Computer Stuck on Restarting Screen - 8 Effective Ways

My computer is stuck on the restarting screen

The case in the following is borrowed from Reddit, saying that, ”Windows 10 stuck on restarting like forever.”

“I upgrade my Windows 10 from v1511 to v 1607 and it requires a restart. But the computer has been restarting for a long time. Both Ctrl+Alt+Delete and F8 key have no effect. Why my computer gets stuck on restart screen? What to do if my computer stuck on blue restarting screen?"

Why my computer is stuck on restart Windows 10/11?

Every problem has its own reasons. Computer keeps restarting on boot is not an exception. Below, I’ll list the possible reasons.

• The last shutdown was not properly.

• Your Windows 10 drivers are not properly Installed or outdated. In this case, you need to uninstall and reinstall your driver, or update the outdated driver.

• Windows 10 updates are still pending. You could consider stopping the update first, then restart it.

• RAM is affected.

  Fast Startup function is enabled. Fast Startup will cause problem when you shut down the computer, if you are using Wake-on-LAN. Besides, some users report that the power buttons on the keyboard is unavailable.

Backup system without starting Windows to avoid further problems

I know you want to fix "my computer stuck on restarting screen" as soon as possible, but if you're not very familiar with computer troubleshooting, you could be causing more serious problems.

To prevent this worse situation, it's suggested to create a system image before you start to fix this restart issue. So you can restore system image to get your computer back quickly. The best free backup software like AOMEI Backupper Standard helps you.

It allows you to create bootable media on another working computer and boot the computer in trouble.

 The system backup will include the operating system, installed programs, personal data, etc as long as it is on the system partition.

All Windows systems like Windows 11, 10, 8, 7, XP and Vista are supported.

After your computer is back to normal, you can choose to schedule system backups daily, weekly, or monthly to update the changes. By default, this software will backup only changed files with incremental backup to save disk space for new backups.

Download AOMEI Backupper Standard and install it. Prepare an external hard drive to save images and a SATA-to-USB cable to connect it.

Step 1. Run AOMEI Backupper Standard and create a bootable USB with it. Go to Tools > Create Bootable Media and select bootable disc type - Windows PE as well as USB device, then click Next.

Step 2. Insert this bootable USB into the computer in trouble and set it as the first boot option. You may be asked to press a key by prompts, "Press any key to boot from USB".

Step 3. AOMEI Backupper will start loading, once done, click Backup and System Backup subsequently.  If you want to backup entire disk, select "Disk Backup" instead.

Step 4. AOMEI Backupper will select system partition and boot-related partition(s) for you, so you just need to select the prepared disk as the destination path and click Start Backup to move on. You can backup entire computer to USB flash drive, external hard drive, OneDrive, etc as long as it can be detected.

8 effective ways to fix Windows 10 restarting loop 

Here you will learn how to stop Windows 10 from restarting with the following 8 effective ways. All of them are borrowed from MS technicians and experienced users.

• Fix 1: Restart without connecting peripherals

• Fix 2: Restart in safe mode

• Fix 3: Enable never sleep mode

• Fix 4: Disable fast startup

• Fix 5: Run the Performance Troubleshooter

• Fix 6: Run System Maintenance troubleshooter

• Fix 7: Restore the SoftwareDistribution Package in Windows Update

• Fix 8: Enable Display highly detailed status messages

Fix 1: Restart without connecting peripherals

If you connect other peripherals to your computer, you could try to plug it out and restart your computer.

Fix 2: Restart in safe mode

You could restart your computer and keep pressing F8 keys until Advanced Options menu screen appears, then highlight Safe Mode and press Enter. If F8 key is not working, You could consider forcibly restarting your computer 5 times.

Fix 3: Enable never sleep mode

Step 1. Right-click on Windows key and then select Power Options> Change when the computer sleeps in order.

Step 2. Click the Change settings that are currently unavailable link.

Step 3. Select Never under the sleep section.

✎Note: If this way does not work, you can click the Restore default settings for this plan link. Or you can restore it via powercfg–restoredefaultschemes command.

Fix 4: Disable fast startup

Step 1. Go to the Power Options window and click Choose what the power buttons does option on the left pane.

Step 2. Click Change settings that are currently unavailable link.

Step 3. Under Shutdown settings, unmark the Turn on fast startup checkbox and click Save changes button.

Fix 5: Run the Performance Troubleshooter

The performance troubleshooter is one of the ways to solve this problem, which is aimed to fix performance-related issues like freezing, non-responding programs, system crashes, etc and optimize Windows speed.

The detailed step: Run cmd as administrator, then type msdt.exe /idPerformanceDiagnostic command and hit Enter.

Fix 6: Run System Maintenance troubleshooter

Step 1. Type the following command in the Run windows and hit Enter to run System Maintenance troubleshooter.

%systemroot%\system32\msdt.exe -id MaintenanceDiagnostic

Step 2. Tick Apply repair automatically and click Next.

Fix 7: Restore the SoftwareDistribution Package in Windows Update

Step 1. Run cmd as administrator, type the following commands and press Enter after each:

• net stop

• wuauserv

• cd %systemroot%

• ren SoftwareDistribution SD.old

• net startwuauserv

✎Note:

• net stop wuauserv could disable the update service.

• cd %systemroot% could switch the command prompt to the installation directory of Windows OS.

• ren SoftwareDistribution SD.old could create a new SoftwareDistributions from the older disctributions.

• net start wuauserv could restart the update service.

Fix 8: Enable Display highly detailed status messages

Display highly detailed status messages is a policy setting in Windows 8/10, which could reflect each step in the process of starting, shutdown, logging on, logging off the system. And you could get what Windows is doing in the background while carrying out the certain operation.

Through this setting, you could get where exactly or at which stage, your Windows is getting stuck. Then, see below and find the details.

Step 1. Type gpedit.msc in the Run window and hit OK.

Step 2. Navigate to Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > System. Then, double-click on Display highly detailed status messages.

Always keep Windows 10 update to enhance Windows security

Windows Update is a necessary feature for computer users to receive security updates or critical updates, which helps to fix bugs or enhance their computer security.

Microsoft released Windows 10 21H2 on November 16, 2021, and it focuses on productivity, management, and security. The following are new features from it. 

• Adding WPA3 H2E standards support for enhanced Wi-Fi security.
• Windows Hello for Business introduces a new deployment method called cloud trust to support simplified passwordless deployments and achieve a deploy-to-run state within a few minutes.
• GPU compute support in the Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) and Azure IoT Edge for Linux on Windows (EFLOW) deployments for machine learning and other compute-intensive workflows.

On October 18, 2022, Microsoft released its latest Windows 10 edition -  Windows 10 22H2. The main thing the 22H2 release brings is an extension to the life cycle for Windows 10. Windows 10 22H2 Home and Pro editions will receive 18 months of servicing, while Enterprise and Education editions will get 30 months.

Summary

You can easily fix the "computer stuck on restarting screen" issue with the above fixes. To avoid further problems, it is suggested to create a system image, which has the ability to recover your computer even when it refuses to boot. And the same is true for Dell/HP/ASUS computer stuck in restart loop issue.

The best free AOMEI Backupper Standard is a great choice. It not only backup system, but also disk, partition, or files and make it run automatically. You can enjoy more advanced features if you upgrade now, such as USB plug in, differential backup, backup scheme,  etc. For details, please check the edition comparison page.