What You Should Do If Windows 10 Fails to Start

It is a dreaded moment when your PC suddenly starts crashing and won’t boot to the desktop. If this happens to you on your Windows 10 machine, you will be pleased to know that Windows not booting is a common problem, and in most cases it can be fixed rather easily. Below we have listed the most common solutions to the Windows 10 not starting problem.

1. Repair Windows 10 Startup

Windows 10 comes with a built-in startup repair option that can scan and repair missing or damaged startup system files. To access it, you’ll need to have either the Windows 10 installation disc or flash drive handy. (You can use a friend’s disk drive or create your own through Microsoft’s website.) Alternatively, you can follow our guide to create a Windows 10 recovery drive. Both of the solutions lead to the same place.

Once you have your recovery media, insert it into your PC, then reboot your PC. It should boot straight to the recovery media. (If not, you should get the option to select the recovery drive as your PC is booting.) Click “Next” on the Windows Setup screen, then “Repair your computer.”

This will open Boot options where you can troubleshoot many Windows problems. Go to “Troubleshoot -> Advanced options -> Startup Repair.”

When you click “Startup Repair,” Windows will restart and scan your PC for any system files it can fix. (Microsoft account authentication may be required.) If it finds a problem, it will automatically fix it.

2. “Windows Failed to Start” 0xc00000f

One of the most frequent error codes associated with Windows 10 not starting is the above code. The most frequently cited reason for this is an error in the BCD (or Boot Configuration Data).

The best way to fix this error is by repairing the BCD. Follow the instructions in Tip 1 up to the point where you click “Repair your Computer.”

Now, instead of going to Startup Repair, go to “Troubleshoot -> Command Prompt,” then enter the following commands:

After that final command, type exit in Command Prompt, hit Enter, and reboot your PC (without the installation media inserted).

3. Check Your Motherboard Connections

If you’re getting a completely blank screen when Windows tries to start, then – if you’re reasonably confident – it may be worth taking a look inside to make sure that all the hardware is slotted in as it should be. Here are the main components you should be looking at.

• Memory/RAM:RAM comes in the form of thin little sticks, which can be easily dislodged if you’ve knocked your computer around. Modern laptops usually hold the RAM in a bay on the underside, which means you don’t have to open the entire thing to take a look. Open your RAM bay (or PC tower), take the RAM out, and slot it back in to make sure it’s well connected.
• OS Hard Drive: Another possibility is that your main Windows hard drive has disconnected from the motherboard (or the power supply). Press the SATA cables in firmly and make sure it’s also connected to your PSU.
• PCI-E Cards: It’s less likely – but still possible – that a disconnected GPU or other PCI-Express device may be causing Windows to fire a blank. Make sure it’s all properly connected.

4. Check External Flash Drives and Disks

There is a chance your Windows may be set to prioritize starting from an external drive and that you have a USB drive attached or a disc inserted. If such external storage device is attached, Windows may try to boot from it but fail due to not having the right device attached containing the recovery files. Remove all external storage devices before starting Windows and see if it helps.

5. Windows Boot Record Errors

Boot Record errors are a major cause of Windows not starting, but fortunately they can be easily fixed using some Command prompt commands. You can refer to this guide to solve Boot Record errors.

6. Use Safe Mode to Solve the Problem

Whenever I face any Windows problem that makes the OS inoperable, the first thing I do is access Safe Mode. Safe Mode can answer a lot of questions quickly and also make it easier to solve them. In Safe Mode, Windows starts with minimum required drivers and only the necessary startup system files, so a faulty file, program or driver will most probably not load in this mode, which makes it easier to identify and solve the problem.

Although there are many ways to access Safe Mode, now that Windows 10 is not booting at all, we have limited options. If you have restarted Windows multiple times and it has failed, then Windows will automatically open Boot options. If for some reason it doesn’t give you that option (very rare), then you can do one of two things:

1. Restart the PC, and as soon as Windows 10 tries to load; remove the power supply or press and hold the Power button to force shutdown. Repeat this process three to four times, and Windows should automatically load the Boot options.

2. You can also try pressing the F8 key repeatedly while Windows tries to start and see if it loads the Boot options. Most probably this will not work in Windows 8/10, as the boot time is too fast, but on slower machines it may still work.

In Boot options, go to “Troubleshoot -> Advanced options -> Startup Settings -> Restart.”

Once the PC restarts, you can choose Safe Mode from the list using the numeric key 4.

Once you are in Safe mode, you can follow the guide here to troubleshoot your Windows problem. Listed here are possible things you can do in Safe Mode to solve Windows problems (including the Window won’t boot problem).

Last Resort

If for some reason nothing helps you, and you are sure that you will have to do a clean Windows 10 install and lose all the data in the process, there is still hope to save at least some of your data.

You can boot to a Windows 10 installation or recovery disc (which we outlined at the top of this article), then when it boots, select “Troubleshoot -> Reset this PC -> Keep my files.” This will back up and save all files, documents, pictures and so on kept under the user profiles in Windows 10 (and the profiles themselves). Third-party programs, games and so on, will be removed.

Are You Inside Now?

After going through all the above options, you should be inside Windows. If repairing the startup or solving boot record errors don’t help, then restoring or resetting the PC will probably solve the problem, and you can do that from both the Boot menu and Safe Mode. However, these options can lead to deleting some of the recent data, but at least you will be inside Windows 10.

With Windows 10 up and running, how about celebrating by jazzing it up with an awesome Windows screensaver? A healthy CPU is also vital to a properly-functioning Windows PC, so you can also read up on how to fix the 100% CPU usage problem in Windows 10.

Windows 10 startup fails

Replies (5) 

Thank you for posting your query in Microsoft Community.

I understand your concern, and we in Community will try to help you in the best possible way we can. Follow these steps to see which Windows updates are installed on your computer.

I suspect some of the application causing problems on back ground. I suggest you try disable the Anti-virus if any. Also try to uninstalling unwanted application through control panel.

Note: Antivirus software can help protect your computer against viruses and other security threats. In most cases, you shouldn’t disable your antivirus software. If you have to temporarily disable it to install other software, you should re-enable it as soon as you’re done. If you’re connected to the Internet or a network while your antivirus software is disabled, your computer is vulnerable to attacks.

Also, follow the below steps.

Step 1: I suggest you to boot the computer in Safe mode with networking and check if the issue persists.

Step 2: I suggest you to check in the Disk Management about the drive names and check if it is correct.

Steps: Press Windows + R, type diskmgmt.msc and hit Enter.

If the issue doesn’t persists, follow the below step.

Step 3: I recommend you to perform Clean Boot to avoid any third party software conflict.

Disclaimer: Putting your system in Clean Boot state helps in identifying if any third party applications or startup items are causing the issue. You need to follow the steps from the article mentioned below to perform a Clean Boot.

Note: Refer «How to reset the computer to start normally after clean boot troubleshooting» to reset the computer to start as normal after troubleshooting.

Hope the information helps, if you have any further queries, feel free to post. We are here to assist you.

Windows 10 startup fails — drive letters changed

I have a laptop which has had no hardware changes for several years.

On December 5, I upgraded from Windows 7 to Windows 10. Everything seemed to work OK. Windows Updates were installed.

On 12/9 I used a bootable «Ghost» program named Clonezilla to create images of the entire hard disk.

Things continued to work fine.

The end of December and the start of January, the machine was shutdown

I powered the machine up on 1/4 or so. On 1/10, I got a message that Windows Update needed to reboot. I forgot about it and the PC rebooted at 3 AM

When I got up I saw a message that «Automatic Repair could not repair your PC». I spent quite a long time trying different options. Startup repair put a log file on E:\Windows . This puzzled me because Windows should be on C. Nothing worked and finally I decided to Reset the PC. After I did the reset and was preparing to start to reinstall applications, I realized that there were some applications carried over from Windows 7 which I did not have installation media for. I decided to stop that line of recovery.

I decided to use the images created on 12/9 and restore only the C drive. I have used Clonezilla many times in the past.

The image restored and booted fine. Norton ran LiveUpdate and Windows Update installed updates. However, the next time I rebooted, Windows would not start.

I have restored the C drive at least 5 times in an attempt to get a hold on what the problem is.

I have concluded that as long as the PC does not have internet access, I can reboot without any problems.

I thought the deletion of Windows.old (which happened after I powered up on 1/4 might have been related to the problem but decided it was not.

I thought that one of the Windows Updates was the problem but then I Disabled Windows Update and the problem continued

I thought that Norton might be causing the problem. In working with Norton, I got their Norton Bootable Recovery Tool. In running it, I saw that they wanted to put the log file on drive E. This confused me because E is supposed to be the CD/DVD drive.

I went to change the location and saw the drive letters are all changed. The drive containing WIndows labeled Acer is now E. It should be C. System Reserved (102 MB not sure of use is normally unlabeled) is C, PQSERIVE (12 GB backup image is normally unlabeled) is F. The only partition whose letter was unchanged is Data D.

I think this changing of labels is what is causing to boot to fail but I don’t know what is causing it or how to fix it.

Fast startup not working at all in Windows 10

For some reason when I enable Fast startup, my Windows 10 is not able to boot up.

For example, if fast startup is enabled, I shutdown my PC and when I press power button, I can see Windows 10 loading screen for few secs and then suddenly shuts down unexpectedly. If I re-power on, the system will boot up, but it would take long time like is not using hybrid startup.

In Event Viewer I get these messages:

— Windows failed fast startup with error status 0xC0000001.

— The computer has rebooted from a bugcheck. The bugcheck was: 0x000000d1 (0x0000000000000008, 0x00000000000000ff, 0x00000000000000cc, 0xfffff80c51b546d7). A dump was saved in: C:\Windows\Minidump\102416-67265-01.dmp. Report Id: 603fd7c7-7516-4b2b-979e-d8452bbb0c1a.

— The system has rebooted without cleanly shutting down first. This error could be caused if the system stopped responding, crashed, or lost power unexpectedly.

I would like to mention the fact that everything works well if I disable fast startup.

I hope this can be fixed 🙁

*** WARNING: Unable to verify timestamp for amdkmpfd.sys
*** ERROR: Module load completed but symbols could not be loaded for amdkmpfd.sys
Probably caused by : amdkmpfd.sys ( amdkmpfd+46d7 )

amdkmpfd.sys dated 4/23/2015 AMD PCI Root Bus Lower Filter Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (Chipset drivers).

If you are over-clocking STOP!

1. Check with your System/Motherboard Maker and update the BIOS, chipset drivers, and the major on-board device drivers (see driver update methods below).

AFTER checking with them then check with AMD for possibly even newer versions (again AFTER you have installed the latest from above). There may be no versions at AMD for your system.

2.There are some systems and/or setups that just will not allow fast start-up.

3. As needed use ALL the methods in the troubleshooters below.

4. If needed and AFTER all the other methods run Driver Verifier with both the
FastStratup enabled and disabled (see Driver Verifier methods below).

BCCode: D1 0x000000D1

Think Video drivers mainly though it can be others. See the driver section in my
generic bluescreen troubleshooting methods below. BIOS, low level chipset

drivers, antivirus/antispyway/security programs, and other drivers can also
cause this.

This utility makes it easy to see which versions are loaded :

Run DriverView — set VIEW to Hide Microsoft drivers — update those without
Dump in their names (and update BIOS and chipset).

DriverView — Free — utility displays the list of all device drivers currently loaded
on your system. For each driver in the list, additional useful information is
displayed: load address of the driver, description, version, product name,
company that created the driver, and more.
http://www.nirsoft.net/utils/driverview.html

For Drivers check System Maker as fallbacks and Device Maker’s which are the
most current. Control Panel — Device Manager — Display Adapter — write down
the make and complete model of your video adapter — double click — Driver’s
tab — write down the version info. Now click UPdate Driver (this may not do
anything as MS is far behind certifying drivers) — then Right Click — Uninstall —
REBOOT this will refresh the driver stack.

Repeat that for Network — Network Card (NIC), Wifi, Sound, Mouse and Keyboard
if 3rd party with their own software and drivers and any other major device drivers
you have.

Now go to System Maker’s site (Dell, HP, Toshiba as examples) (as rollback) and
then Device Maker’s site (Realtek, Intel, Nvidia, ATI as examples) and get their
latest versions. (Look for BIOS, Chipset, and software updates at System Maker’s
site while there.)

Download — SAVE — go to where you put them — Right Click — RUN AD ADMIN —
REBOOT after each installation.

Always check in Device Manager — Drivers tab to be sure the version you are
installing actually shows up. This is because some drivers rollback before the
latest is installed (sound drivers particularly do this) so install a driver — reboot
— check to be sure it is installed and repeat as needed.

Repeat at Device Makers — BTW at Device Makers DO NOT RUN THEIR SCANNER —
heck manually by model.

Manually look at manufacturer’s sites for drivers — and Device Maker’s sites.
http://pcsupport.about.com/od/driverssupport/ht/driverdlmfgr.htm

Memory tests do not catch all errors such as mismatched memory (possible even
for sticks that appear to be identical) and when faster memory is placed in system
behind slower memory. So it is best to also swap sticks in and out to check for
those even if all memory tests fail to show a problem.

For the Windows Memory Diagnostic Tool.

Type in Cortana’s search box -> Windows Memory Diagnostics
at top of list — click it. in Windows 8/8.1/10 the name is «Windows Memory
Diagnostic».

================================================

After doing ALL the updates you can, and if the issue continues, then run
DriverVerifier. (Remember to use the Windows 10 methods posted at the
top of the original reply above.)

Driver Verifier can help find some BSOD issues :

Using Driver Verifier to identify issues with Windows drivers for advanced users
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/244617

How To Troubleshoot Driver Problems in Windows Vista or 7. (8/8.1 and 10
are essentially the same).
http://www.winvistaclub.com/t79.html

WINKEY + X — RUN — type in -> verifier /reset hit enter to disable

Use BlueScreenView to see if there is a driver specified in the error message.
Also check with MyEventViewer at the time of the BlueScreen.

If DriverVerifier creates a minidump upload it and post the link here so we can
analyze it.

Hope this helps.
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Rob Brown — Microsoft MVP Rob Brown — past Microsoft MVP — Windows Insider MVP 2016 — 2021
Microsoft MVP Windows and Devices for IT 2009 — 2020