Microsoft Windows has an inbuilt startup repair tool that can be used to repair Windows right at the startup, and also to access troubleshooting options as well. This is a real lifesaver, as users can repair their Windows operating system without actually booting into it.
However, many users have reported that when they try to log into Windows, their PC suddenly goes into Automatic Repair, and from there it is stuck in a loop. Here is an excerpt from the question posted on one of the forums:
“My Windows 10 PC has been stuck in a Windows Automatic Repair loop for a couple of days. I didn’t do anything differently; I just started my laptop and up came the “Preparing Automatic Repair” screen. It then rebooted automatically and goes right back into Automatic Repair. I figured I should just wait it out, but it’s been caught in this loop for days now. How do I fix this?”
More Information About The Error
There are actually two variations of this error. In one, Windows automatic Repair gets stuck on a black screen with Preparing Automatic Repair error message.
In the second variation, Windows Automatic Repair fails and says, “Automatic startup repair couldn’t repair your PC“.
Waiting this error out also does not help, as you can see in the question above that this repair loop can go on for days and not repair itself.
The main culprits for this error can be missing or corrupt Master Boot Record and Boot Configuration Data. You may also face this error due to a feature called Early Launch Anti-Malware Protection.
How To Fix “Windows 10 Start-up Repair Loop”?
If your system is also stuck in a loop while launching startup repair, here I will discuss the potential fixes that you can deploy to solve Windows 10 Startup repair loop error.
Before fixing the issue, you need to access the pre-boot Advanced Startup Settings.
You can access these settings with or without a bootable Repair Media Tool.
- To access the settings without a bootable repair media, you can use the official trick provided by Microsoft which states:
“Upon the ‘Preparing automatic repair’ window, press-and-hold Power button 3 times to forcefully shut down the machine. The system will enter boot repair page after 2-3 times of reboot, choose Troubleshoot, then go on to Refresh PC or Reset PC.”
# Fix 1: Disable Early Launch Anti-Malware Protection
Another way to solve the “Windows 10 startup repair loop” error is by disabling the Early Launch Anti-Malware Protection service.
To do this, you need to boot into Advanced Startup Options as shown above.
- Open Advanced Startup Options as shown above.
- Navigate to Troubleshoot.
- Click on Advanced Options.
- Then click on Startup Settings. Here you will be presented with a bunch of options.
- From there choose “Disable early launch anti-malware protection”.
Now restart your PC and try booting into Windows to check if the error persists. This should solve your problem.
#FIX 2: Delete Corrupt System32 Files
Occasionally Windows can be stuck in the Automatic Repair loop due to certain corrupt files that can prevent you from booting into the operating system. There is actually a simple way to diagnose this issue.
- In the Windows Advanced Boot Options menu, click on Troubleshoot.
- Click on Advanced Options.
- Follow that by clicking on Command Prompt.
- In the command line, enter the following command:
cd C:\Windows\System32\LogFiles\Srt. SrtTrail.txt
5. If you see something like “Boot critical file C:\Windows\system32\drivers\vsock.sys is corrupt”, use the ‘cd’ command to navigate to that directory, then use the ‘del’ command to delete that corrupt file.
Note: the corrupted file can vary, so you need to specify the file location and then delete it according to which corrupted file is causing this error on your system.
# FIX 3: Manually Repair MBR And BCD
If the Master Boot Record (MBR) and Boot Configuration Data (BCD) store files are missing or are corrupted for some reason, Windows won’t be able to start. If this is the case with your system, to boot into Windows you need to repair the MBR and rebuild the BCD.
To do this, simply follow these steps:
- In the Windows Advanced Boot options, open Command Prompt by following the path:
Troubleshoot => Advanced Options => Command Prompt - Use the bootrec.exe tool to rebuild the MBR and BCD store. To do that, enter the following commands in succession and press Enter after each one:
bootrec.exe /rebuildbcd
bootrec.exe /fixmbr
bootrec.exe /fixboot
3. Restart your PC.
Now when you try to boot into Windows, it should let you log in without any issues, and you should have solved “startup repair couldn’t repair your PC” error.
However, if this fails, you need to perform a System Restore as a last resort.
# FIX 4: Perform A System Restore
To perform a System Restore, simply search for “Create a system restore” in the search bar of your Windows. This will open a dialog box in Control Panel.
Under the System Protection tab, click on the “System Restore…” button. Then follow the on-screen instructions to perform a successful system restore.
If you don’t have a system restore point created, you might need to reset your Windows.
To reset Windows 10, follow these steps:
- Backup your files.
- Open the Settings You can use the shortcut Win + I.
- Click on Update & Security.
- From the left pane, select Recovery.
- From the right pane, click on the Get started button under Reset this PC.
- This will restart your device into Advanced Boot Options.
- Select Remove everything from the choose an options section.
8. Click on Next and follow the onscreen instructions to reset your Windows.
Wrapping Up
So, there you have it. Now you know how to solve the “Windows 10 startup repair loop” error using the methods given above. Do comment below if you found this helpful, and to discuss further the same.
