I've been facing some serious performance issues on my PC lately—extreme lag, even though both my CPU and GPU aren't heavily used. Most of the settings aren't working properly, and installing or updating apps has become a nightmare. I thought a reset would fix things, but now I'm stuck because I can't access the recovery settings. When I try to go there or search for it, nothing happens, and it just opens the regular Windows settings. Since my Windows key comes from one of those sketchy €2 sites, I can't afford to just reinstall Windows either. What do I do? I really need help!
2 Answers
It sounds like your Windows installation might be corrupted if you're having such trouble accessing recovery options. The easiest fix is to create a bootable USB drive with a fresh copy of Windows 11. Don’t forget to back up all your important files before you go through with this, since doing a clean install will erase everything on your PC. Once that’s done, your key should reactivate automatically after you connect to the internet, even if it’s from one of those cheaper sites. Here's a brief rundown: Use the Media Creation Tool on another computer to create your USB drive, then boot from that to install Windows anew.
I bought a new OEM key recently for Windows 11, and they’re pretty cheap now compared to what they used to be, so if you're thinking about getting a fresh key later on, just keep that in mind. But for now, going the bootable USB route is probably your best bet.
Thanks for the tip! I might take that route in the future. Do you have any advice on preventing these issues from happening again?