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My previous laptop only had hardware issues, and that's part why I had to upgrade. Nothing was wrong with its operating system—until I turned it on recently to find that something went wrong. There was suddenly no OS. Whatever may have happened, I had to fix it quickly, as there was now a need for the laptop.

![1740360392146.jpg](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/olujay/23tGW1X9uuUeXzLTT9wc3KRoBesrrce1aPsjcgeyH2E7ntnp4WarEFU61GR7rDDr5LtF2.jpg)

If the laptop was still running on a hard disk drive (HDD), I would have just assumed that the laptop must have been hit or something and caused it's internals to be messed up. But I had switched to a solid-state drive (SSD) a long time ago, so it didn't make sense for this type of problem to happen out of nowhere, especially when the laptop hadn't been in use for a long time.

I had two options. I could either try to repair the OS and keep my files or boot a new one and reset the entire laptop. Thankfully, I had already moved most of the files out before, so I could go with any choice. But I preferred to actually try to repair it and not risk losing anything vital.

To begin repair, I had to first figure out what the problem was and if the OS was actually repairable. I had to run a system diagnosis. Going through BIOS, I figured using GPT that the laptop may be having trouble detecting the hard disk—the SSD. But when I ran a check, it passed. The next option was to try to repair it using a boot device.

![IMG_20250221_092956.jpg](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/olujay/Eo1uwTg6SZTbfiaRufhhjPK6bR3vk4K7WTCJfuKmiFLfpoSTH7ms72wUD8Y2tt91Chi.jpg)

I needed a USB flash drive with at least 8 GB, an ISO file, and a way to load the ISO file into the USB drive and turn it into a boot device. An ISO file is like a digital copy of a CD or DVD disc packed into a single file. So instead of using a CD to load a new OS like in the old days, one could use an ISO file on a flash drive, like I was going to do.

To turn the USB drive into a boot device, I had to download the Windows 11 (or 10) from Microsoft and then Rufus to convert it into a bootable.

![image.png](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/olujay/23tcNRVykgikvonu32osasSYdTnqumS6Xj3fWvcCesJwSPx1ufi2HRK6SMG7WmGKhXEn3.png)

![image.png](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/olujay/48QR6WoE7RCMqFWYNfUV3sEC6VcXj4SnRgAgNQpfNvFTeRdzBmSCo6yAzPj2XqM44h.png)

<center><sub>• Download Windows 11 ISO file -> https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows11<br>• Download Rufus -> https://rufus.ie/en/</sub></center>

I did this on a different laptop, by the way. And when the bootable USB was ready, I plugged it into the faulty laptop and restarted it (using the power button). And so I began the repair process.

When I tried "Repair my PC," however, it didn't work. It said that it couldn't. Then I had to go through Command Prompt to fix it internally. Long story short, it was a long road, but it worked. I had GPT guide me, by the way. I could have shared the chat, but I am unable to because I have uploaded images in it and GPT doesn't support sharing chats with user-uploaded images yet.


![IMG_20250221_093405.jpg](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/olujay/EoAZhnKy6UQGb1f78p3RwxHahTALw7N6D6y6JfKaY3CDtkHe8T1sHjrJ8b1VuA5gpMT.jpg)

![Screenshot_2025-02-24-03-07-19-932_com.openai.chatgpt-edit.jpg](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/olujay/23swfuLKTrh8nmBvLrw8ryehpKwyhRMEqxMqxVeiaUReaN4kDDKxpiocHeeCAomHiRoad.jpg)

After a while going back and forth in the command prompt, I finally got OS fixed. But there was a new problem, and I only realized it when I tried to update it in Windows Update. It wouldn't update it because I had apparently made some changes. At this point, I was already almost frustrated because I had to go all the way into Command Prompt to fix and return the initial configuration.

I had trouble returning things back to normal, so I resorted to just reinstalling the OS instead of repairing it. It meant that I would lose my files and apps. Since I was already in, I first backed up what's left of my files. And so I had to use my boot device again.

Reinstalling the OS wouldn't work, however, and it was for the same reasons. I still had to return the initial configuration. That is, I had to change it from MBR partition style (which allowed me to repair the OS in the first place) to GPT (GUID Partition Table).

![Screenshot_2025-02-24-03-16-55-849_com.openai.chatgpt-edit.jpg](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/olujay/48FiJtW7peUif25yy19QerrBnwPfoDdzfGgH8q9D2VqKrwNJgFexwGJVR16LXo5FpN.jpg)

Reverting it wasn't so straightforward, however, but it was successful, thankfully. And then I just reinstalled Windows 11. Then everything was back to normal. Phew!

While I may have just gone in circles trying to solve this OS problem, I got to learn a lot in the process. I did risk worsening the situation by going deep with Command Prompt, but I could be confident with GPT by my side. I wouldn't recommend doing all of this if you're not at least used to using Command Prompt and understand technical jargon. Anyways, I saved myself a lot of money to pay someone else to do all I just did.
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<sub>Images in this post belong to me</sub>