Crashed and wiped hard drive

[Jeannette Thompson]

Windows 10 updates have completely wrecked my laptop. Nothing is helping. Have tried reinstalling but it just gives up.

 

[garybear]

Hi Please provide more information. "Just gives up" doesn't tell us much. You can go here and create a media creation tool which you can use to repair or reinstall Windows. Let us know how things go.
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows10

 

[Trouble]

No arguing that Windows 10 updates are known to, on occasion, cause problems with some computers, but.....
There is no evidence that I can find that would suggest that Windows 10 or any of its' builds or updates have ever "wiped hard drive", so....
You may want to consider that there might just be something going on with your hard drive.

Something I like to use when I have problems with a computer is a Linux Distro live CD / DVD / USB thumb drive.
I typically use the "MATE" version which you can download (the ISO) from here https://www.linuxmint.com/download.php
either the 32 or 64 bit version is available, if you do not know which might be appropriate then just get the 32 bit version.
Use Rufus to create a bootable USB thumbdrive from that ISO and use that to boot the system.
http://rufus.akeo.ie/

IF the system boots from that external media, you can use that interface to check your hard drive for data that you may want to backup to an external disk

 

[garybear]

Hi Linux is a great tool to have in your tool chest. Here's a link from HTG to add to the post made by @Trouble.
https://www.howtogeek.com/howto/31804/the-10-cleverest-ways-to-use-linux-to-fix-your-windows-pc/

 

[Tim Locke]

THe use of a Linux distro as a recovery tool is a great idea...but it does require some technical knowledge of Windows, Linux, and even about file systems to be a usable tool for non-technical people.

 

[garybear]

THe use of a Linux distro as a recovery tool is a great idea...but it does require some technical knowledge of Windows, Linux, and even about file systems to be a usable tool for non-technical people.

Hi! Yes I agree that using Linux as a recovery tool will require some technical knowledge, but if you have data you need to recover, that is one way. If you can't boot into windows, you can try to get into the advanced startup mode where you can try a reset or a refresh. Here are the recovery options for W10. Here's link from MS Community.
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/12415/windows-10-recovery-options
Here's link showing ways to get into advanced startup mode.
https://pureinfotech.com/access-adv...hoot-fix-pc/#advanced_startup_windows10_setup
Here's link from HTG showing how to use advanced startup mode.
https://www.howtogeek.com/131916/ho...artup-options-to-fix-your-windows-8-computer/
I think I have covered the ways to recover Windows. Sorry if I confused this thread, but there are things you have to learn about your OS, if you're going to be a Windows user, and learning how to recover is a must.
Here's my favorite way to boot into the advanced startup mode if you can't get there from inside Windows.
If your PC isn’t loading Windows 10 and you don’t have the operating system installation files, you can use the following trick.

1. 
   Start your computer and follow the POST, when Windows should begin loading, press the power button to shutdown your computer.
   
2. 
   Repeat the previous step twice, and in the third restart the operating system should enter into the Windows Recovery Environment (Windows RE), where a number of diagnostics will be performed to try fix any booting issues, but you will also get an option to access the Windows Startup Settings.
   

 

[Wolfie]

Assuming that the drive isn't actually wiped (I don't see why an update would do that?):

https://www.windows10forums.com/threads/re-install-w10-and-keep-your-files-app-data-intact.15825/