Windows 8.1 Hangs on Start Up

I wish that I found the solution earlier, but I am not sure if I have a different solution or if it's just the servers that I downloaded from were just slow.  I tried the temp folder and cleared that out and I also tried the wsreset.exe command.... nothing.   I have two laptops:  both almost identical, except for the software on them (manufactor drivers are the same).    First laptop:  no issue.   Second laptop:  0% downloaded almost all the time. I had various error numbers.  If I remember correctly, the most common error for me was 0x800872EE2.  

If any of these things I tried worked for certain, I don't know:  I removed device drivers for a USB TV tuner (the device was never plugged in) and I also downloaded the optional updates, I think it were the "important" updates.  I usually just get the security updates normally.   The important updates did fail, but would be installed in steps eventually. 

If I had fast startup enabled, I don't know.  I never changed that and really didn't care about the startup speed since it seemed good to me.  It's when I got that "START" button on 8.1, I was so happy - less steps finally to turn the laptop off.   

I hope that this helps someone because I have been trying to update for almost a week now.  When the download goes, it goes rather quickly (that of course depends on your ISP).

Hi Slance310,

THANK YOU SO MUCH ! It works. For a week now I tried all sorts of things and I couldn't figure it out. Thank you so much.

A very happy Gaggenau

Hi,

Win 8 and 8.1 have a new feature called Fast Startup. It can sometimes cause problems like you mention as well as others.

The easiest way to tell if this is the problem is to turn it off and see what happens.

This feature only works when you do a SHUTDOWN and then Boot.

It doesn't effect a RESTART.

To turn it off or on...

Go to Control panel...Power Options, and select Choose What the Power Buttons Do on the left.

Then select Change Settings That Are Currently Unavailable near the top center of screen...

Lower down on the window, uncheck Fast Startup.

This may or may not help your problem, but is easy to check.

Disabling Hibernation and etc. will also disable Fast Startup, as the processes are used in Fast Startup...

Crashing the 1st try and working the 2nd is a characteristic of a driver problem when using Fast Startup..

The difficulty is in finding the one causing the problem...

I have the same problem.....

It might be because the power button is set to power off instead of sleep more common on desktops than laptops.  Not to worry though glad my solution has been of help.  

Scott