Learn how to fix the error “The Computer Did Not Start Correctly” with these simple troubleshooting steps. Get your computer back up and running smoothly.Windows has many different errors. Some of them can be fixed in a couple of clicks, while others require you to try different options. There are also several solutions to the blue screen error “The computer did not start correctly”.
How to Fix the Error “The Computer Did Not Start Correctly”
Now let’s see what to do in such a situation, and find out where this error comes from and how to solve it.
Reasons for the appearance
The error “The computer did not start correctly” can appear for various reasons. Most often, this is due to errors during the installation of the system or driver, but other options may also occur.
Here are some of them:
- BOIS failure;
- Motherboard error;
- Damage to system files due to malware;
- Problems with the operation of PC components;
- Frequent system crashes due to power failures;
- Improper shutdown of the PC (pulling the cord out of the socket, etc.).
Most often, problems are solved by a simple automatic system recovery, but sometimes you have to conduct a deeper analysis and diagnostics of the components. In this case, it is necessary to do it not only at the software level, but also regularly check the PC parts. And if you do not know how to do it yourself, it is better to turn to professionals or, at least, arm yourself with a video from YouTube, so as not to aggravate the situation.
How to fix
Restart your PC
Yes, rebooting is recommended in every other guide to solving problems with technology, but in some cases it really works. If the error occurred at the system boot stage, then Windows itself will offer you to reboot in most cases. Sometimes it is worth forcing a reboot, for example, if you see that the PC is frozen on the splash screen for a long time.
The most important thing is to reboot safely. PCs with system units and monoblocks usually have special buttons for this. On laptops, it is enough to hold down the power button for a while and wait until the cooler stops. Or you can simply press the “Reboot” button on the blue screen that appears during startup.
And if rebooting does not solve the problem and the error still appears, then it is time to move on to more serious ways to fix it. They are described below.
System Restore
The second option is to restore the system using the built-in utility. This way, you will safely diagnose your PC for errors and be able to fix them during a safe reboot.
If you failed to start your PC, go to the “Advanced options” section directly from the blue error screen. To do this, simply click on the corresponding inscription. Sometimes this section may be called “Advanced recovery options”, but this usually occurs in older versions of Windows 10.
So, when you enter the menu, look for the line “Troubleshooting”. By clicking on it, you will open a new window in which you need to select “Advanced options” again and then we will get to the “Startup Repair” we need.
Clicking on it will start the system scanning process. The utility will analyze the accounts and prompt you to select the one you need to restore. Just click on it, enter the password if necessary, and click Continue to start the reboot.
It is important to note that such a reboot will take longer. Usually it takes up to 10 minutes, but sometimes it stretches to 15-20. Do not panic, just let the system do all the work. And if the error about incorrect startup appears again, then it is time to do everything manually.
Command line
To restore the system manually, we will need the command line. You can open it directly from the screen where the error occurred. To do this, click “Advanced options”, and then go to the “Troubleshooting” section. Here, find “Advanced options” again and click on the “Boot options” menu on the right side of the window.
A tab will open in front of you, which will contain a list of situations in which you can use this function. Here we select the option “Restart”, and on the next screen – “Enable safe mode with command line support”. You also need to press F6 on the keyboard so that everything starts successfully (for laptops, you need to hold down the Fn key before this).
When everything is done, the device screen will darken and a tab with the command line will appear. In it, we need to start scanning using the sfc /scannow command . Run it and wait until the system finishes scanning. This will take quite a long time, on average, the scan time varies from 30 to 60 minutes. You cannot turn off the PC during this process.
After the scan is done, you need to enter two more commands. The first one: dism /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth – with its help you will schedule automatic system recovery. And to start it, use the command shutdown -r .
When you start the process, the computer will automatically reboot. At this time, you can’t touch it or turn it off, let the system shut down. As soon as the recovery is finished, the PC will boot in normal mode and you can continue working.
Checking components
If the previous steps did not help you, you can try to check and clean the hard drive components manually. To do this, you need to enter several commands in order:
- diskpart
- list volume– opens hard disk partitions, you need to find and remember the one where Windows files are stored (default C or E);
- exit
- sfc /scannow /offbootdir=E:\ /offwindir=E:\Windows— this is needed to check system files, instead of E you need to specify the disk where Windows is stored.
- E:– or C:, or the name of the volume with the system, you just need to specify the letter and a colon after it (here and below we will use E to designate the volume);
- md config backup
- cd E:\Windows\System32\config\
- copy * E:\configbackup\
- cd E:\Windows\System32\config\regback\
- copy * E:\windows\system32\config\ — after entering, you need to press the English letter A and Enter to restore the registry from the backup.
After that, you need to close the command prompt and select “Continue” from the “Choose an action” menu. The computer will reboot and after that, Windows will start as usual.
And if the miracle does not happen, then you can roll back the changes via backup using two commands:
- cd e:\configbackup\
- copy * e:\windows\system32\config\ — press A and Enter again to confirm the action.
Restore point
This method should be used as an extreme option for a not too radical solution to the problem. Since Windows creates restore points on its own, by choosing one of them, you can lose files that were saved or created later.
To do this, on the error screen, you need to go to “Advanced Options” and click on “System Restore”. After that, select the account and click “Continue”. A window will open with the restore points that the computer has recently created. Select the one you need and click “Next” to start the rollback.
Reinstalling the system
Well, the most radical method, which should only be used if nothing helps at all, is to simply reinstall Windows. Most likely, the components are damaged so badly that nothing helps, so this will be our last resort.
The only good thing here is that if you didn’t have any important files on your C drive, they’ll be fine. But if you had anything important stored in your Downloads folder or other standard directories, you’ll have to say goodbye to it.
Now you know five ways to solve the problem – from simple to the most radical. Take care of your PC and always monitor the integrity of its components to avoid critical errors.