MultiHub Forum

My Windows 11 PC has started failing to boot, getting stuck on a black screen with a spinning cursor after the manufacturer logo. I can sometimes get into the recovery environment by interrupting the boot process three times. I've already tried running startup repair and the bootrec commands from the command prompt, but they didn't find any issues. For others who have solved this specific boot loop, what diagnostic steps should I take next? I'm wondering if it's a driver conflict from a recent update, a failing SSD, or something corrupted in the EFI partition, and I'm hesitant to do a full reset without at least trying to recover some recent files first.

You're not alone—this boot loop has several possible causes. Start with a quick hardware sanity check: disconnect USB devices, external drives, and any recently added PCIe cards. Enter BIOS/UEFI and reset to defaults, then verify the boot order and that the drive mode is UEFI. If you can get into WinRE (Recovery Environment) via interrupting boot three times, try Safe Mode with Networking, System Restore, and a fresh Startup Repair run again. If you can access the command prompt, run a few basics: chkdsk C: /r and sfc /scannow /offbootdir=C:\ /offwindir=C:\Windows. These can catch filesystem or system file corruption that blocks boot.