The machine powers up, shows the logo, restarts, and starts again endlessly. Windows has a back door for getting out of that.
The loop almost always follows an identifiable event : an update, a power cut, the installation of a program or a driver. That starting point is your best clue.
Windows opens its repair options automatically after three consecutive failed starts. If the loop does not trigger them by itself, force it :
From there, Advanced options gives access to the useful tools.
A forgotten USB stick, external drive or memory card can make the machine try to start from the wrong medium, with exactly this symptom. Unplug every peripheral, keep only keyboard and mouse, and try again. It is an ordinary cause and often overlooked.
The Reset this PC option is offered very prominently in that menu. It reinstalls Windows, and even the option promising to keep your files does not preserve them in every case - programs are lost, and documents sometimes moved. Only use it once your data is safe.
If no recovery option gets anywhere, or if the machine restarts before even showing the logo, the trail turns to hardware : memory, drive, power supply or overheating. A restart that always happens at the same moment, a few seconds after switching on, points to the power supply or heat. See PC switching itself off.
A startup loop almost never means the files are lost. They are sitting on the drive, intact, and are recovered by connecting it to another machine. That is in fact the first thing we do before any repair. See data recovery.
In the vast majority of cases, no. The problem concerns starting the system, not the files, which remain readable from another machine.
Three forced shutdowns during the startup phase are enough : the menu appears on the fourth power-on. It is a mechanism Windows provides, and it is not dangerous.
Use the uninstall updates option in the advanced options. That is the scenario where it works best, and it does not touch your documents.
Would you rather we took care of it ? See our emergency computer repair service, in Lyon and across the Rhone.
We recover the data before any repair, every time.
Automatic assistant: it can make mistakes. Never share a password or a card number.
