On the first page, click the “Troubleshoot” option. Windows will then load the recovery environment. If you’re starting from a recovery partition or repair disc, the screens might look a little different, but you’ll end up at the same options we’re going to cover here. If you start your PC using an installation disc, click through until you see the initial Windows installation screen and then click the “Repair your computer” link instead of starting an installation. RELATED: Where to Download Windows 10, 8.1, and 7 ISOs Legally And by the way, if your PC is still operational you might want to take the precautionary step of creating a recovery drive or system repair disc that you can use in the future. You can then create a DVD or USB install disc that you can use to boot your own PC. If you don’t have an installation disc, you’ll have to use another PC to download a copy of Windows.

If your PC doesn’t have a recovery partition-or you’re just not sure how to access it-you can also start your PC using a DVD or USB with the Windows installer on it. How you do that varies with what brand of PC you own, but you’ll often see a message during startup telling you what key to press to start recovery and repair. It’s possible that your PC has a special recovery partition that will allow you to start the Windows Recovery Environment without needing a physical disc. The first thing you’ll need to do is start your PC into the Windows Recovery Environment.

RELATED: How to Use Safe Mode to Fix Your Windows PC (and When You Should) Boot From the Windows Installation Media or Recovery Partition Performing a System Restore would be a good place to start. Instead, you should try starting the PC in Safe Mode and troubleshooting from there.

Note: If your PC starts to load Windows, but then fails, then the bootloader is not the problem.

Windows 7 boot repair