First Win10 Startup Fails, Second Startup Succeeds

After the latest round of Windows 10 updates, my computer does not boot up when I press the computer's On button. Instead, a blue window appears without the dots moving in a circle.
So I press and hold the On button to take the computer down, then press it again to restart the computer. This time the computer starts normally. That is the only weirdness I have from the latest update.
Is there a setting I can change, or should I remove some of the latest updates?

I hate saying this, but it might be time for a clean reinstall. (That, of course, is the default answer for any weird Win10 behavior.) My wife's laptop exhibited very similar behavior after the AU upgrade. That happened for the first 3 boots (or rather, pairs of boots). After that it pretty much cleared up ... except that switching users would make it happen again. The "switch" would result in a black screen with just a cursor. The cursor would move, but nothing else would happen. Following a forced power off, the next startup would hang - either on the lock screen or on the login screen. Another forced power off. The next startup would succeed and everything would work normally (except trying to switch users.) After a clean reinstall, all was well.

pokeefe0001 said:

I hate saying this, but it might be time for a clean reinstall. (That, of course, is the default answer for any weird Win10 behavior.) My wife's laptop exhibited very similar behavior after the AU upgrade. That happened for the first 3 boots (or rather, pairs of boots). After that it pretty much cleared up ... except that switching users would make it happen again. The "switch" would result in a black screen with just a cursor. The cursor would move, but nothing else would happen. Following a forced power off, the next startup would hang - either on the lock screen or on the login screen. Another forced power off. The next startup would succeed and everything would work normally (except trying to switch users.) After a clean reinstall, all was well.

Yipes! I have a Windows 7 machine with a free Windows 10 upgrade. I've got no way to install a clean Win10.

There are lots of threads on this forum giving instructions and tips on how to do it. Many involve using Microsoft's Media Creation Tool (MCT) to create an installation package on a USB flash memory "drive". The process is fairly straightforward, but it will take an hour or two (followed by reinstalling any on-Windows software you've installed). During your original upgrade-in-place procedure to get to Win10 Microsoft saved your activation information so you won't need an activation key or anything like that - just an internet connection for (re-) activation. The whole process is a lengthy royal pain, but the upgrade-in-place process leaves junk around that can cause all sorts of problems for many users.

Yipes! I have a Windows 7 machine with a free Windows 10 upgrade. I've got no way to install a clean Win10.

It's actually VERY easy if your last Update was the the 1607 Anniv edition of Win10 and you have decent download speed. Verify that your device has digital entitlement. This means you don't need a key to re-install 10. Then go to the Recovery options and click at the bottom where it says "learn how to start fresh with a clean installation of Windows". The tool is very small and will download a clean copy of 10 and install it for you (about 1.5 hrs).



Full Brink tutorial here - Refresh Windows Tool - How to Use in Windows 10 - Windows 10 Forums

Thank you, pokeefe0001 and mrgeek.