I ran into some major issues after contacting tech support for help with my Bluetooth headphones, which stopped working after I accidentally got a keylogger on my computer. While troubleshooting, the support agent deleted my Bluetooth drivers and got me stuck in a diagnostic restart loop. After trying their commands, I broke the loop but can't access Windows Recovery Environment (WinRe) anymore, even with a USB media tool. I noticed some quirks like programs installing without showing the install prompts. I couldn't maintain my ticket since another agent just closed it. Now, I can't do a clean install either. I managed to get into WinRe eventually by following some advice, but any extra tips would be appreciated!
3 Answers
You mentioned holding the shift key to boot from the USB, but it might be worth checking if a function (F) key can directly take you to the boot menu instead. Many laptops use F12 for that. Have you tried different F keys?
It sounds like you've been through a lot! If you're able to create a Windows installation drive using another computer, that could help you repair or reinstall Windows. Make sure your files are backed up, though. You might want to try a Linux live bootable drive if you want to recover files, but again that needs another PC.
I've already made the USB drive on my laptop. The issue is that holding shift while restarting doesn’t boot from that drive, even though my files are backed up from my earlier reset.
When you mention problems doing a clean install, is it because you actually want to keep your current setup? If you've backed everything up, you should be good to go with a clean install if you could just get that USB to boot!
I don’t need to keep the current install since everything's backed up. The problem lies in the fact that the USB just won’t boot when I try to restart while holding shift.
I’ve tried the typical F keys for booting, but no luck. F2 is the only one that works for regular access when the USB isn’t plugged in.