My Windows 8.1 is stuck in an automatic repair loop, how can I fix this?

Anonymous
2014-01-02T16:49:35+00:00

my laptop will not boot at all, when I turn it on the screen shows 'preparing automatic repair' then 'diagnosing your PC'. After this, the screen shows 'your PC did not start correctly' and it doesn't work when I restart it so I selected advanced options. After this, if I click continue the repair screen appears again and I am redirected back to the same page. I can't access my desktop at all and an administrator hasn't been set on my laptop, so after clicking troubleshoot I can't refresh or reset my PC.After this I clicked on advanced settings and I cannot choose system restore, command prompt, system image recovery or startup repair because they either don't work or need an administrator and I haven't set one as I mentioned before. My last resort was startup settings which requires restarting the PC. 9 options are to choose from and I tried almost all and it won't boot up in safe mode. Help!

Windows for home | Previous Windows versions | Windows update

Locked Question. This question was migrated from the Microsoft Support Community. You can vote on whether it's helpful, but you can't add comments or replies or follow the question.

0 comments
Answer accepted by question author
Anonymous
2014-04-02T19:25:00+00:00

I've inserted the System Recovery disc 1 that came with the computer. No change.

Usually that means that that device is not higher than the hard drive in the boot device order.  You would probably need to get into your BIOS screen to change that.  See your User Guide or contact HP for more information.  Post your product id (e.g. what details you need to use HP's site to find your particular documentation and downloads but not your serial number) if you need someone to help interpret your user documentation.  In W7 HP had a nice tool that gave me those details.  I never found anything analogous from W8, except in bits and pieces.

HTH

Robert Aldwinckle

Was this answer helpful?

200+ people found this answer helpful.
0 comments

156 additional answers

Sort by: Most helpful
Most helpful Newest Oldest
  1. Anonymous
    2015-11-20T04:03:07+00:00

    Hi Sharaf,

    Thank you for your post.

    In order to go to advanced options in Windows 8/8.1, you need an installation/repair disc for the OS. If you do not have Windows 8.1 installation DVD, you may have to create one, boot the computer from it and then perform an Automatic Repair of Windows 8. To create installation media, you may refer to the article given below:

    ***Create installation media for Windows 8.1***

    After creating the disc, boot the computer from the disc and then try the following steps to reach advanced options.

    a) Contact the computer manufacturer to know on how to change the boot order of the computer. You will have to change the boot device to CD/DVD drive and then boot from the Windows 8.1 installation disk.

    b) In the “Windows Setup” dialog box that appears, set the Time and currency format, Keyboard or input method and the language to install and then click “Next”.

    c) Click on “Repair your computer” from the lower left corner.

    d) From the “Choose an option screen”, click on “Troubleshoot”.

    e) Click “Advanced Options”.

    Hope this information is helpful.

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments
  2. Anonymous
    2015-11-19T13:16:14+00:00

    how to go advanced option

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments
  3. Anonymous
    2015-11-10T18:52:09+00:00

    Hi, 

    I had this same restart loop problem and didn't have the option to reload 8.1 from my dvd disc I had stored away.

    I went to advance options and chose to restore to past week which didn't affect my files and any email I had saved could be recovered from my phone. I had to run through this several times. One time it completed, but didn't fix the problem. I did this to restore from two weeks past. This time it showed an error message. (Didn't make note of it)

    I also tried letting the computer die out overnite. (Couldn't remove battery)   When I turned it back on, it had the same restart "fixing the problem" loop. 

    I went back to advance options and chose Refresh. I ended up not having to reload Windows because it only completed to 80%,  but I was able to restore again to the past week. That combination did the trick! 

    I read that one of the solutions was to refresh, then cancel.  I didn't do this on purpose, but it seemed to have worked. 

    Gateway NV570p09u

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments
  4. Anonymous
    2015-10-24T18:50:49+00:00

    Hi Rachael,

    If you have the  Windows 8 installation media (DVD or USB drive) then using the same perform a Startup Repair and check if that helps.

    This is an alternate way to boot the PC and run recovery tools when something goes wrong with the Operating System.

    a) Insert the installation DVD or USB and boot Windows 8 from it.

    b) In the ‘Windows setup’ page select the language to install’, ‘Time and currency format’ and the ‘keyboard or input method’ and click on ‘next’.

    c) Click on ‘Repair your computer’ and select **‘Troubleshoot’.**d) Click on ‘Advanced options’ and select ‘Automatic Repair’ and select the operating system.

     

    Please post with the issue status.

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments