System stuck in Console recovery screen.

Question

System stuck in Console recovery screen.

Harrison Marcum 0

Hello,

This morning I woke up to my PC on the console recovery screen where it lists "Continue, Power off, Troubleshoot ect." When I press Continue it goes into auto repair mode. and then restarts and sends me right back to this screen. I have done countless troubleshoots. I moved my SSD back to the main slot, as I had moved it when installing a new one 2 weeks ago, but everything has booted up perfectly fine since then. I took out 1 RAM and moved slots. I removed the battery from the Motherboard and let the system drain to reboot the BIOS. I have installed the Windows Media Creation tool and prepared a USB with 128 total storage to try and repair the windows installation. But when I had the system boot off the USB, it froze on the "ASROCK" screen for 10 mins.

While on the Console recovery screen, I don't have access to everything. Many of the options say they are not available and force a restart. Some of these options that don't work are "Startup Repair, Uninstall Updated, Command Prompt, System Restore" So many of the online walkthroughs take me through these options that I cannot access.

Any help is much appreciated. Thank you!

0 comments

2 answers

Your answer

Answer 1

Hi Harrison Marcum,

Welcome to the Microsoft Q&A forum.

Based on what you described, this behavior usually points to Windows being unable to complete the startup process because the boot environment or disk access isn’t fully initializing. When that happens, Windows Recovery options may appear but remain unavailable, and repair tools can loop or restart without completing.

On ASRock systems, certain firmware settings can prevent recovery tools from loading correctly, please try to adjust BIOS settings.

Disclaimer: Microsoft provides no assurances and/or warranties, implied or otherwise, and is not responsible for the information you receive from the third-party linked sites or any support related to technology. If you are going to modify BIOS Settings, please back up all your personal files first to ensure you do not lose data.

Enter BIOS (press Del or F2 at startup)
Set Boot Mode to UEFI only
Disable CSM
Set Secure Boot to Disabled (OS type: Other OS)
Ensure SATA mode is set to AHCI
Save changes and reboot

After the steps above, please proceed to the Q&A Assist's suggestions, here are the steps that you can follow:

1 - Create Windows USB

Large USB drives can sometimes cause firmware load issues.
Use an 8–32 GB USB drive
Download Windows 11 installer from Microsoft official site
Plug the USB directly into a rear USB port (avoid hubs or front ports)

2 - Repair boot files manually

If you can boot from the USB and select Repair your computer:

Go to Troubleshoot > Advanced options > Command Prompt
Run the following commands one at a time:

bootrec /fixmbr
bootrec /fixboot
bootrec /rebuildbcd

If /fixboot shows access denied, it’s still safe to continue with the other commands.

3 - Check the system drive

Still in Command Prompt:

chkdsk C: /f /r

Replace C: if Windows is installed on a different drive letter.

Let me know if you need further assistance, feel free to ask me by clicking "Add Comment" or "Add Answer" if you cannot add comment so your response will be visible. Thanks for your effort.

Note: Please follow the steps in our documentation to enable e-mail notifications if you want to receive the related email notification for this thread.

Hendrix-V 14,940 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2026-02-01T07:46:59.5533333+00:00

Hi,

I just wanted to follow up and check if the information I provided was helpful. If you have any further questions or updates regarding this issue, please feel free to let me know in the Comments section. I'd be happy to assist you.

Answer 2

It sounds like you're experiencing a frustrating issue with your PC being stuck in the console recovery screen. Here are some steps you can take to troubleshoot and potentially resolve the issue:

Check Hardware Connections: Since you mentioned moving your SSD, ensure that all connections are secure, including the power cables and SATA cables.
Boot into Safe Mode: If you can access the Advanced Boot Options, try booting into Safe Mode. This can sometimes allow you to bypass issues that prevent a normal boot.
Use Windows Recovery Environment (WinRE): Since you have a USB prepared with the Windows Media Creation tool, try booting from it again. If it freezes at the ASROCK screen, consider the following:
- Ensure the USB is properly formatted and the installation media is correctly created.
- Try a different USB port, preferably a USB 2.0 port if available.
Run Automatic Repair: If you can access the WinRE, select the option to perform an Automatic Repair. This can sometimes fix boot issues.
Check for Disk Errors: If you manage to access the Command Prompt through WinRE, you can run the CHKDSK command to check for disk errors:
```
   CHKDSK /f /r C:
```
Replace C: with the appropriate drive letter if necessary.
Repair Boot Configuration: If you can access the Command Prompt, you can also try repairing the boot configuration using the following commands:
```
   BOOTREC /FIXMBR
   BOOTREC /FIXBOOT
   BOOTREC /REBUILDBCD
```
System Restore: If you can access the System Restore option in WinRE, try restoring your system to a previous point before the issue occurred.
Check for Hardware Issues: If none of the software solutions work, consider testing your RAM and SSD for faults. You can use tools like MemTest86 for RAM and manufacturer-specific tools for SSDs.

If these steps do not resolve the issue, you may need to consider reinstalling Windows as a last resort. Make sure to back up any important data if possible before proceeding with a reinstall.

References:

Share via

System stuck in Console recovery screen.

2 answers

Your answer