My Windows 10 PC was working just fine all along. But now, it gives me this screen with no option to proceed. No buttons, nothing. I tried to do a System Restore but now, the DVD drive (which used to appear in the boot menu before) is no longer appears in the boot menu. Any ideas how I can recover from this? "Learn more" and "Accept" button keep going in a loop. TIA.
Absolutely minimal info given. Windows build number- forum prompt ignored.
Desktop? Laptop? Tablet? SSD? HDD?
Click 'My computers' below my post for comparison. Tutorials available to help you fill in specs.
As we know so little, start by testing your disk(s). E.g. Hard Disk Sentinel (portable- no installation) - SSDs too - best instant comment and analysis I know.
Download Hard Disk Sentinel
Inspect the result for each disk - right on the GUI- and post result.
If ok, assuming you can open a command prompt: from an admin command or Powershell prompt run
chkdsk c: /scan
and post the summary result.
If ok, similarly run
SFC /SCANNOW
and post the summary result.
Do you use disk imaging routinely as is recommended here tirelessly, time and again, so, so often? E.g. Macrium Reflect (free/paid).
If your disk is sound, then restore a recent disk image created before this occurred. Done.
Otherwise you may be struggling - lesson learnt.
If the above tests pass, then for test purposes create a new user, log in as that user, and report if the same occurs.
Thank you.
Last edited by dalchina; 02 Nov 2020 at 01:17.
Thanks for your response.I appreciate the timely response.
I failed to mention where exactly I am getting this error. My apologies. Let me give you the background.
As the desktop PC (with a HDD) was getting very slow, I had rebuilt the Windows profile, something I have done on hundreds of machines before for users, in my capacity as systems analyst, to good effect. Everything went well, and as Administrator, I created a user account and rebooted. Windows proceeded to the screen displaying the new user profile name with "Welcome" below the name. Following that, this annoying screen comes up. There are no buttons anywhere to act upon.
On boot, I can only get into BIOS and the boot order list. However, strangely, the CD drive is missing, though I do have one!
The reason I did not give you the build is because I am unable to get to the desktop, but I believe it is 1909. I wish I had made a note of that when the PC was working. Neither am I able to get to the Command prompt. For the same reason, I am unable to do chkdisk and SGC /Scannnow, which are also very familiar to me.
I do have an Acronis image, which may be my only saving grace, but petty confident the hard drive is fine because up to the time I created the new Windows profile, it worked splendidly. For some reason, it refuses to give me the menu screen with the Administrator and profile names, which it did before I created this new profile. I Googled extensively to find a solution to this problems, but turned up nothing. Not sure what key words to use for this idiotic window.
Hi, thanks, please confirm if you actually see the lock and login screen before seeing that screen, which appears to be some sort of corrupted version of Settings.
As it's probably 1909 (you can confirm once you can access a command prompt) this presumably hasn't arisen from an update or upgrade.
It's good that you are using disk imaging- if the image is reasonably recent, that would seem the obvious way to proceed. However you will be aware that all data on the restored partition is overwritten, so you may wish to recover data or, better, create a new image to permit later recovery from that image before doing so.
This is why I recommend trying to keep personal data off C: as far as reasonably possible.
I do still recommend you test your disk(s). It is quite possible for a PC to be running quite normally, but the disk is degrading- you will be aware of how defective sectors are reallocated from a pool, for example.
(A useful option is to run Crytal Diskinfo-free- in the background, set alerts against thresholds, so degradation means you are alerted- and especially so for Storage Spaces and Raid)
You can create a live boot disk using another PC, then boot from that and run tests as described. E.g. Google
Kyhi's live boot disk
Bob Omb's boot disk
You can boot your PC from a Win 10 bootable disk, via Repair your computer to a command prompt, and so run chkdsk and sfc /SCANNOW offline, although these are of limited vaue of course.
How to Run SFC OFFLINE (System File Checker tool) - wintips.org - Windows Tips & How-tos
Having booted from such a disk, you can use utilities provided or portable programs to test your disk and examine partitions, recover data etc.
If you do in fact see a login screen, you click the power button on that screen, SHIFT left click Restart, and thus navigate to Safe Mode.
If not, then from a command prompt (e.g. booting from a Win 10 bootable disk) see Option 3:
Boot into Safe Mode on Windows 10
Unfortunately without being able to boot normally, you can't perform an in-place upgrade repair install.
I am going to try placing the hard drive in a HD toaster and see if I can delete all remnants of the created profile. Or else, will have to manage my Acronis backup image from a USB drive - the bloody DVD drive is still not showing up in Bootup list. After scanning the drive, if it is bad, no big deal - I will replace the drive. Thanks for your response.
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