How to Recover Data From a Corrupt Windows 10 OS?

Written By Isha Rikhi
Approved By Tanushree Chatterjee
Updated on 27 May, 2021
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Summary: Windows 10 OS may gets corrupted due to many reasons. Here you will find the DIY methods to recover data from corrupted Windows 10 OS by some manual steps or using a Stellar Data Recovery software.

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My Windows 10 OS is corrupt and hard drive has become inaccessible. How can I recover my data?

Recovering data from a corrupt Windows 10 OS is easy if you have the Windows 10 bootable drive or another working PC that can be used to troubleshoot issues of the affected PC. Let’s focus on the reason why Windows 10 operating system gets corrupted.

Windows 10 OS gets corrupted due to the following reasons

Hardware issue
Corrupt DLL files
Bad sector in hard disk
Outdated drivers
Corrupt Registry
Conflict in two antivirus
Modified system files
Incompatible software

Because of the reasons as the preceding section depicts or others, your Windows 10 OS might have got corrupted.

How to Recover Data from a Corrupt Windows 10 OS?

If your PC is booting, but at times crashes due to some fatal error, then you can try the following solution:

1. Use System File Checker (SFC) utility of Windows 10.

Right-click Windows icon present on the taskbar.
Select Command Prompt (Admin).
In the command prompt with admin rights type: sfc /scannow.

2. Use Deployment Image & Servicing Management (DISM) if SFC cannot fix the issue.

Right-click Windows icon present on the taskbar.
Select Command Prompt (Admin).
Type the command: DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth.

3. If both the above solutions do not work, then perform the following:

Backup your important data to external drive.
Format the corrupted drive.
Reinstall operating system using the Windows 10 installation medium.
Copy the data from the backup drive to the refurbished storage drive.

SFC and DISM are really great tools to help recover your corrupt Windows 10 OS without the need of clean installation of the operating system. Also, backing up files and folder is another important step to avoid data loss prior to formatting and installation of Windows.

In case your PC does not boot, then the above-mentioned troubleshooting will not work. You need to use a professional data recovery software like Stellar Data Recovery Professional for Windows and proceed as explained below:

Remove the internal storage drive from the affected PC
Connect the drive to a working PC as an external drive.
If drive is detected but inaccessible, Launch Stellar Data Recovery Professional.

Select what to recover (All data), then click Next.

Select location of the inaccessible drive, then click Scan.

Preview the scanned items.

Select the required items, then click Recover.

Provide the desired location, then click Start Saving.

There you go, you have saved your data successfully from the corrupted operating system.

In case the drive is not detected, then there is a physical damage to your drive which you can only resolve by visiting your local data recovery expert.

Winding Up

This blog points out various data recovery methods to recover data from the corrupt Windows OS and inaccessible hard drive. The manual methods for recovering Windows 10 includes using system file checker to scan and repair system files. If the system file checker tool fails to repair damage, then deployment image and servicing management tool can be used.

If both the repair methods fail then use Stellar Data Recovery Professional for Windows to recover your data.

Stellar Data Recovery Professional for Windows is a do-it-yourself data recovery software that helps you to easily recover deleted files & folders, missing or corrupt partitions and even accidentally formatted hard drives.

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About The Author

Isha Rikhi

Isha is a technical blogger and data recovery expert. She has experience in Windows data recovery. She writes about technical tips and tutorials.

18 comments

Vishal kashyap says:

January 13, 2023 at 7:52 pm

Hi Isha recently i have installed game from ocean of games and during installation process i ran the script for disabling defender mention in steps for installation but now defender is nowhere to be found and cant install updates of windows they got download but show error while installing. please help.

Reply
1. Satyeshu Kumar says:
  
  April 10, 2023 at 11:25 am
  
  Hi Vishal,
  If you have encountered the “Windows Defender won’t update” issue because of “connectivity problems”, the most logical solution for the issue would certainly be trying to use Windows Update to update Windows Defender.
  The steps are as follows:
  Step 1: Then, enter the Search menu, type in Settings, and then open it after finding it.
  Step 2: On the Settings interface, select the Update & Security tab.
  Step 3: Next, select Windows Update from the left-hand window.
  Step 4: On the right pane, click Check for updates. Your computer will now search for any and all updates that might be available.
  If you are unable to install the updates you can try below-mentioned steps:
  1. Try To Restart your PC.
  2. You can check out your settings
  3. See if you have sufficient disk space.
  4. There’s a small possibility that what you’re experiencing is being caused by malware. To check, run your antivirus software.
  5. If the Windows Update service is not installing updates as it should, try manually restarting the program.
  Hope this helps.
  
  Reply
Carl Myers says:

September 21, 2022 at 6:31 am

Hey, will this be possible to retrieve the data if I reinstall the windows without taking any backup, Or should I visit to any professional service provider?

Reply
Carl Myers says:

September 2, 2022 at 11:59 am

Hey, will this be possible to retrieve the data if I reinstall the windows without taking any backup, Or should I visit to any professional service provider?

Reply
1. Satyeshu Kumar says:
  
  April 10, 2023 at 11:13 am
  
  Hi Carl,
  You will lose some files when reinstalling Windows even if you tick the “Keep all my files” option at the beginning installing process. To avoid this tragedy, back up all your valuable files to an external hard drive in advance.
  You can check out this article for further information: https://www.stellarinfo.com/blog/recover-data-reinstalling-windows/
  
  Reply
Bailei says:

May 24, 2022 at 8:42 am

This blog Is really useful it tells about various data recovery methods to recover data from the corrupt Windows OS and inaccessible hard drives. The manual methods for recovering Windows 10 include using a system file checker to scan and repair system files. If the system file checker tool fails to repair the damage, then the deployment image and servicing management tool can be used.

Reply
Beverly Douglas says:

January 17, 2019 at 11:35 am

An important Pro Tip which I want to share with the blog audiences. Please immediately stopped working on the affected hard drive in case of hard drive failure. This may save your data and chances are much higher.

Reply
1. Satyeshu Kumar says:
  
  January 18, 2019 at 5:29 am
  
  Dear Beverly,
  
  Thanks for this very important tip.
  
  Reply
Bhatt says:

January 7, 2019 at 9:24 am

Hello isha mem,
My memory card has formate accidentally, I used approx every data recovery software but data could not be recover.
can you help me for same.

Reply
1. Isha Rikhi says:
  
  January 10, 2019 at 3:28 am
  
  Dear Bhatt,
  
  Do you also try Stellar Data Recovery Professional Software?
  
  Reply
Tim says:

May 18, 2018 at 2:45 am

I recently use Stellar Windows Data Recovery software bootable CD. It works like a wizard for me to recovery lost images, videos from non-working PC.

Reply
1. Isha Rikhi says:
  
  May 18, 2018 at 3:09 am
  
  Hello Tim,
  
  Nice to hear your feedback.
  
  Reply
Revin says:

May 15, 2018 at 4:10 am

Stellar Hard Drive Recovery software is the best software to get back data from the inaccessible drive.

Reply
1. Isha Rikhi says:
  
  May 17, 2018 at 5:11 am
  
  Hello Revin,
  
  Thanks for using the software. Please follow us on Twitter & Facebook.
  
  Reply
Jesse Peraza says:

March 14, 2018 at 10:32 am

A few days ago, I installed Windows 10 OS because I am the new user on Windows 10. Accidentally Windows was corrupted no drive accessible I search on google for a solution to this problem I found your blog. It’s very helpful for me! Thank You.

Reply
1. Isha Rikhi says:
  
  March 16, 2018 at 12:41 pm
  
  Hello Jesse,
  
  Thanks for sharing your experience with us and reading our post.
  
  For more updates and news don’t forget to follow us on twitter, facebook and youtube.
  
  Reply
Bob Vall says:

December 21, 2017 at 4:32 am

I used to recover corrupt MS office 2013 files with the help of your software. I appreciated your Blog!

Reply
1. Shailendra Kumar says:
  
  December 28, 2017 at 10:22 am
  
  Hey Bob,
  Thanks for the appreciation!
  
  Reply