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Windows Crashed, How to Recover Files (5 Ways)
This article solves "Windows crashed, how to recover files" in 5 useful ways including using powerful data recovery software - MyRecover. Scroll down to learn more.
By Ellie / Updated on November 14, 2024
Windows 10/11 crashed, how to recover files
“I have a Windows 7 computer with a crashed system. Some of my important files were lost because of the Windows crash. Now, my computer is bootable. I want to know when Windows 7 crashed how to recover data?”
Windows crashes can be quite annoying as it normally comes with data loss. If you are lucky enough, your computer is still bootable. In this situation, it will be much easier to recover files after Windows 10/11 crashes as all operations can be done in Windows.
However, the computer is very likely to fail to boot, making data recovery even more complex. Sometimes, OS crashes may come with the dreaded blue screen of death, auto-reboot, or normally, just freezing, allowing users to reboot or shut it down completely.
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Why does Windows crash?
- Corrupted System Registry Files. The registry stores several files that are critical to your computer. Windows can crash if the registry files become corrupted, misplaced, or lost.
- Malfunctioning Hard Drive. Windows can crash if your computer’s drive fails. This could show up as crashes that only happen when you try to open specific files, indicating that a section of the hard drive is dying.
- Overheating. A system that is overheated for an extended period may be permanently damaged, resulting in a Windows crash.
- Malicious Software. Malicious software, regardless of its type, has no doubt wreaks havoc on a computer's performance.
- Software Conflicts. The majority of software errors do not result in a Windows crash; instead, they affect only the app in question. However, particularly bad software crashes can cause the entire system to lock up.
- Running Unsupported Windows Version. Microsoft no longer officially supports older versions of Windows, such as Windows 7, which means they will no longer receive security updates, potentially resulting in crashes
How to recover files after Windows crashed (bootable)
Supposing that all hardware parts of your computer are working normally and your computer is bootable, you can start the crashed Windows 10/11 and recover data from it.
Way 1: Recover data from crashed Windows 10/11 using Software
If you don't have any backup, MyRecover will be a great choice. It is a powerful data recovery software, integrated with two advanced scanning technologies, which helps you scan and recover data from crashed Windows 10 or 11.
It supports 1000+ data formats, from documents (e.g. recover Word files) to images, audios, videos, compressed files, etc., and comes with many useful features, such as selectively restore files, file preview, crashed PC recovery, making this process easy and efficient.
To get started, please download and install MyRecover on your computer.
Step 1. Scan the Windows drive.
Open MyRecover. Hover the mouse over the Windows drive, and click Scan.
Step 2. Search or filter data
Then the scanning process will start automatically. The Quick Scan searches for recently deleted files while Deep Scan for other missing files.
You don’t need to wait for the process to complete if you find the files you want to recover.
The sidebar directories on the left and the search and filter features on the top right can help you find the desired data and recover specific files or folders.
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✅Sidebar directories: As the same suggests, they save the deleted files, files currently in the Recycle Bin, and files not in the first two categories, respectively. Try it if you remember the original path.
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⌛Filter: You can specify data types, such as Documents, Images, Audios, Videos, etc., date modified, and size to narrow your search.
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🔍Search box: You can directly use the file name or extension in it, or use it in combination with the Filter feature.
Step 3. Start the recovery process.
Once found, double-click to get a full-screen preview and choose the files that you want to recover by ticking the checkboxes or leaving them blank. Then, click Recover xx files and choose a new path to save the recovered files and prevent data from being overwritten.
It is not limited to "Windows crashed, how to recover file", you still can use it to recover deleted files from hard drive, SATA SSD, M.2 SSD, USB drive memory card, etc., in the following scenarios:
- Recover files from formatted hard drive
- Recover files deleted by birus
- Recover files from lost partition
- Recover data from corrupted partition
- Recover deleted files from Recycle Bin
- Recover permanently deleted files
- ......
Way 2: Use Automatic Backup in Specific Software
Some software, like Office, Adobe illustrator, Photoshop, InDesign, etc., comes with the Automatic Backup or Auto-Save feature to help you recover unsaved files after crash. But you need to be sure it's enabled before the software crashes. Take Photoshop as an example:
- Windows:
Step 1. Open Adobe Photoshop. You will see the last-saved file version with the word “Recovered”. Please select a new location to save it.
Step 2. If there are no recovered files, go to the AutoSave folder.
C:\Users\your username here\AppData\Roaming\Adobe Photoshop (CS6 or CC)\AutoRecover
Step 3. Find the unsaved PSD files. Then, open and save them.
- Mac:
Unlike Windows, the AutoSave feature on Mac can be accessed directly by typing their file path. You can also open Adobe Photoshop to check if there is a last-saved file version.
Step 1. Type the following file path to access the AutoSave folder on Mac.
~\Library/Application Support/Adobe/Adobe Photoshop %version_name%/AutoRecover
Step 2. Find the unsaved Photoshop file, open and save it to a new location.
Way 3: Restore Files and Settings after Windows Crashed using System Restore
Some users still complain that their files and settings go after computer crashed. Fortunately, Microsoft offers users a System Restore feature to restore system files and settings, but not affect any of your documents, pictures, or other personal data. Note it will not keep data on the current system state.
Step 1. Type "create a restore point" in the search box and select the top result. Then, click System Restore.
Step 2. Click Next on the first screen of the System Restore window.
Step 3. Select the restore point and click Next. You can also click Scan for affected programs to see which software will be uninstalled.
Step 4. Confirm your restore point and click Finish to restore your computer to a previous date containing your settings and data.
Step 5. It will ask you to restart your computer, click Restart, and wait patiently.
How to recover files from a crashed computer that won’t boot
It is also possible that your computer will not boot up. Don't be frustrated, you can still recover data from hard drive without OS. Here are two feasible methods.
Way 1: Connect the Windows drive to another computer
If your computer won't boot, you need to prepare a screwdriver and compatible hard drive enclosure. Then, remove the internal HDD from your computer and connect it to another working computer externally. Try to access it in File Explorer and copy your data to a safe location.
If not, try to check if it displays in the Disk Management. Type diskmgmt.msc in the search box and select it to access and find your Windows drive there. This indicates it's not dead completely. You still can install MyRecover on the current computer to scan and recover data from corrupted hard drive.
Way 2: Recover data from crashed Windows 10 or 11 using MyRecover
MyRecover can also help you recover data from hard disk without OS. It integrates with a Crashed PC Recovery feature to create bootable media (USB, CD/DVD, or ISO file) to start a computer when it fails to boot. It can start your computer in Windows 7, 8, 10, 11, and servers, both 32-bit and 64-bit, and in BIOS or UEFI mode.
Step 1. Start Crashed PC Recovery feature
On another working computer, download and install data recovery software - MyRecover. Then, open it, and click Crashed PC Recovery.
Step 2. Create a bootable USB drive
Select USB Boot Devices and click Create > Yes to format it and create a bootable USB drive.
Step 3: Restart the crashed computer to recover data
After creating a bootable USB, remove it and plug into the problematic computer via a USB port. Restart your computer, press a prompted key (e.g. F2, F10, ESC) to access BIOS, and set the bootable USB as the first boot option. Press F10 to save changes and boot from it.
After loading, you will see MyRecover again. Here, select PC Recovery and follow the steps in the previous section.
Also, it's necessary to fix the Windows crashed issues after data recovery.
You can try AOMEI Partition Assistant, an excellent partition manager, to accomplish this. It has a feature named Make Bootable Media to create a bootable USB to start a problematic machine.
Please select it under the Tools tab and follow the on-screen instructions to create one.
Then, start the crashed computer to access it and fix the damaged MBR (if it is).
Right-click the system disk and choose Rebuild MBR. Then, choose the proper MBR type for your current OS. Click Apply and Proceed to confirm this operation.
How to prevent Windows crashes & data loss
To avoid data loss if Windows crashes again, you should always back up your important files or even your entire system. AOMEI Backupper Standard is an excellent option for you.
It allows you to backup data currently on the system partition as well as newly changed or added files. More surprisingly, it will automatically backup only changed files in a scheduled backup task.
In addition, it also allows you to backup emails, specific partitions, and the entire disk. Please download it to protect your system & data.
Step 1. Go to the Backup tab and choose System Backup.
Step 2. The system partitions will be automatically selected, you can select a destination like a local disk, external hard drive, USB, cloud drive, NAS, etc.
Step 3. Optionally, you can customize the backup by Options, Schedule, or Scheme. Click Start Backup to execute the task and wait for it to complete.
Conclusion
This post is about "Windows crashed, how to recover files". Normally, it is quite easy to recover files if your computer is still bootable. If not, try to connect it to another working computer or recover data from a bootable hard disk.
MyRecover can take care of your data in both situations. You can directly download and install it to scan the Windows drive if it's still bootable. If not, it provides you with a Crashed PC recovery to start a failing computer. Why not download it to have a try?
MyRecover- Has a user-friendly and easy-to-navigate interface,
- Top algorithms - Automatically perform a quick & deep scan to find as many files as possible, up to 1000+ data formats.
- Recover data from crashed Windows 10 or 11, whether bootable or not.
- Recover deleted or lost documents (Word/Excel/PPT files, WPS files, TXT, etc.), images (PNG, JPG, JPEG, BMP, etc.), videos (MP4, MOV, etc.), and more.
- Selectively recover files instead of all.
- Search or filter files quickly through types, file names, extensions, etc.
- Support NTFS, FAT32, exFAT, and ReFS file systems.
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