Windows 10: Laptop keeps rebooting before login screen appears

I am helping a friend who has an 8 year old laptop: MSI model MS-1738. Dual core pentium processor and 4 GB memory.

When I start up the computer I see the windows logo and the circling dots for a few seconds. Next, somethings that looks like a black window with a white border flashes once on the screen, and finally i see for about a second a message "recovering (or repairing, message is in dutch) installation, and then again for a second "restoring previous version of Windows". Then the laptop reboots and the process repeats itself.

I have tried several ways to boot into safe mode, but didn't succeed. I booted with linux to see if I could find anything. There is more than enough free disk space. I do see a folder "Windows10Upgrade", so I wonder if I could do something there.

Reinstalling Windows 10 is an option, bit first I would like to know what happened here, and if it is possible to solve this without reinstallation.

Any help would be appreciated.

:)

 

My Windows 10 default font has changed to symbols!

Reboot but don't login.

At the login screen, look for the power icon at the bottom right.

Hold Shift while you click it and choose restart. Keep holding Shift until the next screen appears.

Now you should be able to go to system restore and "go back a day" to before the problem started.

 

before I can login to my laptop, a page appears asking me to update to Explorer 11. How do I stop it?

Thanks for trying your best to help me, but the info didn't prove to be helpful as regards the confounded "Install Explorer 11" screen. I was, however able to enable two Norton add-ons that were disabled for some reason. I've just got to say that the Windows
7 I had on my old computer was a lot less complicated, user friendly, and there wasn't anything on it I couldn't disable, unlike Windows 10. I had to hire HP Smart friend to help me untangle the tangled web of Windows 10. I accidentally clicked "Solved my
problem" but then couldn't go back and undo it,

 

Hi, try Startup Repair - boot from a Win 10 installation disk, click 'Repair your computer' and navigate thru the screens to Startup Repair.

Download Windows 10 ISO File Installation Upgrade Tutorials

burn to DVD if you have a DVD drive or
Create Bootable USB Flash Drive to Install Windows 10 Installation Upgrade Tutorials

At this stage all you're trying to do is stop the boot loop.

Which version and build of Windows is installed?

(Booting to Safe Mode normally requires that you are able to at least reach a lock screen. However it is possible to configure a PC to boot to Safe Mode by booting from a boot disk and so to a command prompt, and using a bcdedit command)

 

Hello Dalchina,

Thanks for the quick response. Unfortunately I messed up completely, and now I have no choice but to do a clean install, so I will mark this thread as solved.

Thanks again for your help.

 

Hi, of course you will be able to retrieve any data you've not backed up before doing so.

You may also wish to check the disk before proceeding further.

In order to protect yourself, your PC and your data, and save yourself from having to do a clean install in many cases, we constantly recommend the routine use of disk imaging:

Here's my write-up on the value of disk imaging.

Everyone who contributes regularly here uses and recommends disk imaging.

If you use it, you can recover from:
- a failed disk drive (restore to a new one)
- ransomware (which encrypts your disk)
- user error
- unrecoverable problems from failed updates to problem programs
- unbootable PC (hardware faults aside)

Images also act as a full backup- you can extract files too.

You can even use images to help you move more easily and quickly to a new PC.
Can be used with Laplink software to transfer your build automatically to another PC

Imaging can even help you sleep at night knowing you have a second chance.

Creating disk images lets you restore Windows and all your imaged disks and partitions to a previous working state from compressed copies you have created and kept updated on external storage media, quickly and probably without technical help.

Many here recommend Macrium Reflect (free) as a good robust solution and more reliable than some others. It’s
- more feature rich
- more flexible
- more reliable
than Windows Backup and Restore system images.

It's well supported with videos, help and a responsive forum.

There are other such programs, free/commercial, some with simpler interfaces, but Macrium R is one of the most robust and reliable.

How long does it take?
SSD+ USB3 - maybe 15 mins for the first system image, less thereafter
HDD + USB2 - maybe 40-50 mins
That’s with little personal data, few programs installed.
- of course, depends how much you have on C:
(You can and should image all your partitions and disks)

Once you've created your first image, keep it updated with e.g. differential imaging- which images just changes from the first image, more quickly, and creates a smaller image file.

You need a backup medium - say- twice as large as the total amount of data you are imaging to keep a reasonable number of differential images. This will vary dependent on the number of images you keep, so is only a rough practical guide.

Some comment that system restore isn't always reliable; if it works and solves the problem, great. But sometimes restores won't work or fail. And of course a restore point only covers a limited number of aspects of the system. That’s where disk imaging comes in.

(There's a tutorial on Macrium in the Tutorials section, and a couple of videos in the user videos section on this forum)
Backup and Restore with Macrium Reflect Backup Restore Tutorials
Windows 10 instructional videos by Ten Forums members


Macrium automatically selects all the partitions comprising Windows if you select that option.

You can of course back up any combination of disks and partitions.