Windows 10: Automatic Repair Loop and Cannot Reinstall

So my friend's PC just started doing this today. He went to search for something in his computer and got the error "Cortana has encountered a critical error". His PC then restarted and now is in the automatic repair loop. He cannot reinstall...
When he goes to tries to Keep his files error: "The drive where Windows is installed is locked. Unlock the drive and try again."

Reset this PC error: "There was a problem resetting your PC."

At this point he doesn't really care whether or not he can keep his files or not he just wants the PC to work. Also this is not a PC that natively runs Win10 he upgraded from 8.1 (not sure if it matters).

I thought I would come post here because anytime I've had issues I get stumped on the guys at sevenforums were always very helpful so any advice at all would be appreciated!

Thanks

:)

 

Automatic repair loop and can't reinstall windows 10

When you said you tried to reinstall Windows, are you attempting a clean installation? If so, it appears to be a hardware failure. Contact the manufacturer for further assistance.

Regards.

 

Automatic repair loop and can't reinstall windows 10

I tried what you said, maybe even 10 times, but the advance setup didn't appear. What appeared was still the "preparing automatic repair" screen.

 

I'm in the same boat. I've tried several things, but they didn't work. Check to see if your boot order in your bios is your hard drive or windows boot manager.

It seems that my master boot record doesn't show up. My problem started with opening chrome and lots of Facebook tabs which then locked my computer up and crashes to black screen then the loop process.

Thankfully I have a back up of my win7 install and will be doing the upgrade dance over.