Windows 10: BSOD on Windows startup, system restore fails

Hello, I believe it's my first time posting here. So far I've been able to fix all kinds of computer issues on my own, but this time it seems that I've come to a dead end. My Windows 10 PC won't boot and I don't know what to do...

The backstory:

some info might be irrelevant to the issue, so you might as well skip this part altogether


Yesterday one of my screens stopped working so I tampered with the nvidia control panel settings and at some point, I decided to restore Windows. I've done this in the past and usually, it was the quickest way to fix the issue. At first, the system restore wouldn't work said something about the antivirus so I tried again with AV turned off. Now, I'm not 100% sure now whether it was successfully restored or whether I gave up.
Anyway, at the same time, I've also decided to clean the chassis off of dust and stuff, so I took the PC apart disconnected a few wires and pulled out the graphic card, cleaned it and then I've put it back together the way it was - but it wouldn't boot anymore.


The issue:


The Windows throws CRITICAL_PROCESS_DIED blue screen error on each boot attempt in "standard" and "Safe Mode". The Windows Recovery Environment is the only mode that works.


What I tried:


1. Startup repair
Startup Repair cannot repair this computer automatically


2. Check Disk Utility

chkdsk /f /r

Windows has scanned the file system and found no problems.

3. System File Checker

sfc /scannow

Windows Resource Protection could not perform the requested operation

4. Deployment Image Servicing and Management tool DISM with Windows 10 1909 bootable drive

dism /Image:C:\offline /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth /Source:\sources\install.wim

Error: 2 Unable to access the image


5. System Restore 3 restore points available, the most recent was created by the last system restore operation

net start vss
rstrui.exe /offline:C:\windows=active

System restore failed while restoring the registry from the restore point. An unspecified error occurred during System Restore 0x80070002


What do I do?


I've found a somewhat similar question and I suspect that I might have the same issue with the registry, as the error message from the system restore suggests, but the offered solution doesn't work in recent versions of Windows, as it doesn't make registry backups anymore...


In older versions of Windows one was able to "update" or "refresh" Windows installation using a bootable drive, but that isn't working anymore either not from the Windows RE level at least.


Is there any other way of restoring Windows functionality in this scenario, butwithout losing programs and data? I know that I have these two last options for resetting Windows, but I would like to keep them as my last resort. I've dealt with BSOD's and other system failures in the past and I haven't ever had to use them.


Perhaps there is another way to restore the registry? Or overwrite the system files that are corrupted AKA "refresh Windows"? Anything?

:)

 

Failed to complete System Restore

Hello Passegua,

The error code 0x80070005 may indicate a few things that are causing System Restore Failure. It could be corrupted system files, conflict with other programs such as Anti-virus protection, and etc. As a first troubleshooting step, we suggest
that you perform System restore in Safe Mode. Kindly refer to this link for more information and steps.

Another step that I can suggest is Clean Boot, if the above step fails.

Let us know the outcome.

 

Can't get GPU-Z to start with Windows 8.1 startup

I'm not sure how to do that. Could you list the steps for a noob?

 

Windows XP PRO error after restore

System restore is handy when it works like it did for me 2 days ago saving the need to reinstall all of my software as well as windows, id suggest using norton Ghost 12 for an excellent system restore feature.