Windows 11 update has broken the internet.

Frozen_up_north

Was your VPN setup with a "kill switch", ie it blocks internet access unless it is running? That can also be an issue when booting up a PC/laptop until the VPN app has woken itself up…

While not free, Acronis True Image has got me out of a pickle a couple of times and doesn't require drive swapping. You boot from a disk (or USB stick) configured in True Image, then restore from the backup. My last "oops" was when a Windows 11 update seemed to go around in endless circles and I foolishly forced an update which resulted in the laptop no longer booting to a log-on screen and it would not boot into safe mode either, ie a big problem until I restored everything. Fortunately all my important data is backed up to cloud storage and my whole drive is backed up weekly to an external USB powered hard disk from both my desktop PC and laptop.