▷ What to do when windows 10 does not start

If you are here it is because, like many of us, it has happened to us before, Windows 10 does not start. This event is not only caused by a specific thing, it can be related to many factors. In this tutorial we will explain what may be the most common causes for this to happen.

Sometimes the causes of Windows 10 not booting can be trivial such as having a USB device connected or as serious as a system failure that has erased certain files or Windows startup.

Index of contents

Windows 10 does not start and we have a device connected to the computer

Before trying anything else, the first thing we should do is check our equipment to see if any USB stick, CD or DVD is inserted in it. If in any previous case we have modified the boot sequence of our computer, it is possible that it is trying to boot these devices before the hard disk. In this case, if nothing is found in them, the boot sequence may stop and will not start the hard disk.

All we will have to do is remove the devices and try again.

If pressing the start button the screen remains black

If when we press the physical button of our tower the screen does not light up or the equipment performs a sequence of sound beeps, the error is not from Windows, but from the Physical devices that are installed in the equipment.

To solve this type of errors we will deal with it in a separate article since it can be due to quite a few factors such as CPU, RAM, Motherboard, etc.

Start in Windows Safe Mode

If you have already tried the previous case and have not been able to solve the problem, we can try to start in safe mode. Starting in safe mode boots Windows 10 without the need to load the non-essential drivers of our devices. In this way we can check if the fault that Windows 10 does not start is with our connected devices. We will also be able to check if any of the last configurations we have made could be to blame for this.

No USB or DVD installation

With Windows 10 the way to enter safe mode changed and now it is not possible to do it using the F8 key. But there is a way to force the appearance of advanced options for Windows 10.

We are going to restart the sort several consecutive times with the key combination "Crtl + Alt + Del". Eventually Windows will detect that something is wrong and the advanced troubleshooting options will automatically appear.

• We will choose the option to "troubleshoot" After this, we will choose the option "Advanced options" We will choose the option "Startup configuration"

A window will appear with a list of options and startup modes. We recommend option "4". So we press that key and we will access the safe mode of Windows 10.

With USB or DVD installation

There are more options to access safe mode, it is the case of using a USB or DVD installation of Windows.

To find out about it visit our tutorial:

Advanced recovery options

If we have tried to start in safe mode and Windows 10 does not start, we will have to take other types of measures such as trying the different system recovery options.

With the previous method from the system itself or through a bootable USB or DVD installation and having configured the BIOS boot sequence so that you can start these devices, we can obtain these options.

In case of doing it through USB or DVD installation, we must choose the option of "Repair" instead of "Install"

Attending again to the previous image we have several interesting options:

• System Restore: if we had previously configured our team to perform restore points, this may be the solution to your problems. Revert to the previous version: this option will be able to be executed if we have recently updated Windows 10 and we have not deleted the folder from the old copy of the system. Many times the reason that Windows 10 does not start is precisely a failure in some important update. Startup Repair: If Windows 10 won't start it could be due to some file loading error or incorrect configuration. We advise that the first option we try is this. Command Prompt: using this option we can make modifications to the system by using commands. Obviously it is aimed at advanced users with programming knowledge.

Deactivating mode: Quick start

Newer computers that implement UEFI BIOS have a "Quick Boot" mode to allow the computer to boot faster by preloading device drivers. If we have recently performed a system update, we may have damaged the system compatibility with this boot mode.

What we will have to do is direct the BIOS of our system to deactivate this parameter temporarily until our system is stable.

After starting the computer, we quickly press the key that will allow us to enter our BIOS.

It could be: F2, Del, F12, or some other. Look right at the start of a message that says "Press Supr to enter Setup" or similar. This way you will know which keys are the ones that access your BIOS.

Then locate this option. If available it will be located in the Boot Options or Boot Options or in a similar place. Turn it off and try booting.

In equipment prior to 2013 this option may not be available

File repair with the SFC command

An option that we will also have available to repair the files on our system if Windows 10 does not start is by using the "command prompt" option previously seen. For this we will use the utility integrated in Windows SFC.

SFC is used to check the integrity of the data of our operating system. Also, it will try to restore the damaged files to restore Windows. To use it, therefore, we choose the "Command Prompt" option from the advanced options.

The first thing we will have to do is locate ourselves on our hard drive, where Window10 is installed. We do the following procedure:

We will write the letter of the neutral hard disk and to check if it is this we will list the files it contains. If they correspond to those of Windows it will be the correct fate, we will look for another letter. The letters that are normally used are C: D: F:, etc. For this we are going to write the following commands: (after entering one, press Enter).

• C: or D:… dir

In our case we have found the disk in drive D: then we will execute the following command:

• sfc / scannow

Repair MBR or boot record

Another option within our reach to try to solve this problem is to repair or reinstall the Windows MBR or Master Boot Record.

Try this method only when we only have one operating system on our computer. since you could lose the boot menu for Linux operating systems.

Therefore, within the advanced options of the previous point we choose the option "Command Prompt"

Here, we will have to enter the following command: (after entering one, press Enter).

• BOOTREC / fixmbr

Thanks to them possible problems in the Windows MBR will be analyzed and these will be repaired.

Completely restore Windows 10

If even with all these procedures Windows 10 does not start, what we will surely have to do is finally reinstall the operating system.

For more information on how to install Windows 10 visit the tutorial:

Remember that this action will erase all the files on your hard drive if you choose to perform a clean installation. We advise before choosing the “update” option during the installation so that your files are not deleted.

The causes that cause Windows 10 not to start can be many. Here we have given you the possible solutions from milder to more serious to solve these problems. We hope they help you, otherwise write in the comments what problems you have had.