9 Fixes to 'Getting Windows Ready' Stuck in Windows 10/8/7

Are you stuck on Getting Windows Ready?

As this message described, many users have been stuck on the Getting Windows ready screen especially in Windows 10 and Windows 8. It usually happens when you boot up computer or right after a Windows update. 

You may wait patiently at first, but as time goes on, you begin to realize that it doesn't seem to end on its own. You must take actions. But how?

How to fix stuck on Getting Windows Ready in Windows 10/8/7

How to solve this problem if you can't even log on to Windows? Here I compiled 9 methods that may help.

Note:
◆ From Method 3~Method 8, you need to access Advanced Startup Options in WinRE. Learn how to enter Windows Recovery Environment from boot if you are not familiar with it.
◆ If all the means fail unfortunately, or you don't have any previously created restore point/system image backup/bootable media/etc., you may have to take the last resort (Method 9).

1. Wait patiently for 2-3 hours

When this Getting Windows ready screen appears, your system is very likely downloading and installing files or dealing with some tasks in the background. It would have taken some time to finish these jobs, so as suggested, you better not turn off the computer right away.

Generally speaking, 2-3 hours is a normal range for waiting. If it’s already taken much longer than that, you can consider trying following solutions.

2. Shutdown your computer thoroughly

After waiting for a long time, you can try to restart the computer - not as a normal reboot, but to hard shutdown and then restart. This method can clear all the information in the memory and hopefully get you out of infinite waiting.

Step 1. Turn off your computer by pressing the power button.

Step 2. Disconnect all external devices including.

Step 3. Pull out the power cable from your computer, and detach the battery if you are using a laptop.

Step 4. Keep pressing the power button for about 30 seconds to drain the remnant charge.

Step 5. Reinstall the power cable and battery. Press power button again to boot the computer.

Note: don’t reinstall any USB device during reboot.

3. Uninstall recently installed update

Errors in recent updates might also lead to Windows 10 stuck on getting ready screen, so if you encounter this problem right after Window update, you can try uninstalling it in safe mode. 

Step 1. Boot to Windows Recovery Environment first, click Troubleshoot > Advanced options and then choose Startup Settings. Press F4 to enter safe mode.

Step 2. Right-click Start button and choose Control Panel in the menu. Then go to Programs and Features.

Step 3. Click View installed update on the left panel. Choose the recently installed updates and uninstall them to fix the Windows getting ready stuck issue.

Step 4. Restart your computer to check whether it has been solved.

4. Check and disable corrupted system files

If you get stuck on getting Windows ready at every reboot, it may be caused by the corrupted files on your computer. To find and disable them, you can run System File Checker under Recovery Environment.

Step 1. Enter Windows Recovery Environment.

Step 2. Click Troubleshoot > Command Prompt.

Step 3. Type sfc /scannow and press Enter.

Step 4. When the process completes, restart your PC to see if it’s still stuck on getting windows ready.

5. Perform startup repair to fix boot errors

Startup Repair can fix some boot errors of Windows. You can find it in advanced startup options.

Step 1. Boot to WinRE, click Troubleshoot > Advanced options.

Step 2. Choose Startup Repair and wait till the repairing completes.

Step 3. Restart the computer to see if you are still stuck on getting Windows ready.

Note: If you have problem with using it, learn more about how to fix Windows 10 Startup Repair not working.

6. Perform system restore or system image recovery

If you have enabled system protection to create Windows 10 restore points (for System Restore), or used Backup and Restore to create system image backup (for System Image Recovery), you can restore Windows 10 to an eariler state without getting Windows ready stuck issue.

It also requires you to enter Windows Recovery Environment. Take System Restore as an example.

Step 1. Click Troubleshoot > Advanced options and choose System Restore.

Step 2. It takes a while to prepare for the restoring, you’ll be required to log in the account after that.

Step 3. Click Next in System Restore wizard, select the restore point and click Next to continue.

Step 4. Confirm the operation and click Finish to start restoring.

Step 5. Restart your computer to check if the issue has been fixed.

Note: you can learn more about the specific steps to use system restore from boot in Windows 10/8/7.

7. Clean install Windows to fix system issues

If above methods cannot help you fix the Windows 10/8/7 getting Windows ready stuck issue, you may need to reinstall your Windows from scratch.

Step 1. Insert the installation disc, or installation USB created by MediaCreationTool (please refer to the detailed guide about Windows 10 recovery tools)

Step 2. Choose the language, time format, and keyboard in Windows Setup.

Step 3. Click Install now and follow the instructions on the screen to complete the process.

Note a clean installation might erase some personal files from system partition or desktop. To avoid unwanted data loss, it’s better to backup your important files before performing reinstallation.

However, even if you can boot to the safe mode of Windows, there’s not many options for data backup. You either use WBadmin in Command Prompt or pick a third-party backup utility.

Here I take AOMEI Backupper Standard as an example. This is a Windows backup & restore freeware with flexible modes and options. You can use it to create a bootable disc or USB on another working PC, then insert the media to the unbootable computer and perform backup under Windows PE. Thus when the installation is complete, you can restore your data easily.

Learn more details to backup without booting Windows.

8. Disable automatic updates

Automatic update is one of the possible reasons behind getting Windows ready stuck in windows 10/8/7. If your computer finally boots properly, you can disable Automatic Updates in Windows in case the getting windows ready stuck error happens again.

Step 1. Press Windows + R key to open the Run command. Type services.msc and then press Enter.

Step 2. Find Windows Update from the Services list and double-click it

Step 3. Choose Disabled as the Startup type under General tab, click Apply and OK.

Step 4. Restart the computer.

9. Restore Windows to rescue faulty computer (without previous backup)

This method may be right for you if you are unlucky enough to fit the following situations:

☛ All the normal meands above didn't work.
☛ You have no earlier restore points/backups to recover the computer.
☛ You don't have any installation disc or previously created recovery drive, neither do you want to reinstall Windows 10/8/7 from scratch.

How does the method works: Find a working computer with Windows 10 installed >> Create a bootable media on that machine >> Create a system image as well >> Insert the bootable media to the problematic PC >> Boot into WinPE and use the system image to recover it.

This method requires a program containing Universal Restore feature, which enables you to restore system to another machine with different hardware. And the Professional edition of AOMEI Backupper is just what you need.

You can download the free trial to have a try:

*It's true that you can try creating recovery drive and system image with Windows built-in tools, but given the differences of hardware on 2 PCs, it will most likely fail.

Step 1. Create a bootable media with AOMEI Backupper:

Install the software on a normally working PC with the same OS installed.

Go to Tools tab and choose Create Bootable Media. Then follow the wizard to create bootable USB/CD/DVD.

Step 2. Create a system image on that PC as well:

Switch to Backup tab, tap System Backup to back up system-related partition (s). It wil be selected automatically so you just need to specify a destination (you can jump to the next part for detailed steps).  

Since you will need to use it on another computer, it's recommend to backup Windows 10 to external hard drive, or NAS, network share, etc.

Step 3. Restore Windows to the unbootable PC:

Then you can use the created recovery drive to boot the faulty computer into WinPE, and connect the device containing system image as well. 

Go to Restore tab and locate the Windows system image to proceed. 

Remember to tick Universal Restore option in the Operation Summary page, then Start Restore.

Precaution: Backup system regularly to avoid similar issues

If you’ve luckily fixed the error of getting Windows ready stuck in Window 10/8/7, the remaining question is how to prevent it from happening again.

Even if you decide not to upgrade Windows anymore, you may encounter similar errors after some operations. So it’s better to develop a backup habit and backup system on a regular basis. Thus when a problem occurs, you can easily restore your system to a healthy state.

The process of system backup & restore can also be done with the previously mentioned software. It just take several clicks to auto backup Windows 10 (as well as Win 8.1/8/7/XP/Vista). And the completely free Standard edition already cover the needs.

Step 1. Download and install AOMEI Backupper Standard following a quick wizard.

Step 2. Launch the software and click Backup > System Backup.

Step 3. The operation system will be automatically specified as the source. You just need to select a destination path.

For better data protection, you can backup to NAS, cloud drive or an external device.

Step 4. Set up an automatic backup Schedule like daily, weekly, etc. and click Start Backup button.

Optionally, you can also edit Task Name to make it easy to distinguish, or click Options, Scheme to customize the backup.

Step 5. When the process is complete, click Finish to exit.

Step 6. Next time you encounter a system error, just select Restore and locate the system image you want to restore.

✎Related tips:

• Options - here you can comment on backup, choose backup mode, compress image, split image, etc. 

• Schedule Backup - you have 5 optional schedule modes: Daily, Weekly, Monthly, Event triggers, USB plug in. The last 2 are only available in advanced editions like Professional.

• Backup Scheme - automatically delete older backups with the rules you set to save storage space. It’s only supported by advanced editions.

• Not only operation system, this software also enables you to perform file backup, partition backup, disk backup, or even file sync and disk clone.

Conclusion

When you get stuck on the Getting Windows ready don’t turn off your computer screen in Windows 10/8/7, try above methods one by one and see if any of them work. If the problem is luckily solved, it’s better to develop a good backup habit with an effective tool in case similar issues occur in the future.

AOMEI Backupper is such a software that can easily backup your system on regular basis and restore Windows to a healthy state. With it, you can solve some other issues like Windows 10 upgrade keeps restarting, boot configuration data file is missing in Windows 10, Windows 10 reset stuck and so on.