Is your Windows installation corrupted or broken, and are you looking for a quick fix that also saves your files? I have gone through this myself and repaired many machines, but in the process, I discovered that most solutions found by Googling or asking AI simply do not work. More often than not, they are a massive waste of time and should be avoided. This led to the idea of gathering my own solutions here—methods that, as of April 4, 2026, have always worked for me and have ultimately been the fastest way to restore and fix a device. These solutions should work for both Windows 10 and Windows 11.
What should you avoid?
The following commands and methods that I have tried have never worked, even though they are usually the primary recommendations in AI and Google searches:
sfc /scannow
DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth
System Restore (the device might not have restore points)
Startup Repair
What solution has always worked for repairing Windows?
Repairing Windows using an ISO file (In-place Upgrade) has so far been the most effective and reliable solution for me when fixing a Windows device. In the following example, a Windows 10 device was repaired where many taskbar buttons didn't work, it performed endless updates that never finished, and it acted strangely at times. For this, the ISO file was downloaded directly onto the faulty computer; a USB flash drive was not used because, in this situation, the device still functioned well enough that a bootable USB wasn't necessary.
How to download Windows 10 ISO?
First, you must download the ISO file from Microsoft's official website at
This opens the page console, where you can change the website display to a mobile view. To do this, select the phone-tablet icon in the upper-left corner of the console.
This changes the page view to a mobile version, which tricks the website into thinking you are using a mobile device. Now, if you refresh the page or press Ctrl + R, the option to download the Windows 10 ISO version will appear.
Select the option to download "Windows 10 2023 Update Version 22H2."
Next, you must make a very important decision. The language you choose determines whether you can keep all your device settings, programs, and files after the update. For everything to be preserved, you must choose the EXACT same language that was originally used to install Windows on that device. If you choose any other language, Windows will not allow you to keep anything except personal files. In that case, you would have to download all programs again and reconfigure your settings, which wastes time and might not even keep all personal files. Usually, the installed Windows language is en-US, but it is wise to double-check this beforehand. First, open the Command Prompt with Admin rights on the faulty computer and type the command:
There is a lot of information there, but the most important part is "Default system UI language," which shows the language Windows was previously installed with. In my case, it was en-US, meaning the ISO file I download now must also be the en-US version. You can also check the Windows default UI language through PowerShell or a bootable USB drive if Windows is so broken that it won't even start. For PowerShell, use the following command with Admin rights:
My result looks like this.
Using a bootable USB drive, the command is dism /image:C:\ /get-intl
(Note: I have not tested this one myself!).
Once you know your language version, select the correct language and download the ISO file. Since I have a 64-bit system, I am downloading that specific version.
After downloading, open the ISO file by left-clicking it.
The contents of the ISO file look like this; select setup.exe
The "Install Windows 10" menu will open; select "Next."
Now the system will process for a while and eventually reach a screen where you should press "Accept."
The system will process a bit more until it reaches the final screen. If yours looks like this, then congratulations—you have done everything correctly, and all your personal files will be preserved during the repair. Now you can press "Install." After this, Windows will begin repairing itself, during which time you cannot use the device. The repair takes at least one hour or even longer.
An example is also shown of what happens if a different language were chosen in the ISO settings that does not match the device: you would not be able to keep your device settings or programs, only files, and even that might not be 100% guaranteed.
How to download Windows 11 ISO
For Windows 11, the example shows how to download the ISO file. Note that here you do not need to switch the mode to mobile view; all other installation steps remain the same!
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