So there was a recent Windows 10 update for my laptop that pretty much broke my Lenovo Ideapad Y500. I'm not sure what the update consisted of, but it's got me in limbo.
It started some days ago after I'd hit Update & Shutdown before going to bed. The next morning, I was greeted with Windows trying to diagnose my pc, only to fail.
Tried restarting only to be brought back to the same blue Windows 10 diagnostics menu after what seemed to be a horrendously long restart time of 3-5 hours~.
Went into Advanced Settings when I was able to and attempted to do a System Restore. There was one restore point available so I went ahead and took it. No dice. My laptop went 99% dim (could see faint options behind the black tinting), then it restarted itself and lo' and behold went into another diagnosis and brought me right back to the diagnostics menu. When I looked into the System Restore again, the point had vanished.
Advanced Settings again, this time trying to restart into Safe Mode. No luck. Long restart process ensued.
Advanced Settings again, this time trying to reinstall Windows 10. No dice. Long restart process once again.
Trying to think of things to do right now that doesn't involved throwing my laptop out the window or taking it to a repairman. Would love to avoid factory reset if I could since there are some projects and files I'd love to try and recover.
So, aside from my obvious wtf do you guys recommend I do...I was wondering the following:
1. Is there any way I can essentially turn my laptop into a hard drive and access and transfer files to my external or desktop?
2. Are there any command prompts I can utilize to force it to restart into safe mode and bypass this infinite loop?
I'll take anything and everything I can get at this point. I don't mind factory resetting as long as I can save hours upon hours of work first.
Save me, BG! You're my only hope!