The clone restore route needs an image, and yours does not exist. That is the common case, and it is recoverable - but only in the right order. Data first, while the disk is still readable. Rebuild second, on a disk you have checked. Image third, so this page is never needed again.
Be honest about the situation: without an image, the SrtTrail loop cannot be shortcut. But there is a catastrophic way and a merely tedious way through it, and the difference is sequence. Every rebuild step - formatting, installing, even heavy repair scans - risks the files still sitting on that disk. So the rule for this page is absolute: nothing writes to the broken disk until your data is safely off it. The rescue below needs no Windows at all - just the recovery environment you already have, or a bootable USB and somewhere to copy to.
From the failure screen: Advanced options, Troubleshoot, Advanced options, Command Prompt. Plug in a USB drive with enough free space. Find the drive letters first with diskpart then list vol - your Windows partition is often D: in this environment and the USB gets its own letter. Then copy the folders that matter. The standard locations are the user folders: xcopy D:\Users\YourName\Documents E:\Documents /e /h - adjust the name and letters to yours, and repeat for Desktop, Pictures, Downloads and any work folders kept elsewhere. Notepad offers a graphical alternative: type notepad, use its Open dialog as a mini file browser (set the file type to All Files), and copy-paste folders onto the USB. Work calmly and verify the copies open on another PC before you go further - a rescue you have not verified is a rumour.
Sometimes the Windows partition does not show up in the recovery environment at all. Before concluding the data is gone, try the other doors. Boot a Linux live USB - it mounts most Windows partitions read-only and copies files happily, and it ignores Windows boot damage entirely because it never tries to boot Windows. Or remove the disk and connect it to a working PC with a USB-to-SATA or USB-to-NVMe adapter; a disk that cannot boot its own Windows often reads perfectly as a data drive. The honest boundary: if the disk is not detected anywhere, or detects but clicks and vanishes, stop experimenting - repeated power cycles worsen a physically failing drive, and professional recovery is the remaining route for data that truly matters.
With data safe, judge the disk before giving it a new Windows - the root-cause case page in this guide explains the evidence: a corrupt file or bad update on a healthy disk means reinstall in place; disk errors or a failing health report mean the new Windows goes onto a new disk, full stop. The rebuild itself is the standard clean install from a Windows USB: boot it, delete the old Windows partitions, install fresh, then drivers, then your programs, then copy the rescued data back and open-test the important files. Accept the honest cost the video's creator cites for avoiding exactly this: a format-and-rebuild cycle takes hours where an image restore takes minutes. There is no shame in it - it is the tuition almost every technician pays once.
The rebuilt PC is, right now, the healthiest it will ever be - clean Windows, correct drivers, everything working. That makes today, not someday, the day to take its full system image with Macrium Reflect or your chosen tool, stored on a separate drive, plus a rescue USB you have actually test-booted. The image-making case page in this guide gives the full routine. Also review your file habits: anything that exists only on one disk is one bad morning away from this page. The loop taught an expensive lesson; the image is how you pay for it only once.
Watch the video to see what the prepared version of this story looks like - the same crash, ended by an image restore instead of a rebuild.
Watch Full VideoUsually yes. The recovery environment's Command Prompt runs independently of the broken Windows, and Notepad's Open dialog works as a simple file browser for copying folders to USB. If the recovery environment cannot see the disk, a Linux live USB or connecting the disk to another PC with a USB adapter often still reads it. Only a physically dead or undetected disk closes those doors.
Do not rely on it. Installing without formatting can move the old installation into a Windows.old folder, but that is a courtesy, not a backup - the process can fail, the folder can be incomplete, and a later disk problem takes both copies together. Copy everything you value to a separate drive first, verify the copies, and only then treat the install as free to do anything.
There is no practical limit beyond the size of your USB drive and your patience - xcopy handles whole folder trees, including hidden files with the /h switch used in this guide. Large media libraries take a while over USB, and copying a full user profile is slower than copying the folders you actually value. Rescue documents, photos and work first, then decide what else deserves the time.