12 Fixes For Windows 10 Automatic Repair Loop

Users have been reporting that the new versions of Windows OS can often be unstable and full of bugs. The “preparing automatic repair” message with a black or blue screen is something that people have been encountering lately.

You get this error when your system has failed to boot even after two consecutive attempts. So, the automatic repair tool runs a series of tests to detect and repair problems that are preventing your system from booting. 

However, it is seen that the automatic repair tool ends up in an endless reboot loop leaving you with a black or blue screen of death. The reasons behind this preparing an automatic repair loop could range from a faulty system update to missing files and so on. In this article, we will tell you all the possible causes behind this issue along with guided solutions to fix it.

windows 10 automatic repair could not repair your PC

Diagnosing Your System For Preparing Automatic Repair Loop

If the Windows Automatic Repair tool has failed, your computer will show one of the following three symptoms:

  • Your computer will display a black screen that says “Preparing automatic repair” or “Diagnosing your PC” error
  • “Preparing automatic repair” comes up on a black screen and doesn’t progress.
  • A blue screen comes up with the message “Your PC did not start correctly” or “Automatic repair couldn’t repair your PC.” Moreover, if you try rebooting by clicking the Restart option, the system reboots and goes back to the Automatic Repair loop again.

How to Boot Into BIOS mode To Fix Preparing Automatic Repair Loop

For most of the steps given below, we need to enter the BIOS mode. So, if you don’t know how to boot into the BIOS mode, the steps to do so are mentioned below:

Step 1. Restart your system

Step 2. You need to press a specific key to enter the BIOS settings as soon as the computer starts up. Now, the key can vary as per the manufacturer of your computer. So, look for the key to be pressed to enter BIOS mode via a Google search or search in the user manual of the system.

Step 3. Navigate to the Boot option.

Windows 10 Preparing Automatic Repair Black Screen: Cause Behind the Problem

There could be a myriad of reasons why users get the black screen after their Windows OS runs an automatic repair. If your system hasn’t been booted correctly or doesn’t respond well while booting, this could be the reason behind the issue.

Here are the possible reasons why you can get the Windows preparation automatic repair loop problem:

  1. This can happen when the bootloader or other essential booting files go missing.
  2. You could also get this due to a corrupt Master Boot Record (MBR)
  3. If there have been some changes in the BIOS settings or the Boot Configuration Data (BCD), that could also cause this issue.
  4. A corrupt hard disk can also lead to this problem. Or maybe the hard disk is missing or has a loose connection.
  5. Another reason could be a corrupt Windows drive or corrupt firmware.
  6. If there is a problem with the system’s display, installed drivers, or graphics card, you could get this error.
  7. Any random software or driver-related problem could also cause a black Windows 10 screen.
  8. Alterations in the BIOS settings

12 Solutions To Fix The Preparing Automatic Repair Problem

If the Automatic Repair fails, your computer could get the message “Your PC did not start correctly” or “Automatic repair couldn’t repair your PC.” In this case, if you click the Restart option, the system will go through the same procedure and stay stuck in the Automatic Repair loop. Go through the following methods to know how to get your system out of the automatic repair loop:

  1. Enable XD-bit in your BIOS
  2. Expand The System Reserved Partition
  3. Perform a System Restore
  4. Use CHKDSK and built-in System file checker
  5. Updating The Graphic Drivers
  6. Disable The Automatic Repair Tool
  7. Repairing MBR and Rebuilt BCD
  8. Run The SFC and DISM Commands
  9. Perform The Windows Startup Repair
  10. Disable Early Launch Anti-Malware Via Startup Settings
  11. Get Rid Of Problematic Files
  12. Restore Windows Registry

Solution 1: Enable XD-bit in your BIOS

It is often seen that unless the XD-bit or the No Execute Memory protect feature is enabled on Windows 10, the user will remain vulnerable to the “Preparing automatic repair” screen loops. 

Step 1. Restart the computer and press the key that gets your computer into BIOS mode. You can know which key this is from your computer’s user manual. 

Step 2. Go through the tabs once you enter the BIOS mode and locate the XD-bit.

Step 3. Now, enable the XD bit and select the Save button.

Step 4. Restart the computer and your error should go away.

Solution 2: Expand The System Reserved Partition

If your system’s Reserved System Partition is smaller than required, then also you could get the automatic repair loop error. Here is what you need to do in this case:

Step 1. Download a third-party partition tool like the MiniTool and then run it on your system

Step 2. Once the program opens, right-click on the partition where your Windows OS is installed and select Shrink (by 250MB). This creates 250 MB of free space.

Step 3. Drag the System Reserved partition to place it next to the unallocated space. Right-click on the System Reserved partition and click Extend.

Step 4. Restart your system.

Solution 3: Perform a System Restore

Step 1. Select the Advanced options from the automatic repair blue screen

Step 2. Go to Troubleshoot > Advanced Options and then select System Restore

Step 3. Select the restore point that points to a time before the blue screen error started appearing. 

Step 4. Click on Next and wait till the restore procedure is finished. Then, restart your system.

Solution 4: Use CHKDSK and built-in System file checker

Step 1. Restart your system and press the “F8” key. This will bring forth the Windows troubleshooting menu. 

Step 2. Choose “See advanced repair options” and then go to “Choose an option.”

Step 3. Select Troubleshoot > Advanced options > Command Prompt

click on Troubleshoot option
choose command prompt from advanced options

Step 4. Now, in the Command Prompt window, type in chkdsk /r c: and hit the Enter button. This command will run the CHKDSK utility tool and look for errors in your drive. Also, this tool will automatically repair the errors as well.

Step 5. Type in “sfc /scannow” and press the Enter button. This command will run the System File Checker tool and look for errors in your system.

Step 6. Once done, type Exit to close the command prompt window and restart the computer.

Solution 5: Updating The Graphic Drivers

Step 1. Select the Advanced Options button > Troubleshoot > Advanced Options.

Step 2. Choose the Startup Settings from this window and press F5 to choose the Safe Mode with Networking option.

Step 3. Once you have booted into the safe mode with networking, ensure that your computer has been connected to the internet.

Step 4. Open the Run dialog box by pressing the Windows key + R. Type in “devmgmt.msc” to go to the Device Manager window.

click on Device Manager option from the pop-up menu

Step 5. Now, double-click on the Display Adapters option.

Step 6. Right-click on the display driver and choose the Update driver option.

right click and update the display driver

Step 7. Select the Search Automatically for updated driver software option and follow along with the on-screen instructions to finish the procedure.

follow on screen instructions to update the graphics driver

Once finished, restart the computer and check if the issue has been resolved or not.

Solution 6: Disable The Automatic Repair Tool

Step 1. Insert the Windows installation disc or flash drive into your computer.

Step 2. Choose your language preference and select “Next” 

Step 3. Select “Repair your computer” and then choose Troubleshoot

Step 4. Select Advanced Options and then choose Command Prompt

Step 5. Type “bcdedit /set {current} recoveryenabled No” and press the Enter button. This will delete all problematic system files.

bcdedit command to disable automatic repair

Step 6. Type exit to close the command prompt window

Solution 7: Repairing MBR and Rebuilt BCD

The Master Boot Record, i.e. the MBR, and the Boot Configuration Data, the BCD are important to a system’s booting procedure. The MBR maintains a log of your computer’s entire booting sequence and all the configuration data required to load the firmware. If either of these two things is corrupt or not working, that can lead to the Windows 10 preparing automatic repair black screen error. 

Follow the steps given below to repair your MBR and BCD:

Step 1. First, insert the Windows recovery disk into your system to boot into the recovery mode.

Step 2. Restart the system and while doing so, press the BIOS key to enter the BIOS settings of your computer. Once you enter the BIOS Setup Utility, you can alter the boot sequence. Also, make the connected recovery media a priority.

Step 3. This loads the windows recovery environment window. Choose the Repair your computer option located towards the bottom left corner of the screen.

Step 4. Later, navigate to Troubleshoot > Advanced Options > Command Prompt.

Step 5. Once the Command Prompt launches, type in the following commands one by one and press Enter after each:

Bootrec /fixmbr
Bootrec /fixboot
Bootrec /ScanOS
Bootrec /RebuildBcd
commands to rebuild bcd

In addition to these commands, run the following commands as well:

fixBoot – fixes the boot sector

ScanOS – scan the firmware of the system for any problems.

Step 6. Once done, type exit and press enter to close the Command Prompt. Then, start Windows in normal mode again.

Solution 8: Run The SFC and DISM Commands

If the replacement files inside the Windows 10 recovery image are damaged, then the SFC command will not work. In this case, you can use the Deployment Image Servicing and Management (DISM) tool.

This tool can scan and repair the install.wim image and then, this image can be used to run the SFC command. Here are the steps on how to run the DISM command:

Step 1. Visit the Troubleshoot > Advanced options > Startup Settings

Step 2. Now, click the Restart button

Step 3. Once your computer has restarted, choose “Enable Safe Mode with Networking” from the options list on the screen.

Step 4. If you suspect that there could be a driver issue with any of your software in the Safe Mode, then download the updated version of that driver from the official website and save it in an external drive to use later.

Step 5. Press and hold the Windows key + X to select the Command Prompt from the list.

Step 6. Type in the following command and press the Enter key:

DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth

It might take some time (up to 20 minutes) for the process to finish.

Step 7. Then, restart your computer and install the updated driver that you downloaded earlier.

Solution 9: Perform The Windows Startup Repair

Some users have also reported that performing the Startup Repair can also help resolve the Preparing Automatic Repair problem. Here are the steps you need to follow to execute the same:

Step 1. Insert a Windows bootable disk/ drive into your PC and boot from the bootable drive.

Step 2. Choose your preferred language in the language preferences section and select the Next option.

Step 3. Choose the Repair your computer

Step 4. Then, select Troubleshoot > Advanced Options > Startup Repair.

Solution 10: Disable Early Launch Anti-Malware Via Startup Settings

The Early Launch Anti-malware (ELAM) drivers are the very first line of defense against malicious boot-start drivers. It helps the Windows kernel to decide if the malicious drivers should be initialized or not. However, this could also categorize important boot-start files as harmful and thus, lead to issues during booting. 

So, you can try disabling the ELAM by following the steps given below:

Step 1. Navigate to Troubleshoot > Advanced options > Startup Settings

Step 2. Select Disable early launch anti-malware protection from the list of options.

Step 3. Now, restart your PC to check if the issue has been solved or not.

Solution 11: Get Rid Of Problematic Files

The Automatic repair boot loop problem might be due to the problematic files. So, deleting those files will help you fix the issue:

Step 1. Go to the boot menu and select Troubleshoot followed by Advanced options. Then, go to Command Prompt.

Step 2. Type in the following command: 

C:\Windows\System32\LogFiles\Srt
SrtTrail.txt

Step 3. This will show you all the critical boot files. To delete the files in the command prompt, type in the following command:

cd c:\windows\system32\drivers
del <Enter the name of the corrupt file with extension>

Step 4. Restart the computer and check if the automatic repair loop issue has been solved or not. 

Solution 12: Restore Windows Registry

It is possible that the Automatic repair boot loop is being caused due to a corrupt Windows registry. You can restore Windows Registry by following the steps given below:

Step 1. From the boot menu, go to Troubleshoot > Advanced options > Command Prompt

Step 2. Enter the following comment in the command prompt window:

copy c:\windows\system32\config\RegBack*c:\windows\system32\config

Step 3. If you are asked which files are to be overwritten, type All and hit the Enter key.

Step 4. Type exit to close the command prompt window and then restart the PC.

Conclusion

The above article discusses how to fix Preparing Automatic Repair during startup. If the above methods do not fix the “Preparing Automatic Repair” error, then try reinstalling Windows.

Another thing to try out, in this case, is, updating the computer’s BIOS to get rid of any hardware incompatibilities in the motherboard, CPU, GPU, etc. However, this guide should certainly help you fix the Windows 10 preparing automatic repair black or blue screen problem.