My PC froze while I was playing a game, so I held the power button to shut it down. When I turned it back on, Windows only showed a "Choose an option" recovery screen with "Troubleshoot" and "Turn off your PC." I'm not very experienced with PC repairs and have been stuck trying different suggestions. I may have seen a message suggesting that the drive's file system or indexing data is corrupted, but I'm not sure whether that diagnosis is accurate or what I should safely try next.
2 Answers
The exact text and any error codes on the recovery screen matter a lot. “Choose an option” by itself doesn’t prove that the hard drive is RAW. Before using reset or reinstall options, check Advanced options for Startup Repair, System Restore, or Command Prompt, and prioritize backing up important files if the drive can still be accessed.
Start with Troubleshoot > Advanced options > Startup Repair. Let Windows try to repair the boot process automatically. If that fails or keeps looping, return to Advanced options and try Command Prompt, then run `sfc /scannow` to check and repair damaged Windows system files. The forced shutdown may have corrupted some files, but avoid formatting or resetting the PC until you’ve checked whether your data is still accessible.
I also saw a summary saying the drive might be showing as RAW because its file-system data is corrupted. I’m not sure if that’s confirmed, so I don’t want to erase anything or make the problem worse.