Windows 10: Unable to boot or restore system. Any other options?

I was running Win 10 Pro 1903 without any issues. Thursday 25 June I tried to update my NVIDIA drivers, resulting in the dreaded "black screen on boot" problem that is all over the NVIDIA forums. I downloaded DDU and removed all NVIDIA drivers in Safe Mode, which allowed me to boot back in to Windows. I tried unsuccessfully to install new or older NVIDIA drivers, each time resulting in a black screen and no signal to the monitor.


After multiple attempts I decided to see if 2004 would make the situation better. I rebooted to safe mode, used DDU to remove NVIDIA drivers, then rebooted to Windows. I opened Windows Update and asked for the update to 2004. It looked like things were moving along, and I left the computer. I returned to see an "unspecified error" Thanks, Microsoft!, and the system rebooted when I acknowledged the error. I once again had to use DDU to remove NVIDIA drivers before being able to boot the system. At this point I decided to restore the system to the last automatic restore point on 19 June. I've barely used the system this week and thought it wouldn't hurt to roll back a week.


After selecting the 19 June restore point, the system worked and worked for awhile before giving me an error that the system couldn't be restored. After acknowledging the error, the system rebooted and can no longer be started in any manner, not even safe mode. Any option I choose results in the sad face BSOD and a CRITICAL PROCESS DIED error.


Today I used another computer to create an installation DVD. I booted from it, selected install, and chose the upgrade version. The installer then told me I can't use the upgrade command when booting from the DVD; I must perform a clean install!


Going back to the drawing board to fix the no booting error, I came across this MS article:https://support.microsoft.com/en-us...ry-environment-winre-to-troubleshoot-common-s


I used the tools provided to find my Windows drive which shows up as E when I'm in the recovery environment It's normally C. Here are the results of the commands indicated in that article:


SFC /scannow /offbootdir=E:\ /offwindir=E:\windows

Windows Resource Protection could not perform the requested operation.


DISM /image:E:\ /cleanup-image /restorehealth


Error: 2

The system cannot find the file specified.


The log has entries where it seems to successfully load registry hives, then it gets to this:


"Failed to open the registry root: n/a, key Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\ProfileList. [HRESULT = 0x80070002 - ERROR_FILE_NOT_FOUND]

Failed to query path to user profiles directory.

Failed to load the default user profile registry hive." etc etc

Not sure if it's relevant, but my user data Documents, Desktop, etc. is on a separate physical volume from the system drive.


I've looked at numerous SFC and DISM articles in an attempt to repair my existing install using the install DVD, but so far I've been unsuccessful. Is there anything else I can try before I give up and perform a clean install on the system drive?

:)

 

How to delete inactive System Image Restore Points in System Restore

Windows 10 64-bit.
When I click "show more restore points" in System Restore I see a bunch of old "system image restore points" that were deleted in past and do not correspond to any currently active restore points. Clicking any of these old restore points, I simply get an error message saying they could not be found, and to select another restore point instead.I would like to delete these restore points listings but have been unable to do so.
So far, I have tried steps mentioned below without any luck :

Disk Cleanup through (C Properties
Disable System Protection (OFF and ON) in System Protection for OS (C
Disk Space Usage to minimum (slider button all the way to the left then 'Delete all restore points for this drive'),
Delete all shown Restore points in CCleaner (the problem ones do not show here),
Reset Windows Backup to Default in Windows 10 with 'Reset_Windows_Backup.bat' utility.

Any suggestions highly welcome.

 

Unable to restore or resize windows now

Hi,

I realize that you are unable to restore or resize windows. I will try to help you with this issue.

Please answer these questions to get more clarity on this issue:

• 
  Did you make any changes to the PC prior to this issue?
  
• 
  Does this issue occur on a different user account?
  

Suggest you to boot the PC in a clean boot state to check if that helps. A clean boot step will help us determine if any 3rd party service or application is causing this issue.

How to troubleshoot a problem by performing a clean boot in Windows:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/929135

Note: After you have finished troubleshooting, follow the steps under “How to reset the computer to start as usual after troubleshooting with clean boot” in the article to boot to normal startup.

Keep us informed to help you further.

 

System Restore Error 0x81000203

Good day,

We can see here that you are having issues performing system restore on your computer. Having said that, we need to determine the cause of this problem. Before we proceed, may we know the following:

• Any changes made on the computer prior to this concern?
• What troubleshooting steps have you tried so far?
• Are you getting any error messages when trying to perform system restore? If so, can you send us a screenshot?
  Note: Please do not include any personal information.
• Have you performed all the suggested troubleshooting steps found on this thread?