The “Preparing Automatic Repair” loop issue, can be faced on a Windows 10 or Windows 8 based computer, after installing a Windows Update or after closing you computer without performing a normal shutdown (e.g. after a power outage). If you have experienced the infinite “Automatic Repair” loop issue on your computer and you have tried to reset or restore your computer to a previous working state without success then read this guide to fix the problem.
Description of “Automatic Repair loop” or “Startup Repair loop” problem: Windows cannot start normally and cannot fix the Startup problems automatically, by using the Automatic Repair. Additionally, you cannot reset or restore your computer to a previous working state by using the Advanced Options provided in Automatic Repair mode.
The tutorial contains instructions to resolve the infinite Startup Repair loop problem, on Windows 10, 8 or 7 OS.
How to Fix the Infinite Automatic Repair/Startup Repair Loop issue on Windows OS.
1. At Automatic Repair Screen choose Advanced Options.
2. At Advanced options choose Command Prompt.
3. At command prompt give the following commands in order (press Enter after typing each command):
- diskpart
- list volume
4. Now locate the Windows Drive letter. (the drive where Windows installed, commonly in the largest partition in size).
e.g. As you can see at the screenshot bellow, the Windows drive letter is D:
5. Type exit to close the DISKPART tool.
6. Now type D: and press Enter.
* Note: Change the letter D according to your case.
7. Now take a backup of the current registry files, by giving the following commands in order. (Press Enter after typing each command):
- cd windowssystem32config
- md Backup
- copy *.* Backup
8. Now navigate to “RegBack” folder (WindowsSystem32ConfigRegBack), where Windows stores automatically a backup of the registry files whenever the machine is booted. To navigate to RegBack folder, type this command:
- cd RegBack
9. Then type DIR (to view the contents of RegBack folder).
10. Now see if any of the listed files has 0 (zero) bytes in their file size. If so, then stop here, because the registry backup is useless and you have to find another way to fix the startup problem. (e.g. backup your files and perform a clean Windows installation). If the files listed, are ok, with no zero bytes in file size (like in the screenshot below), then proceed to the next step.
11. Copy the registry files from the WindowsSystem32ConfigRegBack to WindowsSystem32Config folder, by giving this command:
- copy *.* ..
12. Press A to overwrite the files in destination after the last command.
13. Type exit and press Enter to close command prompt.
14. Restart your computer.
That’s all folks! Did it work for you?
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