How to Fix the Automatic Repair Loop in Windows 8.1

In reply to (Stone624's 8/12/2014), with (olari 9/10/2014) reply of an alternate TRY OUT.  Olari, I tried your suggestion(7) using ERRORS as my process of elimanation as follows:

1.  identifier (default) (bcdedit /set (default) recoveryenabled No)..ERROR: identifier is not     recognized as a internal or external command, operable program or batch file.

2   (default) (bcdedit /set (default) recoveryenabled No)..ERROR: (bcdedit) was unexpected at this time.

3.  (default) (/set (default) recoveryenabled No)..ERROR:  (/set (default) was unexpected at this time.

4.  (default) (default) recoveryenabled No..ERROR: (default) recoveryenabled was unexpected at this time.

5.  (default) recoveryenabled No..ERROR: recoveryenabledwas unexpected at this time.

6.  (default) No..ERROR: No was unexpected at this time.

7.  (default)..ERROR: (default) is not recognized as a internal or external command, operable program or batch file.

WELL......I am sitting here now with no further info to enter after the system 32. We have been without use of this computer for over a week. Its a good thing that my wife has a laptop, but she is having issues with Window 10 problems. Can anyone give me a solution? Thanks

I installed the update KB2919394 and my computer was thrown into the dreaded automatic repair loop, which Microsoft hasn't fixed yet.

Anyways I thought I would give some solutions on how to get out of this. Solution 1 is what worked for me.

Solution 1

This solution is to disable the automatic repair from starting if your computer fails to boot into windows.

What you will need - A Windows 8 or 8.1 CD

Step 1: Place the CD in your drive and proceed to boot from it

Step 2: When the install screen pops up, look to the bottom left and select "Repair Your Computer".

Step 3: You will now see a screen that says "Choose an option". Select "Troubleshoot", then "Advanced Options", and finally "Command Prompt".

Step 4: You should now see the command prompt. Type "bcdedit" (without quotes) and hit enter.

Step 5: A list should have appeared. Towards the top, you should see "resumeobject" (It is under "default"). Highlight the long number, including the brackets, and copy.

Step 6: Now type "bcdedit /set (the long number you copied) recoveryenabled No" (Without quotes). Hit enter.

Step 7: You should now see the message "The operation completed successfully"

Step 8: Type "Exit" (Without quotes)

Step 9: Reboot

_______________________________________________________________________________________

Solution 2

Booting into safe mode first, then rebooting the computer.

What you will need - nothing

So you are at the screen that says something on the lines of "Windows did not load properly".

Step 1: Select "Advanced repair options"

Step 2: Select "Troubleshoot"

Step 3: Select "Advanced Options"

Step 4: Select "Start up settings"

Step 5: Select "Restart"

Step 6: The computer should restart. Now you want to hit the 4 key, which is safe mode.

Step 7: You should be able to log in now. Restart the computer and the computer should boot normally.

_______________________________________________________________________________________

Solution 3

Running check disk to see if your hard drive is the problem

What you will need - A Windows 8 or 8.1 CD

Step 1: Place the CD in your drive and proceed to boot from it

Step 2: When the install screen pops up, look to the bottom left and select "Repair Your Computer".

Step 3: You will now see a screen that says "Choose an option". Select "Troubleshoot", then "Advanced Options", and finally "Command Prompt".

Step 4: Type "chkdsk /r C:" (Without quotes)

Step 5: The scan should start. This could take several hours depending on the size of your hard drive.

Step 6: Once the scan is done, type "exit" (without quotes).

Step 7: Reboot

_______________________________________________________________________________________

Solution 4 (Found out by user DayDay13)

Making sure your hard drive is first in boot priority.

What you will need - nothing

Step 1: Boot into BIOS on your computer

Step 2: Go into your boot priority list

Step 3: If you see "Windows Boot Manager" as number 1 in your priority, change it so that your hard drive is number 1.

Step 4: Save and exit BIOS

Step 5: Reboot

_______________________________________________________________________________________

Microsoft community, please do not delete this thread. These are confirmed solutions that have worked for many others with the automatic repair loop problem. I will add more if any other solutions become available.

In my laptop asus, solution number 4 isn't possible.

Solution number 2 also isn't possible because I can't boot to safe mode.

But thank you i can solve it with solution number 1.

I can confirm this works, after pasting the UID, and changing the setting, i would type bcdedit again and the value didn't change.  When i used "{default}" instead of "{longnumber}" it did work.  I also didn't use the Windows 8 CD, i just used the Command Prompt from the Recovery environment.

Brilliant!

Your solution 1 worked just fine for me on an HP xw4600 with Windows 8.1 running on an SSD.  Thank you so much.

I'd come close to attempting a reinstall from an 8.1 ISO I have but wasn't looking forward to that.

I was intrigued that I was able to use a Windows 8 Pro disc to get to the repair section and have it work for 8.1.  When it did come back to life it said that there were errors found on the hard drive/s and so I took the risk and let it correct them and all was ok again.  Love to know what caused it all in the beginning.  Incidentally, I ran an SFC scannow and it found errors which it can't correct, so hopefully all this won't happen again before I can 'upgrade' to Windows 10 in a couple of weeks.  This might get rid of those errors anyway.

Hey guys, this solution have worked for me... 

Advanced Repair Options > Troubleshoot > Advanced Options > Startup Setting > Disable early-launch anti-malware protection

I had an issue with the loading of SymELAM.sys file (Norton Anti-virus file) which threw me into that auto-recovery loop, by disabling the early-malware detection, it disabled the loading of such file.

After booting successfully, proceed to fully remove all Norton Antivirus softwares through the Programs and Features Panel