Hey there! I'm having a really tough time with my Windows computer, and I could use some guidance. It all started when I tried to open Paint, but it wouldn't launch and threw some error at me. After that, I attempted to reinstall it through the Microsoft Store, but received error code 0X800706D9. Since then, I've run various troubleshooting commands like sfc /scannow and DISM, but none of that has helped. I've even checked my disk's health with CrystalDiskInfo, and it looks fine.
I tried repairing Windows files, resetting the Windows Store, and troubleshooting anything I could think of, but I keep hitting dead ends. Sometimes troubleshooting just leads me to a faulty Get Help window. I also noticed that my Windows Defender is down, which freaked me out a little so I scanned for malware with MalwareBytes, but it didn't find anything.
Recently, I contacted support, and after a complicated process, I ended up stuck in a BitLocker boot loop. Thankfully, I managed to get back to a previous state, but the issues remain. Even attempts to reset my PC haven't worked—the message says, "There was a problem resetting your PC; No changes were made."
I'm feeling really stressed about possibly losing everything I've worked on, and right now I can't afford to get a USB or do a clean installation of Windows. Is there anything else I can try? Could it be something that just caused all these issues? I'm even considering switching to Linux after this! Any help would mean the world—thanks! By the way, my machine is a prebuilt ASUS TUF Gaming A15.
1 Answer
You're not completely out of luck! It sounds like the built-in recovery tools are damaged, so you'll likely need to create a USB installation media from another computer if you can't do it with yours. Here's a [link to Microsoft's guide](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/create-installation-media-for-windows-99a58364-8c02-206f-aa6f-40c3b507420d#id0ejd=windows_11) on how to make one.
Make sure you also grab the necessary drivers for your device; specifically the ones for your networking and any RAID drivers you may need. Boot from the USB and follow the installation prompts, but if you don’t see your disk when trying to install, you might need to load those drivers. If you face any issues during the process, I can assist you remotely if you need some extra help!
Thanks for the tips! Just to clarify, will this method keep my files intact? I really want to avoid losing anything if possible. I'm also trying to figure out how to get my hands on a USB, but my budget's pretty tight right now.