If problems occur, the computer itself makes a decision to automatically restore the parameters to the working stage. This is one of the self-defense measures, if you can call it that. However, this process cannot always be completed. This does not mean that the computer cannot be helped.
In an attempt to restore functionality by “rolling back” to previous settings, the operating system fails for several reasons:
- due to a power failure, the previous session ended incorrectly;
- errors in the operation of the installed anti-virus program;
- too many broken system files or drivers;
- registry damage;
- wear and tear " ";
- incorrect recognition of the system folder;
- the removable drive is in the way (which is why it is recommended to remove all flash cards before restoring).
This is a list of what experts believe are the most likely causes. The most likely ones, because not a single IT specialist can provide an exhaustive list of all the incidents that prevent the restoration from being completed.
This is why Microsoft technical support representatives officially advise running the Windows version restore at least three times. Even if previous attempts were unsuccessful. The fact is that even the Windows Recovery service has limited capabilities. If there are too many problems, she cannot solve them all at once.
There are several options to make the operating system work in the correct mode:
- select the recovery option (to which version to “roll back” the settings - to the moment when no failures were observed, or even to the factory settings);
- via the command line;
- in safe mode;
- via a boot disk or image;
- using recovery environment
Some methods clear excess unnecessary data, others simply “roll back” the settings to a working version.
Similar steps apply to both Windows 8 and Windows 10.
The easiest way
The easiest way to do this is: after pressing the power button, when the display lights up and the system starts booting, press F8. The system will pause and ask you which boot option to choose. In the menu that opens, you need to select the last known good configuration.
The operating system will execute the command and the computer will recover without interference.
Another method of manual recovery is also within the capabilities of any user, even without experience.
If the "Restore" system is not active
Usually this option is provided. But sometimes the computer still says that it is not active.
Activation is simple:
Now the settings can be " " to the selected point.
Select the desired function, the system will accept the command and begin recovery. This may take up to several minutes. After the process is completed successfully, a window will appear notifying you that the recovery was successful and you can click the button below to reboot immediately.
Preparing automatic recovery for Windows 10: black screen and reasons for the process to loop
Users who have downloaded a version of Windows 10 often complain that the automatic recovery process freezes and is replaced by a black screen that displays absolutely nothing.
This happens for one of the reasons:
- illiteracy of the computer owner (incorrect changes to the system disk or registry);
- serious virus;
- damaged system files;
- driver incompatibility;
- constant incorrect shutdown of the computer;
- interrupted recovery process.
There are three options for eliminating this incident:
- Recovering through Safe Mode.
- Replacing the hard drive.
- Restoring settings via BIOS.
You can try to restore manually. This is possible if the start menu is displayed.
Manual recovery via command line
To do this, you need to forcefully turn off the machine (long press the start button), then start it again.
The system will boot in the desired mode and no more incidents should appear.
Recovery via BIOS
Attention! This method is suitable if you have removable media with a distribution kit of a certified “OS”!
So, it is there, you can proceed to the following actions:
You can insert external media with the distribution kit and start the computer.
Sometimes it happens that it doesn’t work out. In this case, unsuccessful recovery is associated with a virus infection, which can be removed using an anti-virus program from an external drive.
Video - Automatic Windows recovery from the console
Although the Windows 10 operating system is constantly being improved and polished, it still contains more errors than in previous versions. For example, a user may encounter a problem when loading the operating system: “Preparing Automatic Repair” appears on the boot screen, but no repair occurs and Windows 10 does not start. What to do in this case, read within the framework of this article.
About the error
Preparing Automatic Repair occurs when for some reason Windows 10 is damaged. Essentially, the "preparation" feature is supposed to restore damaged files from saved restore points or Windows installation files on a connected external storage device. But in the absence of such, the window simply freezes and after a while, a reboot occurs. And the cycle repeats itself, turning into a closed loop. Break the loop by turning off the power for a while and read the instructions for fixing it.
How to fix?
There are several effective tips for eliminating this problem.
Enabling XD-bit in BIOS
As long as the XD-bit feature (also known as No-Execute Memory Protect) is disabled in the BIOS (UEFI) settings, the user is faced with the Preparing Automatic Repair loop.
Interesting to know! The No-Execute Memory Protect function provides additional protection against hacker attacks, viruses and similar threats at the hardware level (hardware support for prohibiting the execution of program code from the data area). For the first time, such a function was acquired in processors: AMD Athlon 64, Sempron based on them, Intel Pentium 4 of the latest modification and Celeron based on them.
Increasing the space of the “System Reserved” section
The error may occur due to the “System Reserved” partition having less space than it should have (at least 250 MB is needed). To increase the partition space, use the boot utility MiniTool Partition Wizard. You may need a different computer or:
- Download the utility (ISO file).
- Mount it on a virtual disk (RMB on the file → open with → Explorer).
- Connect a formatted FAT32 flash drive, open the virtual disk and drag files to the flash drive to write.
- Also, to write the utility to a flash drive from an image, you can use any convenient program.
- Restart your computer and boot from the flash drive (the article will help with this).
- The open program will allow you to work with hard drives.
Right-click on the system drive “C:” and click “Shrink”. Mark the 250 MB area. This will create 250 MB of unallocated area. - Move the System Reserved partition next to the unallocated space. Then right-click on System Reserved and perform the Extend function (Combining an indivisible area with a System Reserved volume).
- Restart your computer and check if Windows is working.
System Restore
You can restore Windows 10 using a boot disk or flash drive with a Windows distribution:
Reinstalling Windows
If none of the tips described above helped you start Windows, reinstall it using
Windows automatic recovery is the first function that you should resort to if a critical error occurs in the operating system.
Opportunities for recovery
In the new Windows 8, Microsoft has introduced additional OS rollback tools. They are discussed in more detail on the official website and were even mentioned in passing at the presentation. Briefly about the possibilities:
- PC recovery without data loss. Used in case of reduced computer performance;
- Reset all settings (basic configuration). Allows the user to completely delete all files on the device and return it to its original state;
- Return to the restore point. They will allow you to roll back the system to a previously saved state (we’ll talk about this below);
- Recovering the system from disk. Not entirely new (it was already implemented on the “Seven”), but a more advanced function that allows you to restore the OS from disk. Used when the PC freezes on a black screen.
Since we are not radical, we will not use the second option of deleting all files.
Windows 8 Recovery
Click the “Restore” button. After this, the long preparation for the rollback procedure will begin.
We are waiting for the window to start checking the disk for failures. This process is short-lived, but after it the characteristic message “The tool was unable to perform automatic system recovery” may appear. If this happens, we move on.
- In the parameters window, select the “Diagnostics” section:
- Without paying attention to other functions, click on « Restore » :
Comment. In the same window, you can select “Restore to original state,” which will allow you to roll back the system to the time you purchased the device. This action will completely delete all files.
As soon as the preparation is completed and the OS rollback is completed, when you start the computer, a report will appear about all programs removed after the procedure.
The utilities were not lost forever; in the report they are presented as links, by clicking on which you can reinstall them.
The presented method is not bad, but is only relevant when Windows 8 partially starts. But if the computer has just begun to show signs of failure: performance has dropped, malfunctions have begun, then it is wiser not to wait for a complete system failure, but to roll it back using a restore point.
Creating a point
We follow the algorithm:
- In the right panel of Windows 8, go to the settings section, and then to the “Control Panel” (you can get to this section using the WIN+W search):
- In the control panel, go to the “Recoveries” section. Don't forget to set the "Small icons" option in the view, otherwise this item won't appear:
- Select the recovery point settings subsection and the disk on which the system is located:
- Click the settings icon. We enable system protection by selecting the appropriate section. Change the maximum usage rate to 15%:
The setup is complete, now you need to create a point and put it into practice.
To open the point, go to the recovery section on the control panel again, but now instead of settings, click create. Enter a description or name for the rollback point.
Comment. The system automatically creates points when the user installs third-party programs on the computer, updates drivers, etc.
Using a rollback point
If you notice that after installing programs, glitches appear, a decline in performance, etc., then it’s time to use a system rollback. For this:
- On the control panel, go to the “Recovery” section and then to the OS rollback settings. Click on restore:
The final click will launch the Windows 10 rollback procedure. After successful completion, the system will start in normal mode.
A few important points regarding recovery using this method:
- It is impossible to stop a process launched through the console in safe mode;
- Changes that have taken effect cannot be undone;
- After the rollback is complete, a text document will appear on the desktop, which will describe all the affected (deleted) files. The names are presented in the form of links, by clicking on which you can quickly restore lost data.
If a black screen or eternal preparation for automatic system recovery does not allow you to enter the computer’s safe mode, then proceed to a system rollback using the BIOS tool.
Restoring Windows 10 via BIOS
It’s worth mentioning right away that this method can only be implemented if the user has a disk or flash drive with a distribution kit of a licensed operating system, otherwise the option can be skipped.
The first step is to configure the BIOS to read the disk when the computer starts. For this:
BIOS is configured. Now you just need to insert the external device on which the distribution is stored.
Helpful tips when working with the environment:
- You can find the correct key to enter the BIOS in the instructions for your computer or on the manufacturer’s website. Most modern PC models use the Delete button;
- On laptops, the key combination ctrl+alt+esc can be used to enter the BIOS;
- In addition to the standard Boot, the 1st Boot Device section can be located in “Boot Device” or “Boot Device configuration”.
Now directly restore Windows 10. After the external device has been inserted and the computer is started, a window will appear in which, instead of “Install,” click “System Restore” at the bottom left of the screen:
An action selection window will appear in which you need to select the diagnostic section:
It is worth noting such a tool as “Startup Recovery”. This feature initiates a scan of your computer for errors and corrects them when detected. You can try to run the utility, but you should not rely on it. In most cases, after a short search, you will receive a message stating that the computer could not be restored.
If the BIOS fails to start
Situations where, when the process of preparing for automatic updating freezes, it is impossible to enter the BIOS, occur quite often. Many users do not understand what to do in such a situation, but there is a solution - resetting (zeroing) the BIOS environment.
There are three relatively simple and safe ways to reset:
After using any of the methods, the user will be able to enter the BIOS and configure it to perform a Windows 10 recovery.
Hard drive problems
The error where Windows 10 does not load correctly may be due to crashes or critical errors on the hard drive. It is impossible to solve this without purchasing or repairing a hard drive, but it is still possible to determine the presence of problems without fully launching Windows 10.
In the right corner you can see values like 5ms, 20ms, etc. They represent the access period for each sector of the hard drive. The ideal value would be 5ms and the more such sectors, the better.
First of all, if the “The computer did not start correctly” error occurs to you after turning off the computer or after interrupting the Windows 10 update, but is successfully corrected by clicking the “Restart” button, and then appears again, or in cases where the computer does not turn on the first time , after which automatic recovery occurs (and again, everything is fixed by rebooting), then all the actions described below with the command line are not for your situation, in your case the reasons may be as follows. Additional instructions with options for system startup problems and their solutions: .
If, after turning on your computer or laptop, you see a message stating that the computer is being diagnosed, and after that - a blue screen with a message stating that “The computer is not started correctly” with a suggestion to restart or go to additional settings (the second version of the same message is at "Recovery" screen shows a message that the Windows system did not boot correctly), this usually indicates damage to some Windows 10 system files: registry files and more.
The problem may appear after a sudden shutdown while installing updates, installing an antivirus or cleaning the computer from viruses, cleaning the registry using cleaner programs, or installing dubious programs.
And now about ways to solve the problem “The computer is not started correctly.” If it so happens that you have automatic creation of restore points enabled in Windows 10, then first of all you should try this option. You can do this as follows:
After clicking the cancel button, you will be taken to the blue screen again. Click on “Troubleshooting” on it.
Now, if you are not ready to take all the following steps to restore startup, which will use only the command line, click “Reset your computer to its original state” to reset Windows 10 (reinstallation), which can be done while saving your files (but not programs ). If you are ready and want to try to return everything as it was, click “Advanced options”, and then “Command line”.
In the command line, we will check the integrity of Windows 10 system files and components one by one, try to fix them, and also restore the registry from a backup copy. All this together helps in most cases. Use the following commands in order:
There is a good chance that Windows 10 will start after this. If not, you can undo any changes you've made in the command line (which you can run the same way as before or from the recovery disk), restoring the files from the backup we created:
- cd e:\configbackup\
- copy * e:\windows\system32\config\(confirm overwriting files by pressing A and Enter).
