How to Recover Accidentally Deleted Operating System in Windows 11/10
| Workable Solutions | Step-by-step Troubleshooting |
|---|---|
| Procedure 1. Create a Bootable Media with Qiling Partition Master | You have created an Qiling Partition Master WinPE bootable disk now...Full steps |
| Procedure 2. Recover Deleted Operating System in Windows | Step 1. Open Qiling Partition Master and click "Partition Recovery" on the top menu...Full steps |
| Procedure 3. Add a Boot Option | Adding a boot option in BIOS or UEFI boot mode is not easy to do. You can search for the guide on the Internet...Full steps |
Accidentally Deleted Operating System in Windows 11/10
Accidentally deleting the Windows operating system is a common issue, especially when using the OS itself. However, it's not impossible to delete the operating system, and there are situations where it may be unintentionally deleted.
- Accidentally delete OS in Windows Preinstallation Environment
- You accidentally delete the operating system on a computer that was booted up via a bootable media, instead of the operating system on the computer's internal hard drive. This is because the bootable media, such as a USB drive or CD/DVD, was set as the primary boot device, allowing the computer to run the operating system from the external media instead of the internal hard drive.
- A computer can have two operating systems installed, such as Windows and Linux, and you can delete one of them after booting into the other.
- After system cloning, OS reinstallation, system recovery, or accidental deletion, you may need to delete the operating system. This process can be initiated by various triggers, including system clone, OS reinstallation, system recovery, or misoperation.
When the operating system is deleted, it prevents your computer from booting normally and makes files on the hard drive inaccessible. To resolve this issue, you need to recover the deleted operating system and restore your computer's normal functionality.
How to Recover Accidentally Deleted Operating System in Windows 11/10
Deleting an operating system typically involves deleting the whole system partition, which can be recovered using a partition tool like Qiling Partition Master. This tool allows you to recover the deleted system partition, enabling you to boot your PC normally again in Windows 11/10 through three procedures.
- Create a bootable media with Qiling Partition Master
- Boot your computer from the bootable media and recover the system partition.
- To get back a deleted operating system, you can add a boot option in BIOS/UEFI to boot Windows from your computer's hard drive again. This can be done after deleting the OS, and it allows you to restore the original operating system.
Step 1. To create a bootable disk of Qiling Partition Master, prepare a storage media like a USB drive or CD/DVD disc, and correctly connect it to your computer.
Step 2. Launch Qiling Partition Master, find the "Create bootable media" feature on the top, click on it.
Step 3. You can choose to save the ISO file to a USB, CD/DVD, or local drive, and then proceed with the process.
When the process finishes, you have successfully created a Qiling Partition Master WinPE bootable disk, allowing you to manage your hard disks and partitions through the bootable drive even when the computer fails to boot normally.
To load the RAID driver in a WinPE environment, click "Add Driver" from the menu bar to add the driver for your device, which is necessary for recognizing RAID drives or specific hard disks that may not be recognized without the driver installed.
Note: If you accidentally deleted a Windows 11/10 ISO file to the recycle bin, you can recover it by checking the recycle bin for the deleted ISO file. If it's not there, you can also use a data recovery software to scan your hard drive and recover the deleted file. If you're unable to recover the ISO file, you can also download it again from the official Microsoft website.
How to Recover Deleted Files from Recycle Bin?
If you need to recover deleted files from the Recycle Bin, follow these steps to get them back immediately.
Procedure 1. Create a Bootable Media with Qiling Partition Master
After creating a Qiling Partition Master WinPE bootable disk, connect it to the PC with the corrupted Windows system, restart the computer, and enter the BIOS/UEFI settings by pressing the designated key (usually "F2"). From here, you can run Qiling Partition Master and recover your system partition without the need for a functioning Windows system.
Before you start, there are things you need to identify.
If your original system partition appears as unallocated space in Qiling Partition Master or RAW, you can recover the partition and the Windows OS together by following the steps below. Alternatively, if the system partition still exists but you can't boot your computer, it's likely that some Windows system files were deleted by mistake. In this case, you can refer to the article on system boot issues or create a bootable media with hard drive recovery software like Deep Data Recovery, boot from the device, recover deleted system files, and create a boot option in BIOS/UEFI to recover your OS.
Procedure 2. Recover Deleted Operating System in Windows
Step 1. Open Qiling Partition Master and click "Partition Recovery" on the top bar. You select a disk to start searching for lost partition(s), then choose the desired disk and click "Proceed".
Step 2. A quick scan will immediately start, and you can pause the scanning process at any time by clicking "Proceed" when the lost partition shows up, allowing you to recover your data.
You can double click on the partition you're looking for to preview its content.
Step 3. Once the lost partition and data have been located, click "Recover" to restore the partition. This should cause the lost partition to reappear in the drive.
Procedure 3. Add a Boot Option
You can add a boot option in BIOS or UEFI boot mode, but it's not easy to do and requires a guide specific to your boot mode and computer brand, or you can contact our support team for remote assistance, who can also help with data recovery.
The Bottom Line
To recover files and reaccess the operating system after accidentally deleting it, create a bootable media with partition recovery software like Qiling Partition Master, which is secure and virus-free. If you need help with data recovery or adding a boot option, our support team is available to assist.
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