Troubleshoot Windows startup trouble - random PC booting after each pressing of the Power button

oldschool

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Briefly explain your current issue(s)
PC won't restart from GUI, needs multiple attempts to start after shutdown
Steps taken to resolve, but have been unsuccessful
Ran sfc /scannow and DISM, disabled Intel Management Engine, uninstalled security softs and recovery app, deleted and merged partitions.
I need to clean install Windows 10 but I'm having trouble entering BIOS to change the boot order > USB. Is it possible to clean install W10 using MCT's setup.exe? :unsure: It looks to me like it only allows an in-place install with options to keep apps & files, files only or nothing at all. I've never clean installed Windows before but I'd prefer to as this would be the best option so I can wipe my entire disk.I'm not certain I can do this without entering BIOS, etc. TIA (y):)
 

Andy Ful

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Update: Restart still fails. I just shutdown and cold started, which required 3 attempts. It seems I need to hold power button down for several seconds and release. This was a fairly painless start compared to many other attempts the last few days. FWIW here is the system log from this startup. Maybe this will give someone with knowledge a clue to what's happening? :unsure:

View attachment 217212
Using Windows Event Log to identify booting problems is a good idea, but you have to identify the errors by time (first 60s after pressing the Power button). The most important will be Errors (not Warnings and Information events). When examining those events you can identify the corrupted drivers, etc.
Did you find any problems in Device Manager?
 
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show-Zi

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Screen does not start normally only when Windows restarts

It is a Japanese site, but it may be helpful. We introduce the case where problems occur only at reboot.
After successfully launching, it is reported that if you restart from the screen where you press Ctrl + Alt + Delete at the same time, you could temporarily avoid the problem. It looks like a problem with the boot area.
 
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show-Zi

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Screen does not start normally only when Windows restarts
Other than "restart", when PC starts, Windows starts normally, but only when it restarts, the screen is dark and encounters the phenomenon that Windows does not start.
Trouble shooting PC trouble << previous article next article >>
Update: 2019/07/19 (2019/07)

2010.07.21: Postscript: It was only possible to fix this by chance?

I have a problem I do not know well with my PC at hand, so I took notes to solve it.
The solution method has become an unknown procedure.
※ OS is Windows 10 version 1803

2017.07.21 postscript
After all, "Ctrl + Alt + Delete → Restart" introduced on this page does not seem to be effective for all of the same (or similar) symptoms as this one ... ... this time By chance, this procedure only solved the problem, Kanji. It is more effective to recover the boot area normally.
Postscript end.

Problem that occurred
The screen remains black only when you restart Windows. Windows won't start no matter how long it waits.
However, Windows starts normally on PC startup other than "restart".

Write the details below.

The cursor is not blinking either.
The storage access light does not blink either
Cold boot (boot from power off state) starts Windows normally.
Restarting by pressing the physical reset button also starts Windows normally.
Once you start Windows and select "Restart" from the Start Menu, the screen is black and Windows does not start.
Incidentally, rebooting after Windows Update is the same situation.
The restart immediately after the update is dark on the screen, and the update also stops halfway.
When you press the reset button, Windows starts normally, Windows Update resumes, and completes successfully
In any case, no blue screen error has occurred.
There is no "No Boot Device Available" error. The screen is completely black.
There is no error recorded in Event Viewer. Also, when it is dark, "Ctrl + Alt + Delete simultaneously" does not work.
What can be considered by combining the above
When rebooting, "Windows has been shut down normally", but it seems that it has stopped at a stage before "Windows starts up" later
In other words, is it a special condition that the boot area is not recognized only at reboot?
At first, I noticed this problem after rebooting Windows Update, so I decided that it was a "Windows Update problem" and it occurred on a Windows Update verification-only (usually left) PC, so the action was delayed. It was dead.

First conclusion
When Windows starts normally, do "Ctrl + Alt + Delete simultaneously" and select "Restart" from the displayed menu.
Though it was a case of PC at hand, it solved only with this.

Ctrl + Alt + Delete Simultaneous pressing → Restart screen
Do "Ctrl + Alt + Delete simultaneously" and select "Restart" from the displayed menu

Really only this.
What? That's the procedure, but I really solved it with this alone.

After that (even though this is a standard) I solved the problem with deleting and re-creating the BCD area.
Procedure → How to deal with error 0xc0000034 / 0xc000014c (when Windows does not start)

Below, I will leave a note of this end as well as my own memoirs.

When the problem occurred
The outbreak date is from March 2019, immediately after Windows Update.
As I mentioned earlier, it was a problem that occurred with the sub PC, so I decided to deal with it later.

First action taken
Below, neither could be solved. Also, no problem was detected

DISM / Online / Cleanup-image / Restorehealth
sfc / scannow
chkdsk c: / f
After pressing the reset button, Windows starts normally, Windows Update has been applied normally, and it looks like it looks like it is "well" 1-2 months.

Try changing the point of view when observing.
As I tried to fix the problem, I realized the following.

It is not only the restart immediately after the update that the screen goes dark.
"Windows normal start → restart from the start menu" When restarting in this order, the screen is completely black with 100% probability and Windows has not started.
Windows will boot if cold boot or boot using reset button (physical)
There are no errors recorded in the Event Viewer. No blue screen etc.
No errors are displayed or recorded.
Yeah, the problem is happening outside of Windows Update.
It is good to think that this boot area becomes strange thing.

As expected, the boot area was not recognized correctly.
At the cold boot, I decided that it was the feeling that "I happened to be able to start Windows normally".

At first, I was going to solve this problem and finish it.
However, there is a continuation to this story ...

I found a solution that I do not understand well
In fact, I kept a clone at the time of the problem occurrence to confirm the reproducibility.
I tried to use that to do the same thing again.

But before that, I tried another procedure with a sloppy idea

Cold boot (normal boot)
→ Ctrl + Alt + Delete simultaneously
→ Restart
After restarting with this procedure, Windows started normally and this problem no longer occurs.


that? Did this solve the boot area problem? If you try to start up recovery environment and check
bootrec / scanos etc

If you check bootrec / scanos etc, Windows is still not recognized properly.

But even if you don't fix the boot area problem, the black & unbootable problems no longer occur. I do not know well, but it seems better to think that "Ctrl + Alt + Delete simultaneous pressing → restart" is the correct answer.
So I decided that I didn't understand well, but I thought it would be better if I didn't solve it.

The main information on this page is here. Below personal notes.

Personal note
The following two points, while thinking that they are similar in terms of symptoms, I decided to consider it as another problem different from the trouble at hand.

As of July 2019, Windows 10 versions 1803 and 1809 have the problem that the screen is black immediately after Windows Update.
Occurrence of this from June 2019. The PC at hand is from March 2019
In this case, Windows is up. The screen is black at logon. (In other words, Ctrl + Alt + Delete works well even if the screen is black)
The solution procedure is the same as "Ctrl + Alt + Delete simultaneously pressing → restart", but on your PC, "Ctrl + Alt + Delete simultaneously pressing" is required after cold boot.
Because there was a bug that I tried to try "Ctrl + Alt + Delete simultaneously pressing → restart".
Since Windows 10 version 1607 (Anniversary Update) or 1703 (Creators Update), BCD areas are prone to problems (I think personally)
And there are not a few PC environments that can not fix the problem of the BCD area
However, there are many cases where Windows starts normally even if there is a problem with the BCD area.
There are many cases where you can not make use of existing knowledge, have a hard time & problems will not occur even if you leave it.
The information on this page is over.
 
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oldschool

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Thank you@show-zi. It appears that these posters have the continuing saga also... :)

I will try the Ctrl+Alt+Delete > restart option now. >

Edit: No, it does not allow restart option for me.
 
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MalwareTypes

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@oldschool Have you tried disabling the hibernation feature completely? It really could be that the the hiberfil.sys file got corrupted and Windows is trying to access it when it shouldn't. Seen it happen a couple of times... tho long ago.

Also check in Disk Management (right click on the Windows Start button) how many partitions you've got, you should have 2.
 
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oldschool

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@oldschool Have you tried disabling the hibernation feature completely? It really could be that the the hiberfil.sys file got corrupted and Windows is trying to access it when it shouldn't. Seen it happen a couple of times... tho long ago.

Also check in Disk Management (right click on the Windows Start button) how many partitions you've got, you should have 2.

Done when you first posted the code. 2 Partitions. Literally, I have tried everything I know of.
 
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Andy Ful

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Done when you first posted the code. 2 Partitions. Literally, I have tried everything I know of.
What system did you use before? Did it work without boot problems, at all?

Do you have actually :
  1. Black screen with blinking cursor (usually disc detection problem);
  2. Black screen (graphic driver errors).
 
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oldschool

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What system did you use before? Did it work without boot problems, at all?

I don't understand this question. I had more partitions before my first clean install but I also had the same problem. It started recently but now I can't say when exactly.

Do you have actually :
  1. Black screen with blinking cursor (usually disc detection problem);
  2. Black screen (graphic driver errors).

I do not have #1

The machine starts with varying number of presses on Power button, then dies. Black screen the whole time.
 
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ForgottenSeer 72227

I don't understand this question. I had more partitions before my first clean install but I also had the same problem. It started recently but now I can't say when exactly.



I do not have #1

The machine starts with varying number of presses on Power button, then dies. Black screen the whole time.


Hmm this is interesting for sure.

Sorry if you answered this already, but does this happen when it's plugged in, or on battery, or both?

Something is starting to tell me that this may be a hardware issue, either motherboard, bad ssd, or something affecting the power.
 
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oldschool

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Sorry if you answered this already, but does this happen when it's plugged in, or on battery, or both?

Both.

Something is starting to tell me that this may be a hardware issue, either motherboard, bad ssd, or something affecting the power.

Yes, the question is what?
 
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ForgottenSeer 72227

Both.



Yes, the question is what?

That's the tricky part especially for laptops. Aside from the ram and hard drive you cant really go swapping out parts easily like you could with a desktop. This may require a trip to the repair shop if it is indeed hardware related. To me it sounds like its either the motherboard, or something related to the power. Ram and hard drives tend to give out errors/blue screens more than having a black screen. To be brutally honest, if it is the motherboard, it will probably be far cheaper to get a new laptop unfortunately.:cry:

I'm keeping my fingers and toes crossed that its software related. Sorry I cant be of more help, you've tried everything I would have in my arsenal.:emoji_fingers_crossed:(y)
 
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plat

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Andy Ful

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I don't understand this question.
...
I understood that it is an old laptop. What Windows version did work well on it?
...
The machine starts with varying number of presses on Power button, then dies. Black screen the whole time.
This suggests problems with loading the graphical drivers. These drivers are not loaded when you boot into Safe Mode (Safe Mode uses standard VGA graphics mode). What graphical drivers are visible in Device Manager?
 
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oldschool

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I understood that it is an old laptop. What Windows version did work well on it?

1809

This suggests problems with loading the graphical drivers. These drivers are not loaded when you boot into Safe Mode. What graphical drivers are visible in Device Manager?

Intel HD 4000 which I just updated, installing over the top.

@plat1098 - Yes, I saw both of these mentioned as possible issues in my web search.

@bribon77 - Yes, someone has suggested to me that the power unit may operate but not function correctly. I am having a friend come over to test it later this week, I hope.
______________________________________________

I'm going to re/cold start and make sure BIOS is set to default.
 
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Andy Ful

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Intel HD 4000 which I just updated, installing over the top.
______________________________________________

I'm going to re/cold start and make sure BIOS is set to default.
Make the Restore Point, and next disable this driver in Device Manager. Reboot the computer.
 
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