Windows 10: Windows won't boot. Displays endless circle of dots.

When powering on my Asus, it displays the Logo, then displays a forever circle of dots. I am able to get to the Troubleshooting tool only to find that, in order to repair the problem, I must provide my password. Since I regularly log on using a pin number, I've, long ago, forgotten my password. I cannot reset the password because I cannot boot up. A vicious circle. Attempting to boot into Safe Mode fails as well.

:)

 

Volume Mute Light won´t change color

Which steps did you perform? Was this from a clean boot?
Open administrative command prompt and type or copy and paste this command: shutdown /r /o /f /t 00
It will boot to the recovery options or windows advanced troubleshooting menu.
Click troubleshooting and click reset this computer. You will be saving files. Applications and programs will be removed. Windows will be reinstalled.
Enter your windows logon password.
You will see getting things ready with rotating dots.
Click resetting this PC.
It will then display the HP logo with resetting this PC with rotating dots and a percentage.

 

Installation media boots to command prompt

I've just booted from known working install media to see exactly what it does when booting. The sequence of events is...

1. Windows logo on a black screen
2. circling dots appear beneath the logo
3. light blue 'Please wait' screen with circling dots
4. a command prompt window (very briefly)
5. the initial Setup page appears

Do you see steps 1-3? If so, it appears you have stopped at step 4, suggesting that something on the disc cannot be read.

Does the disc boot properly in another machine? If so, try cleaning the laptop's drive lens then try booting from the disc again.

If not, make new install media with Microsoft's Media Creation Tool, either as a bootable USB, on an ISO that you can burn to another disc. At Step 8 in Option One of this tutorial you can choose between making a USB or an ISO.

Download Windows 10 ISO File

 

Windows 10 - stuck on orange screen with white circling dots

This PC is not part of a domain, and I never get to a login screen; only the orange screen above.



Your linked instructions for Safe Mode are not useful in my situation, as they assume I can boot
normally into the system and then set an option to boot to safe mode. There is a way to boot to safe mode without the ability to boot normally but it is well hidden and complex - I will detail it below for future readers of this thread.



Your suggestion regarding Clean Boot is also not applicable. The instructions show how to disable services and startup items for third party applications. However, as I stated in my original post, I Reset Windows 10 so there are no third party
services or startup items. Never the less, I went through the steps and the results are the same - orange screen with white circling dots.



Finally, your suggestion regarding creating a new user account is again not applicable. I have multiple accounts on this PC. As I never am presented with a login screen, I cannot utilize any of them.

I await your next repair step…



For readers who are unable to boot normally and wish to boot to safe mode (only try this if you are technically advanced):

• Boot to a Windows 10 installation disk
• Go to Troubleshoot – Advanced Options – DOS Prompt (one might wonder why “Boot to Safe Mode” is not available in Advanced Options!)
• Follow the instructions here: http://www.tenforums.com/tutorials/2304-safe-mode-start-windows-10-a.html#option3