OK, I will select Image Recovery. This will mean that I will lose all my files, folders etc, won't it? It won't just repair the PC, it will be like reinstalling Windows? Is that right?...
If the Startup Repair didn't work, then Image Recovery. You originally stated your computer needed repair. Maybe you meant, it got a virus & now it's a big mess & won't boot at all?
Different manufacturers call it different things, but to me, Image Recovery can only mean one thing.
Yes, you will lose all your files, folders, etc.
Yes, like reinstalling Windows, only better, because all the required drivers are already installed.
You have to install anything you did after you got the computer & let it do all the Windows Updates, so there will still be a lot of work to do. If you don't keep copies of your stuff on flash drives, now you know better. Keep multiple backups of your files.
Backup images are like making a copy of the entire hard drive. Many of us create images, weekly or monthly, so instead of trying to fix a problem, you can just return it to a point in time when all was working.
I use Macrium Reflect Free Edition & create the image on an external USB USB3.0 1TB hard drive. Images are compressed, so 60GB of hard drive used creates image of 30GB & takes only 10-15 minutes to create or restore. Macrium will also create a bootable flashdrive or CD so you can restore to existing drive or a replacement drive.
Some spyware got me recently & cleaning & purging the mess made things even worse. Re-imaging took 15 minutes & I was back to where it was all OK a week before.
