Completely locked out of system. Can't access system restore

I would suggest installing Rollback Rx Home (it's free) because it starts before windows and you just restore your PC back to a previous snapshot. You don't need to get into Windows to use it.
Basically, it takes a snapshot of your PC every day after you start (assuming you power off every day) and you can collect 7 snapshots.
This has saved me on several occasions. I discovered it on Britecs Youtube channel.

Easy Way To Fix All Windows Problems - YouTube

SIW2 said:

If you have access to another pc you could borrow my boot media and either burn it cd/dvd or extract it to usb. Boot it up on your sick machine.

There are several tools included. I suggest you use nt6repair first ( link on the desktop) to recreate the boot files. You may be able to run system restore from it (there is a link on the desktop called system restore), or copy off any important data.

17514x64-v5.iso

Burned that file onto a disk as an iso. Ran it and was able to get to a desktop. Did what you recommended but it didn't work. Then I realized I was able to access all my drives from there, and I formatted my OS drive. After that, I ran setup from a W7 installation iso on a disk I found. From there, windows started to install. Selected the drive I wanted to install to. Everything ran fine, no issues. Windows restarted when complete and I went into BIOS and set the SSD first in the boot order. Aaaaand then I'm right back where I started. Set it as the only boot device. Disconnected all unnecessary peripherals. I get this lovely little screen.


I don't get it. I formatted the drive, installed Windows, and set the correct drive as the priority boot.

SIW2 said:

It can't find the bcd store.

That is probably because you mucked around changing the boot device after installing.

Use NT6repair to set your newly installed windows partition active ( use the ACTIVATION section), and then use the AUTO BOOT REPAIR section.

After that, I can just restart? Or do I need to change the boot priority back to the SSD?

SIW2 said:

You should have a one time boot selection menu.

It is F11 on my machine. It could be something else on yours. Sometimes on Asus boards you press F8 during post.

Attempting to run the boot repair, it's telling me I need to select WINDOWS partition. It says Windows is not found on C: or D:

(Thank you so much for all the time you're spending on helping me btw, I truly appreciate it)

SIW2 said:

From the boot media, can you see c:\windows or d:\windows folder?

crap, just realized I accidentally installed to E: not C:

With these options:



I get this screen:


closing that out gives me:

SIW2 said:

From the boot media, can you see c:\windows or d:\windows folder?

And yes, I see the folders