Windows 10: Stuck In Diagnostic Startup

Discus and support Stuck In Diagnostic Startup in Windows 10 Support to solve the problem; I messed up my computer and need some real expert help to straighten this one out. Any assistance / suggestions would be appreciated. Details are... Discussion in 'Windows 10 Support' started by Bizguy, Oct 18, 2016.

  1. Bizguy Win User

    Stuck In Diagnostic Startup


    I messed up my computer and need some real expert help to straighten this one out. Any assistance / suggestions would be appreciated. Details are below:

    MY SYSTEM:
    Dell E6400
    Upgraded from Win 7 to Win10 Pro (so directories after c prompt show old folders and Win10 upgrade folders)
    4gb Ram

    The computer was really working good until I made the following System Changes:
    Took the following steps:
    1. Went to: All Apps Menu
    2. Then: Windows Administrative Tools
    3. Then: System Configuration
    4. Under General Header
    5. Then: Selected “DIAGNOSTIC STARTUP”
    6. Then: Clicked APPLY and SAVE
    7. Then: I shut down the computer and restarted it.
    Now only the background will load when I boot up, no login will appear and nothing will load. See PROBLEM below.

    Before I made the change, the computer startup was perfect as follows:
    1. Start Computer
    2. Windows 10 logo
    3. Background Picture
    4. Click on screen to show password logon
    5. Logo on and desktop appears.

    PROBLEM: Computer process now after the change:
    Start Computer
    Windows 10 logo
    Background Picture only (scenic background)
    Click on screen to show password logon
    The background stays on (scenic picture) but dims when I click to try to get the logon bar. Only picture on screen – no
    words or images
    Cannot do anything else
    After a minute the screen brightens and I can click on it again to try to bring up the ‘logon PW field’ and it (scenic background picture) dims again.
    When I have the blank screen no commands are recognized (Win + R, Win + X etc…)

    Note:
    The only way I can get to C prompt is by using the Win10 installation thumb drive. I tried to do a repair using the
    Installation app on thumb drive but it failed and told me it could not make the repair.
    I can reach the BIOS via F12 on start up.
    The system now may not be recognizing any startup files
    I can email screen shots of the directories visible after the C: prompt if it’s useful.

    I believe I somehow may have disabled the default start-up instructions and correction wills need to be made via the C: prompt.

    Does anyone have recommendations on how to restore the 'set-up'?

    Thanks.

    :)
     
    Bizguy, Oct 18, 2016
    #1

  2. Windows 10 stuck in diagnostic mode at startup

    Hi,

    Follow these steps to do a Clean Install.

    If you do a Clean Install then it would be activated with the Digital Entitlement.

    Start fresh with a clean installation of Windows 10

    Start fresh with a clean installation of Windows 10

    Clean Install Windows 10

    Clean Install Windows 10

    Hope this helps.

    --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Rob Brown -
    Microsoft MVP
    <- profile - Windows and Devices for IT : Bicycle - Mark Twain said it right.
     
    SpiritX MS MVP, Oct 18, 2016
    #2
  3. RyRy74 Win User
    Windows 10 stuck in diagnostic mode at startup

    I will apologize in advance for this lenghty description, which is necessary because my issues are nearly impossible for me to explain and I'm going insane!!

    I was recently attacked by the backdoor:Win32/Floxif(from infected CCleaner update), which was caught and quarantined by Malwarebytes and Defender and was successfully removed. Unfortunately, it had already wreaked havoc on my system. The more I troubleshot,
    the worse it got. Locked me out of control panel, and wouldn't even let me open file explorer! My system slowed down more and more with each attempt and restart. Eventually, it became a real challenge to even log in to my user account-- I had to type my password
    as fast as i could because it would flip back to lock screen. 4-7 attempts and my desktop would finally appear and take 5, 10, 20, 30 minutes, progressively, to load completely! At some point, during startup, I got the spinning wheel of diagnosing problems/Attempting
    repairs, ending up at the blue screen telling me there was a problem. I navigated to advanced settings, etc. on and on only to be stuck in the restart/diagnostic mode endless loop. I can no longer even get my desktop to load, luckily I have an iPad so I can
    get online to search for a solution!

    Resetting--unsuccessful. Recovery--unsuccessful. My machine is a ASUS Vivo PC(Piece of Crap), but all I use it for is streaming video, backing up phone, pictures, music, etc. and all of the files stored on it are backed up on other devices, wiping it clean
    is fine with me. I'm thinking that startup in safe mode w/networking and downloading/clean install of Windows 10 is the answer-- but can't even get that accomplished because I can't even get past the ever-spinning wheel of "Attempting repairs!"

    HELP ME PLEASE!! I'm seriously ready to use my Glock to "fix" it permanently
     
    RyRy74, Oct 18, 2016
    #3
  4. Bizguy Win User

    Stuck In Diagnostic Startup

    Solved as follows:
    Reached Safe Mode by powering off two times then getting Diagnosing PC mode.
    Then - Auto Repair
    Then - Advance
    Then - Troubleshooting
    Then - Advanced
    Then - Selected number 4 Safe Mode
    Entered Safe Mode and reached the System Configuration and found that ALL of the startup applications and drivers were indeed turned off. I turned all back on, saved and rebooted. All is good now.

    I hope this helps someone else.

    Also go to: You Tube:
     
    Bizguy, Oct 19, 2016
    #4
  5. Bizguy,

    Welcome to the forum!

    Thank you for posting what you did to solve the problem.
    It may help others in the future!!

    Have a great week!
     
    cottonball, Oct 19, 2016
    #5
  6. Savage93 Win User
    Thank you sooooooo much, you saved my bacon man!!!!
     
    Savage93, Dec 2, 2016
    #6
  7. marymmcc Win User
    You helped me too! Thanks very much
     
    marymmcc, Dec 15, 2016
    #7
  8. Kato217 Win User

    Stuck In Diagnostic Startup

    Thanks Bizguy - solved my issue too. Much appreciated!
     
    Kato217, Mar 22, 2017
    #8
  9. Pigoz Win User
    Hi all,
    I'm facing the same problem on a surface pro4 with windows 10. I don't know how to get diagnosing pc mode! Can you help me? Thanks!
     
    Pigoz, Apr 11, 2017
    #9
  10. Lilreglou Win User
    Hi, I got into this pickle the same way as the author.
    To get cured on a surface / surface book.
    When you power on keep holding power button for 10 seconds. This crashes the boot and after several attempts it enters diagnosing mode as per video in YouTube link.
    Phew
     
    Lilreglou, May 27, 2017
    #10
  11. Top man. Thank you!*Smile


     
    davidcarton, May 30, 2017
    #11
  12. I'm in this same jam but cannot find "Diagnosing PC mode"
     
    FunkMaster, May 31, 2017
    #12
  13. Stuck In Diagnostic Startup

    Bizguy's solution helped me in that exact same situation, so many thanks. However, please allow me to mention one caveat. With the Creator's Update, the steps/options are no longer as Bizguy indicated in the original solution. Now one has to click troubleshooting and advanced options to finally reach a page with 6-7 options in which the 5th one is startup settings where one can choose to 'Enable Safe Mode'. (I'm writing from memory, so I might be a bit off, but that's the gist of it.)
     
    kausikdatta, Jun 28, 2017
    #13
  14. XVimes Win User
    Startup Settings was entirely missing from my advanced startup menus. Turns out, my computer needs a special driver to access the (SSD) hard drive. It was a big pain, but here's what I did. Maybe it'll help someone:


    • I made a recovery USB stick on another computer (actually, I used a Windows install USB, which has recovery disk built in).
    • Got my SSD's driver from computer manufacturer's site. I think it ended up being part of the "Intel Rapid Storage Technology Driver", in my case. I was just spit balling and got lucky finding it.
    • Copied driver installer to USB stick.
    • Booted off the stick and open the recovery Command Prompt.
    • Found the driver install exe (drive letters are all swapped around) and run it from the command prompt
    • Then, I could see my actual hard drive. It's letter was F: instead of the usual C:
    • Used bcdedit /set {default} bootmenupolicy legacy to enable the old-school f8 boot menu. Perhaps "{default}" will be a different identifier for some folks (you'll have to google it).
    • Booted with F8, select Safe Mode, boot that way
    • Opened msconfig.exe and disable Safe Mode.
    • Restarted into normal mode.

    That wasn't fun.

    Everyone, please report the "missing login prompt in diagnostic mode" issue via the Windows 10 Feedback app. There's already an issue in there that you can up-vote.
     
    XVimes, Jul 21, 2017
    #14
  15. mickx Win User
    Had the same problem.

    I found the simple solution is to plug the internet into the computer using an ethernet cable. Then the login screen appears. (I had to press SHIFT and the power button on my laptop AND I had to have an ethernet to USB cable!)

    I tried using a bootable usb windows 10 drive as well without success in finding safe mode I did see the option of restoring from a restore point and a new install.

    Suggest everyone makes a provision for this sort of occurrence.

    ENABLE SYSTEM RESTORE AND ENABLE THE F8 BOOT MENU OPTION

    To enable the start-up boot menu option by pressing F8 do this....

    OPEN command prompt as administrator and type:

    bcdedit /set {current} bootmenupolicy Legacy

    note, to undo above command (bcdedit /set {current} bootmenupolicyStandard)

    =========Alternative==========
    bcdedit /set {bootmgr} displaybootmenu yes

    bcdedit /set {bootmgr} displaybootmenu no

    Now you can get to the old boot menu as windows starts
     
    mickx, Oct 19, 2017
    #15
Thema:

Stuck In Diagnostic Startup

Loading...
  1. Stuck In Diagnostic Startup - Similar Threads - Stuck Diagnostic Startup

  2. Stuck in diagnostics startup

    in Windows 10 BSOD Crashes and Debugging
    Stuck in diagnostics startup: I was trying to troubleshoot by using Diagnostic Startup to rule out if software was interfering with my computer, so I used msconfig to chooseDiagnostic Startup so only system services would run, and now I"m stuck in it. At the lock screen, it says "Something happened with...
  3. Stuck in diagnostics startup

    in Windows 10 Gaming
    Stuck in diagnostics startup: I was trying to troubleshoot by using Diagnostic Startup to rule out if software was interfering with my computer, so I used msconfig to chooseDiagnostic Startup so only system services would run, and now I"m stuck in it. At the lock screen, it says "Something happened with...
  4. Stuck in diagnostics startup

    in Windows 10 Software and Apps
    Stuck in diagnostics startup: I was trying to troubleshoot by using Diagnostic Startup to rule out if software was interfering with my computer, so I used msconfig to chooseDiagnostic Startup so only system services would run, and now I"m stuck in it. At the lock screen, it says "Something happened with...
  5. Stuck in diagnostics startup

    in AntiVirus, Firewalls and System Security
    Stuck in diagnostics startup: I was trying to troubleshoot by using Diagnostic Startup to rule out if software was interfering with my computer, so I used msconfig to chooseDiagnostic Startup so only system services would run, and now I"m stuck in it. At the lock screen, it says "Something happened with...
  6. Stuck in login screen after enabling diagnostic startup

    in Windows Hello & Lockscreen
    Stuck in login screen after enabling diagnostic startup: I was having issues with freezing games so I enabled diagnostic startup, that was a HUGE mistake.I’m now stuck at the login screen, it says “Something happened and your PIN isn’t available. Click to setup your PIN again.”-Clicking to setup PIN does nothing.-Every password I...
  7. Stuck in login screen after enabling diagnostic startup

    in Windows 10 Gaming
    Stuck in login screen after enabling diagnostic startup: I was having issues with freezing games so I enabled diagnostic startup, that was a HUGE mistake.I’m now stuck at the login screen, it says “Something happened and your PIN isn’t available. Click to setup your PIN again.”-Clicking to setup PIN does nothing.-Every password I...
  8. Diagnostic startup

    in Windows 10 Ask Insider
    Diagnostic startup: My shitful ass came out of curiosity in attempt to speed up my laptop, I went to system configuration, clicked on diagnostic startup and restart without hesitation, and now I can't sign in past the lock screen. It says "Something happened and your PIN isn't available. Click...
  9. (SOLVED) Stuck in Diagnostic Startup

    in AntiVirus, Firewalls and System Security
    (SOLVED) Stuck in Diagnostic Startup: After hours and HOURS of searching online, I found a loophole for using the Command Prompt at my lockscreen, which I used to make my other account an admin and run msconfig and return it to Normal Startup. Thanks for your help guys! :) ---- I was trying to troubleshoot...
  10. Win 10 stuck in diagnostic startup no login window

    in Windows 10 Support
    Win 10 stuck in diagnostic startup no login window: Hi, I set windows to do a diagnostic startup to try and chase down a problem but... It gets to what would be the login screen ( power, ease of access etc in bottom right) but the login boxes are not there and every so often the screen brightens and try to do something but...