Windows 11 uninstalled itself

Question

I didn't really know which tag to choose for this special issue, and it might just be that my ssd died (a 23 days old pc by the way, so the components could've been faulty)

But i was playing steam games, then there was no more sound, and i visibly could still play but not go back to the desktop, as if Windows was gone.

So i switched it off, and it refuses to boot past the hour thing. The screen to enter my pin code won't appear.

Rebooting ends the same.

Had bsod while exiting the bios.

When pc showed me options on booting after switching it off 3 times, booting in safe mode ended in a grey screen, and a flickering white screen every 2 seconds. Tried every other option, none worked.

Rebooting, then pressing shift and restart to reboot in safe mode, ended in it booting the normal way (as in the non-working way)

So it became impossible to boot normally nor with safe mode, as if windows 11 was fully gone while I was playing.

I guess my pc as a whole has defects. I'm going to ask for a replacement, but it's so weird of a bug that I thought I would share just in case it wasn't just the pc i ordered that came with issues.

(Am not looking for a solution there. I will be getting a replacement pc. I don't want to reinstall win11 just for everything to repeat again,but thought I'd type all this in case it happens to be a win11 bug)

Answer 1

Dear lilymiku diva,

Thank you for posting your question in the Microsoft Q&A forum.

I understand how concerning it must have been, especially with a brand-new PC. We truly appreciate your patience and the time you took to share this with us. Based on what you've described included loss of sound, inability to return to the desktop, failed boot attempts, and flickering in Safe Mode. It appears that the issue is most likely related to a hardware failure or severe system corruption. While it’s understandably alarming to see a system behave this way, I want to reassure you that this is not a common or known issue with Windows 11 itself.

• Hardware-related conditions: A newly installed component such as the SSD or memory may not be functioning as expected, which can impact system startup and responsiveness.
• System configuration or data integrity: If the system was powered off abruptly, certain files or settings may not have been saved properly, which can affect boot behavior.
• Display or device drivers: In some cases, graphics or display drivers may not load correctly, which can result in flickering or blank screens during startup.
• Startup environment settings: Occasionally, the system may attempt to boot from an unexpected location or configuration, which can give the impression that the operating system is missing.

There are no known issues with Windows 11 that would cause it to remove itself during normal use. Based on your plan to replace the PC, that’s a good step to ensure all components are functioning optimally. If the new system runs smoothly, it will confirm that the original device had a hardware defect. Please rest assured that this does not reflect a broader problem with Windows 11, and it’s highly unlikely you’ll encounter the same issue again. If I misunderstood what you’re looking for, feel free to let me know. I’d be happy to help further! 

Thank you for your cooperation. I'm looking forward to your reply.

---

If the answer is helpful, please click "Accept Answer" and kindly upvote it. If you have extra questions about this answer, please click "Comment". 

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.