How to Fix Automatic Repair couldn’t repair your PC on Windows 10

Windows operating system is a complex one indeed but there are still a lot of unsolved issues that can drive inexperienced users crazy. That is exactly one of the reasons more and more PC users are switching to Mac OS X which may not offer the same customization and compatibility options as Windows, but it’s definitely more user friendly.

Windows come with several built-in troubleshooters which should help you get rid of your problems automatically but they are sometimes simply not good enough to help you deal with your problem. Look below to find out what to do when your PC fails to repair itself.

“Automatic Repair couldn’t repair your PC” Error on Windows 10

Automatic Repair is a built-in troubleshooter which should help you fix some of the most common issues regarding your PC. However, plenty of users have reported how they receive the “Automatic Repair couldn’t repair your PC” message after running in order to fix some of their issues.

This is somewhat unfortunate especially because of the fact that the majority of Windows users can’t think of another way to fix similar issues and they try to rely on automatic troubleshooters such as this one. Luckily, this problem has its solution so check below to find out more.

Solution 1: Troubleshooting With Command Prompt

Since Automatic Repair is a tool that usually deals with startup issues, it might be used to deal with your boot in order to fix this particular issue. There are several quite useful commands which might help you get rid of this error message and possibly even eliminate the option of fixing your PC at all.

1. Navigate to your Windows login screen and click on the Power button. Hold the shift key while clicking on Restart in order to enter Boot Options.
2. Choose Troubleshoot >> Advanced options and click on Command Prompt.
3. When Command Prompt opens, copy and paste the following lines and make sure you click Enter after each command if you want to run it.

1. Plenty of users have reported that the commands above were able to fix the boot of their system and they got rid of the “Automatic Repair couldn’t repair your PC” message once and for all. While you are still in the Command Prompt, run the commands below in order to check your disk for errors.

1. Note that you will have to know just what are the letters corresponding to your hard drive partitions and the letters c: and d: are the usual ones for each computer. If you are not sure about your PC’s drive letters, you can check them while still in Command Prompt by copying the commands below and clicking Enter after each one:

1. The commands above should display a list of all hard drive partitions on your computer so use the letters corresponding to them in the chkdsk

Solution 2: Troubleshooting in Safe Mode

There are still a couple of quite useful commands in Command Prompt which you should try but it’s the best if you use these commands while in Safe Mode because the error message we are dealing with is sometimes caused by a faulty driver or a system file which might not show up if we did the scan in normal boot.

1. Reboot your computer and wait for the boot screen to appear. It’s usually the screen with your PC’s manufacturer with the options such as “Press _ to Run Setup”, etc.
2. As soon as that screen appears, start pressing the F8 key on your keyboard. If the F8 key doesn’t work, reboot your computer again and start pressing the F5 key.
3. The Windows Advanced Options Menu should open, enabling you to choose several options to boot your computer.
4. Boot into Safe Mode with Command Prompt.
5. As soon as Command Prompt opens, try copying and pasting the commands below in order to check your Windows image for errors (DISM) and to check your system for any missing or broken files (SFC).

1. Please allow these commands enough time to finish and don’t restart or shut down your computer before they finish.

Solution 3: Disabling Early Launch Anti-Malware Protection

This solution is a fairly easy one but this bugged many users before they disabled this option. Please follow the instructions below in order to fix this.

1. Navigate to your Windows login screen and click on the Power button. Hold the shift key while clicking on Restart in order to enter Boot Options.
2. When the Boot Menu opens, navigate to Troubleshoot >> Advanced Options >> Startup Settings.
3. Your PC should restart and boot to a list of options for you to choose.
4. Choose the number next to the Disable early launch anti-malware protection option and restart your computer.

Solution 4: Delete the File Which Is Causing These Issues

It’s quite possible than one of the files on your computer simply malfunctioned and now it’s causing problems with your PC which the Automatic Repair can’t deal with. If the file at hand is not a system file, you can locate it and delete it easily.

1. Navigate to your Windows login screen and click on the Power button. Hold the shift key while clicking on Restart in order to enter Boot Options.
2. When the Boot Menu opens, navigate to Troubleshoot >> Advanced Options >> Command Prompt. Advanced options in Troubleshoot screen
3. Copy and paste the following commands into the Command Prompt window:

1. The file should open immediately and try to look for a message looking like this:

“Boot critical file ___________ is corrupt.”

1. Any file can be displayed in the message and that it most definitely the file that is causing this issue and you will have to delete it if it’s not a system file. A simple Google search should clear up any doubt.
2. In order to delete the file, you need to navigate to its location using Command Prompt. For example, if the file is locating in the “drivers” folder in System32 (these files are usually the cause for the issue), you can locate it via this command:

1. Delete the file by using the “del” command and the name of the file next to it, divided by a single space.

1. Restart your computer, uninstall the program to which the file belonged to and check to see if your issue is resolved.

Solution 5: Disable Automatic Startup Repair

The Automatic Repair feature might have been turned on for no reason and it’s not allowing you to use your computer properly. It may have something to do with a faulty Automatic Startup Repair tool so it’s for the best to disable it from starting automatically.

1. Navigate to your Windows login screen and click on the Power button. Hold the shift key while clicking on Restart in order to enter Boot Options.
2. When the Boot Menu opens, navigate to Troubleshoot >> Advanced Options >> Command Prompt.
3. When Command Prompt starts, copy and paste the following command and click after in order to run it.

1. Restart your computer and check to see if there are any changes.

Solution 6: Fixing Your Registry Issues

Registry issues are always difficult to handle, especially when they are causing error messages like this one. Windows Registry is a fragile place and changing anything without supervision can lead to irreversible changes to your computer. Luckily, you can restore your registry to a previous state by using a copy of the registry Windows generates itself.

1. Navigate to your Windows login screen and click on the Power button. Hold the shift key while clicking on Restart in order to enter Boot Options.
2. When the Boot Menu opens, navigate to Troubleshoot >> Advanced Options >> Command Prompt. Advanced options in Troubleshoot screen
3. Copy and paste the following command in Command Prompt and make sure you click Enter in order to run it:

1. If a message pops us asking you whether you wish to overwrite existing files, choose to overwrite all and press Enter.
2. Restart your computer and check to see if your issue has been resolved.

Solution 7: Fixing Your Automatic Repair Tool

If there is indeed something wrong with your Automatic Repair Tool, you might be able to fix this issue by using a Windows 10 ISO file which you can use to boot into Recovery mode and start Automatic Repair from there.

1. Download the Windows 10 ISO and create a Media Creation Tool in order to open Automatic Repair. Download and burn Windows ISO by following the instructions on this Microsoft’s page.
2. Insert the bootable media in your computer (DVD or USB drive) and restart your PC.
3. If a message pops up saying “Press any key to boot from DVD/USB” please do so.
4. When the Install Windows page opens click on the Repair your computer option which should open the Windows Recovery Environment.
5. When the Windows Recovery Environment is ready, click on the Troubleshoot option.
6. Navigate to Advanced Options and click on Automatic Repair.
7. This should be able to open Automatic Repair from your bootable drive and fix the issue regarding the error message you kept receiving.

Solution 8: Hardware Issues

If you recently installed or added any new hardware to your computer, it may be causing system instability and error messages such as the one related to Automatic Repair. On the other hand, even your old devices such as hard drive, RAM, etc, may be causing these issues. Let’ start diagnosing just what might be causing these problems.

1. Start off by removing all external devices from your computer except your mouse and keyboard. If this solves your problem, reconnect the devices one by one and check to see just which one may be problematic.
2. If you own more than one RAM stick, try removing one of them and booting your computer. If this fixes your issue, consider replacing the faulty memory stick.
3. Remove your external storage devices such as your Solid State Drive or your external HDD and check to see if your issue is fixed.
4. Consider replacing or repairing any of the devices that were faulty, to begin with since things may only get worse if you keep them connected to your computer.

Solution 9: System Refresh or Reset

Unfortunately, it has come to this. If all of the methods above failed to fix the issue you were dealing with, your last resort may be to refresh your Windows 10 installation or to perform a complete reset of your system. Windows 10 has made things way simpler for you since now you can perform a refresh of your system without losing your personal files.

1. Open the Settings app by clicking on the Start menu and selecting the gear icon or by searching for it.
2. Open the Update & security section and navigate to the Recovery submenu. Clicking on the “Update and Security” option
3. Under the Reset, this PC option, click on the Get started button.
4. When prompted, choose to keep your personal files and follow the instructions on the screen.
5. Note that your apps and programs are going to get uninstalled so make sure you back up important data before proceeding with this.
6. You can also use the bootable Windows 10 ISO media to start with a clean version of Windows 10 but this will remove all of your personal files and programs.

Recovery options in Windows 10

If you’re having problems with your PC, the following table can help you decide which recovery option to use.

See this section

Your PC isn’t working well and you recently installed an update.

Your PC isn’t working well and it’s been a while since you installed an app, driver, or update.

Your PC won’t start, you haven’t created a recovery drive, and resetting your PC didn’t work.

Your PC won’t start and you haven’t created a recovery drive.

Your PC won’t start and you’ve created a recovery drive.

You want to reinstall your previous operating system.

Your PC isn’t working well and you recently installed an app.

Click one of the recovery options below and follow the steps to try to get things working again.

If you’ve recently installed a Windows update, uninstall the update to try to resolve the issue.

Select the Start button, then select Settings > Update & Security > Windows Update > View your update history > Uninstall updates.
View update history settings

Right-click the update you want to remove, and then select Uninstall.

Important: If you’ve encrypted your device, you’ll need your BitLocker key to reset your PC If you don’t know your BitLocker key, see Find my BitLocker recovery key.

Resetting reinstalls Windows 10, but lets you choose whether to keep your files or remove them, and then reinstalls Windows. You can reset your PC from Settings, the sign-in screen, or by using a recovery drive or installation media.

Reset your PC from Settings

Select the Start button, then select Settings > Update & Security > Recovery .
Open Recovery settings

Under Reset this PC, select Get started and then choose from the options and/or settings in the table below.

Keep my files > Change settings > Preinstalled apps On

Reinstalls Windows 10 and keeps your personal files.

Removes apps and drivers you installed.

Removes changes you made to settings.

Restores any apps your PC manufacturer installed if your PC came with Windows 10.

Keep my files > Change settings > Preinstalled apps Off

Reinstalls Windows 10 and keeps your personal files.

Removes apps and drivers you installed.

Removes changes you made to settings.

Removes any apps your PC manufacturer installed.

Reinstalls Windows 10 and removes your personal files.

Removes apps and drivers you installed.

Removes changes you made to settings.

Removes any apps your PC manufacturer installed. (If your PC came with Windows 10, apps from your PC manufacturer will be reinstalled.)

Note: Remove everything > Change settings gives you two options.

Data erasure On removes files and cleans the drive. If you’re planning to donate, recycle, or sell your PC, use this option. This might take an hour or two, but it makes it harder for other people to recover files you’ve removed.

Data erasure Off just removes files. It takes less time, but is less secure.

Reset your PC from the sign-in screen

If you can’t open Settings, you can reset your PC from the sign-in screen. Here’s how:

Press Windows logo key + L to get to the sign-in screen, and then restart your PC by pressing the Shift key while you select the Power button > Restart in the lower-right corner of the screen.

Your PC will restart in the Windows Recovery Environment (WinRE) environment.

On the Choose an option screen, select Troubleshoot > Reset this PC, and then choose one of the options in the previous table.

Connect the installation media you created to your PC and reinstall Windows 10.

Open File Explorer and select the drive with the installation media.

From the root directory of the drive, double-click setup.exe, and then select Yes when asked if you’d like to allow the app to make changes to your device.

Select Change what to keep.

Select one of the following options, and then select Next:

Keep personal files and apps – This will preserve your personal data, apps, and settings.

Keep personal files only – This will preserve your personal data and settings, but all your apps will be removed.

Keep nothing – This will remove all personal data, settings, and apps.

Warning: You cannot undo a reinstallation of Windows 10. Be sure to back up your files first if you choose the Keep nothing option.

To finish, select Install to start reinstalling Windows 10 on your PC.

Your PC will restart several times during the resinstallation.

Important: If you’ve encrypted your device, you’ll need your BitLocker key to use a recovery drive to restore or reset your PC If you don’t know your BitLocker key, see Find my BitLocker recovery key.

If your PC won’t start and you haven’t created a recovery drive, download installation media and use it to restore from a system restore point or reset your PC.

Download the Windows 10 media creation tool and then run it.

Select Create installation media for another PC.

Choose a language, edition, and architecture (64-bit or 32-bit).

Follow the steps to create installation media, and then select Finish.

Connect the installation media you created to your nonfunctional PC, and then turn it on.

On the initial setup screen, enter your language and other preferences, and then select Next. If you don’t see the setup screen, your PC might not be set up to boot from a drive. Check your PC manufacturer’s website for info on how to change your PC’s boot order, and then try again.

Select Repair your computer.

On the Choose an option screen, select Troubleshoot. From there, you can:

Restore from a system restore point by selecting Advanced options > System Restore. This will remove recently installed apps, drivers, and updates that might be causing your PC problems. Restoring from a restore point won’t affect your personal files.

Important: If you’ve encrypted your device, you’ll need your BitLocker key to use a recovery drive to restore or reset your PC If you don’t know your BitLocker key, see Find my BitLocker recovery key.

If your PC won’t start, you can use a recovery drive to restore from a system restore point or recover your PC. For info on how to create a recovery drive on a working PC, see Create a recovery drive.

Note: If you are using a Surface, see Creating and using a USB recovery drive for Surface to download and create a USB recovery image specifically for your Surface device.

To restore or recover using the recovery drive:

Connect the recovery drive and turn on your PC.

Press Windows logo key + L to get to the sign-in screen, and then restart your PC by pressing the Shift key while you select the Power button> Restart in the lower-right corner of the screen.

Your PC will restart in the Windows Recovery Environment (WinRE) environment.

On the Choose an option screen, select Troubleshoot, and then select one of the following two options. (If you don’t see the Choose your option screen, your PC might not be set up to boot from a drive. Check your PC manufacturer’s website for info on how to change your PC’s boot order.)

To restore from a system restore point, select Advanced Options > System Restore. This won’t affect your personal files, but it will remove recently installed apps, drivers, and updates that might be causing your PC problems.

To reinstall Windows 10, select Advanced Options > Recover from a drive. This will remove your personal files, apps and drivers you installed, and changes you made to settings.

For a limited time after upgrading to Windows 10, you’ll be able to go back to your previous version of Windows by selecting the Start button, then select Settings > Update & Security > Recovery and then selecting Get started under Go back to the previous version of Windows 10. This will keep your personal files, but it’ll remove apps and drivers installed after the upgrade, as well as any changes you made to settings. In most cases, you’ll have 10 days to go back.
Open Recovery settings

To go back, you’ll need to:

Keep everything in the windows.old and $windows.

bt folders after the upgrade.

Remove any user accounts you added after the upgrade.

Know the password you used to sign in to Windows 7 or Windows 8.1 (if you used one).

Have the USB drive you used to upgrade to Windows 10 (if you used one).

Note: If you go back to Windows 8.1, some apps that came with Windows, like Mail and People, might not work anymore. To fix the apps, reinstall them from the Microsoft Store.

Note: The option in Settings to go back to your previous version of Windows is only available for a limited time after upgrading.

Info for Windows Insiders

If you’re an Insider and the current preview build isn’t working for you, select the Start button, then select Settings > Update & Security > Recovery . Under Go back to the previous version of Windows 10, select Get Started. This won’t remove your personal files, but it’ll remove recently installed apps and drivers, and change settings back to their defaults.

Going back to an earlier build won’t remove you from the Insider Program. When the next preview build is ready, it’ll be installed on your PC.

This option takes your PC back to an earlier point in time, called a system restore point. Restore points are generated when you install a new app or driver, and when you create a restore point manually. Restoring won’t affect your personal files, but it will remove apps, drivers, and updates installed after the restore point was made.

In the search box on the taskbar, type control panel,andthen choose it from the list of results

In the Control Panel search box, type recovery.

Select Recovery > Open System Restore.

In the Restore system files and setting box, select Next.

Select the restore point that you want to use in the list of results, and then select Scan for affected programs.

If you don’t see the restore point that you want to use, select the Show more restore points check box to see more restore points.

If you’re not seeing any restore points, it might be because system protection isn’t turned on. Here’s how to check:

In the search box on the taskbar, type control panel,andthen choose it from the list of results.

In the Control Panel search box, type recovery.

Select Recovery > Configure System Restore > Configure and see if the Turn on system protection option is selected.

If the Turn on system protection option is not selected, system protection isn’t turned on and there aren’t any restore points. In this scenario, you won’t be able to recovery your PC using a system restore point and will need to use one of the other recovery options listed on this page.

If the Turn on system protection option is selected, continue with step 6.

You’ll see a list of items that will be deleted if you remove this restore point. If you’re OK with the deletions, select Close> Next > Finish.