Share via

My computer is stuck in a Startup Repair loop

Anonymous
2016-07-05T19:37:08+00:00

I have seen many people post things about the startup repair loop, However, mine is different. A few days ago I was shutting my laptop down and I fell asleep when it was installing updates. When I woke the next morning my laptop was in startup repair. I thought nothing of it and want about my day normally. When I returned to my office, my laptop was still in startup repair and it has been since then. I have shut down the computer, thinking it would help but when I booted it up the next day, It showed me a black and white screen and two options "Start windows normally" or "Repair Startup Menu" I clicked the first option but it sent me to a loading bar and said "Loading files" or something similar. I decided to keep my laptop on, As I believed that maybe it just needed to do its thing, it has been in startup repair for two days straight and I can not open anything using the F keys and it will not let me cancel the repair. I have Windows 7 Home Premium. I am stuck and have no idea how to fix my computer, I have tried to reformat it as well and nothing happened.

Windows for home | Previous Windows versions | Windows update

Locked Question. This question was migrated from the Microsoft Support Community. You can vote on whether it's helpful, but you can't add comments or replies or follow the question.

0 comments

Answer accepted by question author

  1. Anonymous
    2016-07-06T15:15:29+00:00

    Hi,

    As per the description, I understand that after an unexpected shutdown your computer went into no boot state and is stuck in startup repair loop.

    Do you have any external device attached to the computer while performing startup repair?

    Windows by default creates a separate 100 MB NTFS partition at the start of the drive, reserved for core bootloader files and BCD configuration. An unsafe shutdown, sudden power loss, hard disk failure, or a blue screen of death during writes to the boot partition can leave your system in an inconsistent state, unable to boot and infinitely cycling into the Startup Repair.

    Boot sector viruses and other malware that targets the bootloader or the booting chain can cause errors in the bootloader settings and state that result in an infinite loop of Startup Repair. The virus may then block Startup Repair from either launching or carrying out its repairs successfully. A failed Windows Update or Automatic Update can also sometimes leave the Boot Configuration Data (BCD) in an inconsistent or non-working state.

    Let’s try these methods below and check if that solves the problem.

    Method 1:

    Disconnect all external devices If any (Printer, scanner, camera, or any other USB devices) except mouse and keyboard and try to restart your computer.

    If you are able to boot the computer after disconnecting all external devices, identify the faulty device by connecting them one by one. If the problem persists proceed with the next method.

    Method 2: Go to system recovery option to open command prompt.

    You may refer to the article mentioned below for “What are the system recovery options in Windows?”

    http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/what-are-system-recovery-options#what-are-system-recovery-options=windows-7

    After opening Command prompt type the following command & run.

    1. bootrec /Fixboot
    2. bootrec /FixMBR
    3. bootrec /RebuildBCD

    You may refer to the article mentioned below for more information about Bootrec.

    https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/927392

    Then restart your computer. If that doesn't work then go back to command prompt and then type a command to run check disk which mentioned below.

    Chkdsk /f

    It checks the file system and file system metadata of a volume for logical and physical errors. If used without parameters, chkdsk displays only the status of the volume and does not fix any errors. If used with the /f, /r, /x, or /b parameters, it fixes errors on the volume.

    Important: While performing chkdsk on the hard drive if any bad sectors are found on the hard drive when chkdsk tries to repair that sector if any data available on that might be lost.

    Hope this information is helpful, please write us back if the issue persists with the information briefs so that we can assist you further.

    90+ people found this answer helpful.
    0 comments

0 additional answers

Sort by: Most helpful
Most helpful Newest Oldest