How to Do Windows 10 Repair Boot via Command Prompt When PC Won’t Boot?

What is Command Prompt and how can it repair boot?

One Windows tool to communicate with PC and do a lot of chores is the Command Prompt. Users can enter command lines to perform operations including opening/deleting/locating a file, creating a folder, batch processing files, disk repair, PC troubleshooting, and so on.

Though users should be knowledgeable about its general syntax and path and utilize the arrows to scroll through the commands, in some circumstances, it accomplishes chores faster and easier than using a GUI tool. There are two conditions—open Command Prompt when Windows can boot correctly or cannot boot—any Windows user can use this Command Prompt tool utilizing several ways:

If your Windows can still boot into the system, you can directly open Command Prompt for a common user is to find the app in Windows search box. And you can choose “Run as administrator” to repair your computer.

However, in most cases, users need to summon Command Prompt when computer can’t boot as normal. In this situation, you can boot your Windows to access the Command Prompt from there:

Turn on and off your PC for at least three times. When Windows detects the startup issue, it will direct you to the Automatic Repair screen. Then choose Advanced options > Troubleshoot. Select Advanced options > Command Prompt.

Tip: You can choose “Startup Repair” at first, if it fails, you can try CMD commands.

5 commands to repair Windows 10 boot failure using Command Prompt

We will study how to fix Windows 10/11 using Command Prompt in this chapter once you understand how to enter Command Prompt when we can boot or cannot boot the PC.

Command 1:  SFC

Designed to scan Windows and restore the data by substituting a cached copy for damaged system files, SFC, with full name System File Checker, is a built-in tool. When your Windows crashes or performs poorly, you use this command prompt. The scanning will begin when one enters this command line. After the verification procedure, it might automatically fix the files or show the outcomes during scanning.

Step 1. Open Command Prompt via the shown 2 ways.Type "sfc /scannow" and press ENTER.

Tip: You can try “%WinDir%\System32\dllcache”. This command finds any damaged or missing files, it replaces them with a cached copy stored in a compressed folder located at.

Check the results to see if it has automatically repaired your Windows PC or need manual actions.

Command 2: DISM

Designed to change, inspect and fix system images, DISM—full name Deployment Image Serving and Management—is DISM can assist you to resolve the problem if corrupted system images are the cause of your PC's usual malfunction. CheckHealth is one of its three features; it can identify any corruption inside a system image but cannot fix it; ScanHealth can search more thoroughly to locate damaged images; and RestoreHealth can automatically scan and fix the system image files.

Step 1. Open Command Prompt. Type "DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth" and press Enter. Wait for the scanning and repairing to complete.

After RestoreHealth repaired Windows successfully, if in your case DISM connects you to the Windows update server after the operation, you need to download the images online and then replace those damaged ones.

Command 3: RSTURI

Alternatively you can fix your Windows by using rstrui prompt backtracking to a previous point. Found under C: Windows\System32, Rstrui.exe is the executable file corresponding to System Restore. System Restore is the best tool available if your Windows gets into a significant and serious issue and wants to be fixed.

Restoring system will, however, bring your system back to a condition you choose and overlook any data you did not backup in that restore point.

Step 1. Open Command Prompt. Type "rstrui.exe". Press Enter.

Step 2. Click Next to enter System Restore.

Step 3. Choose a restore point. And when you finish the steps, click Finish and check if your Windows is repaired.

Command 4: BOOTREC

BOOTREC instructions let you manually fix the problem if your Windows won't boot and you cannot fix it with the Startup Repair tools. Windows Recovery Environment provides the commands meant to fix system boot problems.

There are 4 often-used commands under this instruction:

• /FixMbr: should MBR corruption be the cause of your unusual Windows behavior, it writes Windows-compatible MBR to the system partition.

• /FixBoot: should a broken boot sector cause a stop to your PC's regular operation, it writes a new boot sector to the system partition.

• /ScanOs: should you discover any installs lacking from the Boot Manager, it checks all disks for installations and shows the entries not found in the boot configuration store.

• /RebuildBcd: If you wish to rebuild the boot configuration store, scan all disks for installations and add the chosen installs to the boot configuration store.

Step 1. Open Command Prompt and type "bootrec /fixmbr" and hit Enter.

Tip: You can also try other 3 options by typing "bootrec /fixboot", "bootrec /scanos", "bootrec /rebuildbcd".

Restart your PC and check if the problem fixed.

Command 5: SYSTEMRESET

When you have tried a lot but still failed, factory reseting Windows 10 or 11 is another choice to fix a PC. This operation will resolve known and undiscovered system problems, delete corrupted system files, remove files or applications that contradict the system, therefore freeing space to improve the general performance. You can choose depending on your need from two choices for factory resting: keep personal files and delete everything or vice versa.

Step 1. Open Command Prompt. Type "systemreset" and press Enter.

Step 2. Choose a factory resetting option

Step 3. Choose a way to reinstall Windows

Why sometimes repair Windows 10 boot cannot access Command Prompt?

Sometimes, if your system file damaged a lot, you may even cannot access Command Prompt when PC boot failed. There are several reasons why the Command Prompt might be inaccessible:

1. Corrupt Boot Configuration
If the Boot Configuration Data (BCD) or Master Boot Record (MBR) is corrupted, the system may not load properly, and this can prevent access to the Command Prompt during boot repair.

2. Corrupt System Files
Critical system files necessary for booting into recovery mode might be damaged. This can happen due to a failed update, malware, or hardware issues, preventing the Command Prompt from being accessible during repair.

3. Missing or Corrupt Recovery Environment (WinRE)
The Windows Recovery Environment (WinRE) provides tools like the Command Prompt for troubleshooting. If WinRE is missing or corrupted, you won’t be able to access these tools during the repair process.

Easy tool to do Windows 10 boot repair when PC boot failed & CMD failed

If you sadly stuck in this dilemma, there is another way to help you. AOMEI Partition Assistant Professional is a Boot Repair program designed to conveniently and successfully address system boot problems.

From this Windows disk and partition manager, the "Boot Repair" capability concentrates on fixing damaged or missing BCD files. It gives customers a quick and easy way to get their computer to run as usual. Only some clicks will do all the above described actions; you do not have to input any commands.

Free Download
Windows 11/10/8.1/8/7

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Tip: Install AOMEI Partition Assistant on a Windows machine. If you want to fix a non-booting PC, please insert a blank CD/DVD or attach a USB flash drive.

Step 1. Install and launch AOMEI Partition Assistant on a working PC, click "Recovr"-"Boot Repair" and then click the "create a bootable disk" option to create a WinPE "Boot Repair" disk.

Step 2. Plug the bootable disk you created into the target computer you wish to repair the boot issue.

Step 3. Enter BIOS in your computer, choose the bootable disk as the boot drive to access AOMEI Partition Assistant.

Step 4. The PC that cannot boot into WinPE will automatically load the Boot Repair tool and start the boot entries scan process.

Step 5. After the process is completed, it will display the scan result: system paths, system versions, and boot status. And, all repairable boot entries will be available to select.

Advanced Settings: Select a location to store the repaired boot entry.
Repair to the current disk: The system will boot from the current disk and ensure the boot files are complete and functioning properly. (By default)
Repair to another disk: This operation will repair the boot entry or create a new system boot entry to ensure the system can boot from the disk you select.

Step 6. Select one/multiple repairable boot entries you want to repair and click the "Repair" button to start the boot repair.

Step 7. Wait for the repair process to finish. Once it is finished, you can check the repair result. If it succeeds, you will get a "Repair Successfully" result.

Tips: Besides the "Boot Repair" feature you can try, there are "Rebuild MBR" and "Check Disk" functions to help you.

Conclusion

Users occasionally can fix your Windows 10 or 11 with sfc or dimming commands; most of the time, they would rather see a specialist before factory resetting or reinstallation; ultimately, this is advised of course. Resetting or reinstalling will cause you anxiety about losing files; yet, you can choose AOMEI Partition Assistant to do boot repair when PC can’t turn on via practical functions.