System frozen in a continuous startup cycle
System frozen in a continuous startup cycle
Hello! Your laptop is stuck in a repeated startup loop, displaying a BSOD shortly after power-on. Recent changes include updating the graphics driver and installing a Windows update, but the update failed repeatedly. Afterward, you managed to log in to Windows, yet it would randomly crash—like an unexpected power cut. You suspect hardware problems, though since Ubuntu is also installed and Linux runs fine, it’s likely not a physical issue anymore. It appears random crashes may have damaged files, preventing Windows from booting. You’ve tried repair options like Startup Repair and a Windows 10 USB, but they failed. The system restore worked once you logged in, but the problem remains. In the Windows Recovery Environment, you can’t use restore anymore because the drive protection is disabled. Safe Mode from Win RE also triggers the same error. I understand you’re avoiding a full reinstall due to setup hassle, and it seems you didn’t back up before encountering this issue. The log files are available at the provided link. Your system specs are: Acer Aspire E5-576G-59Q9, Intel 660p 1TB M.2 SSD (Boot drive), 8 GB RAM, Intel core i5-8200U, NVIDIA MX-130 GPU.
Have you checked if Malwarebytes is set up correctly on your system? The PC was restarting repeatedly because the installation didn’t go through smoothly.
I did, though I didn't apply it when I first ran into the problem, so it probably isn't related to what I'm dealing with now.
I haven’t used mine either; it just stopped working one day and caused the PC to crash, loop, and block updates like the 1909 feature update. Can you access Windows at all?
I had not recorded the error messages the last time around so I went over this again. Here's how it went: First I tried running the commands through Win RE (no installation media involved). Using the DISM [Checkhealth] [ScanHealth] [RestoreHealth] options all yield the same error: Deployment Image Servicing and Management tool Version: 10.0.18362.1 Error: 50 DISM does not support servicing Windows PE with the /Online option. The DISM log file can be found at X:\Windows\Logs\DISM\dism.log I also noticed that unlike the example in the article, the default path was "X:\WINDOWS\system32>" instead of "D:\WINDOWS\system32>", even though using DISKPART utility reveals the drive letter with the volume that contains the windows installation to be "D:" (I can recognize this because of the volume size). Next, moving onto SFC /scannow (no installation media involved), I get the following error: Windows Resource Protection could not perform the requested operation. Afterwards, I repeated the entire procedure, but this time booting from the Windows 10 USB I created yesterday (just to be sure it was up to date), selecting the repair installation option and then choosing troubleshoot>command prompt. Again, the DISM [Checkhealth] [ScanHealth] [RestoreHealth] options, as well as the DISM using WIM, all returned the same error. Deployment Image Servicing and Management tool Version: 10.0.18362.1 Error: 50 DISM does not support servicing Windows PE with the /Online option. The DISM log file can be found at X:\Windows\Logs\DISM\dism.log Lastly, I used the SFC /scannow option (After changing the active directory using the command: "cd /D:", as I figured not doing this would mean I would be using the SFC /scannow on the USB, even though the article does not mention this) and I get the following message: Windows Resource Protection did not find any integrity violations. I was optimistic this might have worked, but when I tried logging into Windows, I was again greeted by the BSOD.
If it crashes immediately after logging in, it might be your AV. You can obtain a bootable registry editor from a download site and disable startup items that way. Also, eliminate all entries linked to Malwarebytes. When you look up "bootable registry editor" on Google, you'll find two options—one for Linux and one for Windows. Both are acceptable. I experienced a bootloop twice. The first was hardware-related; my soundcard needed cleaning and reinsertion into the PCI slot. The second occurred after installing an outdated Starforce game. The third instance was clear, but the first case wasn't. Linux can start without issues, possibly because it handles faulty hardware differently than Windows. It doesn’t necessarily mean your hardware is fully functional just because Ubuntu boots. You can also use the bootable registry editor to troubleshoot: set "AutoReboot" in HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\ControlSet001\Control\CrashControl to 0, then restart and observe the BSOD triggers.