[SOLVED] How to resolve Windows 10 Automatic Repair Loop [MiniTool Tips]

Diagnosing Your PC/ Preparing Automatic Repair Loop

Laptop is stuck during startup - with a screen saying Preparing Automatic Repair or diagnosing your PC!

A true example from answers.microsoft.com is shown below:

Laptop is just stuck in an infinite loop between diagnosing your PC and Preparing Automatic Repair. Sometimes it comes up with repairing disk errors, but never stays and just enters the loop again.
I've read numerous other threads online and yet to find something that works. Starting to think there is nothing I can personally do.

What should you do if you are one of them?

Video Tutorial

Now, before solving the issue, you should know what Automatic Repair is.

What Is Automatic Repair?

Automatic Repair is a feature introduced in Windows 10/8 that can fix some PC issues when the computer cannot boot properly.

But sometimes due to some reasons, Windows Automatic Repair might fail to work and get stuck in diagnosing your PC. It will go to a blue or black screen of death error. HP, Lenovo, Asus, Dell and Acer users are the most common victims of this issue according to a report online.

If your laptop stuck on Preparing Automatic Repair during startup, you can try the following solutions.

8 Solutions - Fix Preparing Automatic Repair Loop Windows 10

Solution 1. Perform a hard reboot

If your Windows cannot boot because of the "Preparing Automatic Repair" or "Diagnosing your PC" error, you can do a hard reboot.

• Remove the battery and AC adapter.
• Press and hold the power button for 20 seconds and see if it will boot up normally.

If this method doesn't work, try the following solutions.

Solution 2. Boot into safe mode

You can try the method below to enter into safe mode when you encounter any issues related to booting up your computer.

Step 1: Turn off your computer.

Step 2: Insert the Windows bootable installation disk to your PC and boot from it.

Step 3: When prompted to Press any key to boot from CD or DVD, press any key to continue.

Step 4: Select your language preferences in the Windows Setup interface, and click on Next button to continue.

Step 5: Tap or click on Repair your computer to continue.

Step 6: Select Troubleshoot.

Step 7: Click on Advanced options.

Step 8: Click on Startup Settings.

Step 9: Click on Restart. After restart, the computer will show another screen that has different startup options.

Step 10: On your keyboard, press the 4 or the F4 key to boot into minimal Safe Mode. (If you need to do some online research after booting into the safe mode, press 5 or F5 to boot into "Safe Mode with Networking.")

Step 11: Now fix issues in Safe Mode.

• Run antivirus software to scan for and remove virus.
• Uninstall suspicious software or drivers.
• Update the hardware driver using a CD/DVD/USB that contains the driver.

Solution 3. Extend system reserved partition

If your computer's system reserved partition is smaller than it should be, you will get the "Preparing Automatic Repair" or "Diagnosing your PC" error message. To fix this issue, you can try extending system reserved partition. You can download MiniTool Partition Wizard to effectively complete this task.

Free Download

Helpful Article: This post "Extend Partition" will show you more information about how to change partition size easily and effectively.

After extending system reserved partition, you can restart your computer to check whether this issue has been solved.

Solution 4. Perform a startup repair

Some users recommend performing Startup Repair when the laptop is stuck on Preparing Automatic Repair during startup.

The steps are:

Insert the Windows bootable drive to your computer and boot from it.

Select your language preferences, and click on Next.

Click on Repair your computer.

Select Troubleshoot > Advanced Options > Startup Repair.

Solution 5. Rebuild BCD

If the boot files are missing or corrupted, you will receive the Preparing Automatic Repair error in Windows 10. Therefore, some users will re-build the boot record by following the below steps.

Step 1. Insert the Windows bootable installation disk into your PC that has "Preparing Automatic Repair" or "Diagnosing your PC" error message.

Step 2. Boot your PC from the installation disk.

Step 3. Select your language preferences, and click on Next button to continue.

Step 4. Click on Repair your computer.

Step 5. Click on Troubleshoot.

Step 6. Click on Command Prompt.

Step 7. Type the following commands into the prompt and press Enter key after each command.

• bootrec /fixmbr
• bootrec /fixboot
• bootrec /scanos
• bootrec /rebuildbcd

Step 8. Type exit and press Enter.

Step 9. Restart your PC.

Solution 6. Disable Automatic Repair at Windows 10 boot

During its startup, Windows 10 executes the Automatic Repair feature to fix booting related issues automatically. This feature is very useful for the average users. However, sometimes it might not suffice solving the startup problems; or, it might even be causing the startup problems itself. Therefore, disabling automatic repair might be a solution to some problems related to Windows 10 booting up. The steps are below.

a) Insert the Windows bootable drive to your PC and boot from it.

b) Select your language preferences, and click on Next.

c) Click on Repair your computer.

d) Click on Troubleshoot.

e) Click on Advanced Options.

f) Click on Command Prompt.

g) Type bcdedit /set {current} recoveryenabled No in the Command Prompt window and press Enter button.

h) Type exit and press Enter.

Solution 7. Reinstall Windows

If your laptop is still stuck on Preparing Automatic Repair during startup or if you still get the diagnosing your PC error message after trying the above solutions, you can try reinstalling Windows.

Hi, I effectively removed out the 'Preparing Automatic Repair' or 'Diagnosing your PC' error message in my Windows 10!Click to Tweet

However, I guess you might be wondering:

"How to recover data when PC cannot boot effectively and quickly?"

MiniTool Power Data Recovery, a professional file recovery software developed by a famous software development company based in Canada, can help you recover data when your PC cannot boot and reports diagnosing your PC error message.

• It is a read-only tool,meaning it recovers lost data without affecting the original data.
• It offers wizard-like interfaces as well as simple operations to help you effectively recover lost data without any difficulty.
• It supports various operating systems including Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows 10, etc.

Now, let's see how to recover data when PC reports "Preparing Automatic Repair" or "Diagnosing your PC".

Free Download

Step 1. Create bootable CD/DVD discs or USB flash drive by using MiniTool Bootable Media Builder. Install your MiniTool Power Data Recovery Personal in a normal computer, and then click Bootable Media icon next to the Key icon at the top toolbar.

Click on WinPE-based media with MiniTool plug-in.

Choose media destination to create bootable CD, DVD, or USB flash drive.

Click on "Finish" after successful burning.

Step 2. Boot your PC from the bootable drive.

Connect your bootable drive to PC, and then start it.

Enter the BIOS and then set Bootable Disc as the 1st boot device and save configuration changes.

Select MiniTool Power Data Recovery when you enter into the MiniTool PE Loader interface.

Step 3. Recover data from PC that is having the "Preparing Automatic Repair" or "diagnosing your PC" error message.

On the main UI, select the hard drive you want to recover, and click Scan button. Here, you can click the Scan Settings button in the left panel to specify the file types and file systems you want to recover.

Finally, select all needed files, and then click Save to store them in a location of your choice. It is recommended to store important files on a drive other than the one you recovered from; otherwise, the lost data could be overwritten and there is no way to recover them.

Here, if MiniTool Power Data Recovery lists a lot of files after scanning, you can use the Filter feature to quickly find the files files you need not only by the file format, but also the size and creation or modification date..

For instance, if you want to quickly find needed lost pictures, you can click on Filter, and then choose "*.jpg, *.gif, *.png, *.psd, *.tif" from the drop-list of By Filename/Extension and then click OK button, as shown below. Besides, you can preview your needed photos before saving.

Hi, I effectively recovered lost data when my laptop is stuck on Preparing Automatic Repair during startup without affecting the original data.Click to Tweet

Solution 8: Check your hardware

If you still receive the "Preparing Automatic Repair" or "diagnosing your PC" error message after reinstalling Windows, this issue might be related to your computer's hardware.

For instance, Preparing Automatic Repair error in Windows 10 happens because this PC has a failed or failing HDD or SSD. It is recommended to check whether or not your HDD or SSD has failed or is failing. Additionally, check your RAM to make sure it is working properly as well.

Bottom Line

Are you still worrying about this issue - laptop stuck on Preparing Automatic Repair during startup? Please try the above solutions to solve your issue.

If you happen to know other ways to fix the Preparing Automatic Repair error in Windows 10 issue, please feel free to leave your comments below and we promise we’ll update this guide.

If you have any questions about recovering lost data by using MiniTool Power Data Recovery, please feel free to contact us via [email protected] Thanks for your reading.