drive except the one with Windows installed on it (i.e. the drive you want to become the boot drive), then follow these steps:

https://neosmart.net/wiki/recovering-windows-bootloader/

 

[Mike_282]

@Solandri, i did actually try to rebuild the BCD.
I also don'T think this is a BCD issue since I can boot the OS to the logon screen and get to log on after which the error mesage pops up.

 

[Mike_282]

I formatted the C:, found an onl image from the C: and restored it on C: after that I restored the boot and set it on C: only.
I restarted the PC and what do you know? I get the same error message.
How the heck is this possible?!

 

[Mike_282]

Ok so what I did was physically remove the HDD D: drive from the PC and booted the PC with SSD only. Successfully.

 

[Solandri]

I formatted the C:, found an onl image from the C: and restored it on C: after that I restored the boot and set it on C: only.
I restarted the PC and what do you know? I get the same error message.
How the heck is this possible?!

As I said, your computer is booting off your HDD, not your SSD.

Since it sounds like you managed to make the SSD bootable when it's the only drive, if you want it to boot off the SSD instead of the HDD with both connected, you need to change the BIOS settings to make the SSD the default boot drive. Or go in with a disk/partition management tool and eradicate the bootstrap and boot partition from the HDD - that will make the computer search for the next available drive which is bootable, which should be the SSD.

 

[Mike_282]

I formatted the C:, found an onl image from the C: and restored it on C: after that I restored the boot and set it on C: only.
I restarted the PC and what do you know? I get the same error message.
How the heck is this possible?!

As I said, your computer is booting off your HDD, not your SSD.

Since it sounds like you managed to make the SSD bootable when it's the only drive, if you want it to boot off the SSD instead of the HDD with both connected, you need to change the BIOS settings to make the SSD the default boot drive. Or go in with a disk/partition management tool and eradicate the bootstrap and boot partition from the HDD - that will make the computer search for the next available drive which is bootable, which should be the SSD.

The BIOS doesn't allow me to load from a certain drive, only from a PC Drive / DVD Drie / USB / Network
I am really not into experimenting right now, I prefer to never touch a running system.
Thanks for your help.