Laptop keeps looping on the start screen...


TheMystic

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OS
Windows 11
I have a 2011 Samsung laptop running on Windows 11 (leaked build from last year) now. I upgraded the HDD to SSD last year and also the RAM was upgraded.

If I restart the laptop, it comes to the blue screen during boot (sometimes with Windows logo) and just freezes there. After sometime, it will reboot again on its own and again freezes on the same screen. When it freezes, I don't see the circular progress bar or whatever it is called.

I have to force shut down many times (sometimes like 15 to 20 times) before I see the circular progress animation and then the laptop boots fine. Once booted, everything runs smoothly.

I want to install the official Windows 11 build, but this behaviour is preventing me from attempting to install the latest official ISO. I had a lot of difficulty when installing the leaked build last year, so I don't want to try the new installation until I identify the problem.

Any ideas what is causing this behaviour? Faulty RAM, faulty motherboard,...? If hardware was faulty, why is the laptop running fine once it manages to boot into Windows?
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 11
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    HP Envy dv7
    CPU
    Intel Core i7 3630QM
    Motherboard
    HP
    Memory
    16 GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    Intel HD Graphics 4000 & Nvidia GeForce GT 635M
    Sound Card
    IDT High Definition
    Screen Resolution
    1080p
    Hard Drives
    1 TB Crucial MX500 on bay 1.
    1 TB Seagate HDD on bay 2.
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender
It sounds like a startup problem rather than a hardware problem.

You could try booting from the installation USB to run startup repairs [instead of running the installation itself].
Startup Repair - TenForumsTutorials There does not seem to be an ElevenforumTutorial yet but I'd not expect it to be any different anyway.

The Macrium Reflect boot disk has, so its users say, even better startup repair facilities.

Best of luck,
Denis
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 11 Home x64 Version 23H2 Build 22631.3296
1) Make sure fast startup is off.

2) Place the computer into clean boot > reboot > report findings

3) Perform startup repair > indicate whether it reports that it did create srttrail.txt > post a share link

4) If problems continue consider making a boot trace using Windows Performance Recorder (WPR)

5) Run the V2 log collector > upload results into this thread
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 10
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    HP
    CPU
    Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-4800MQ CPU @ 2.70GHz
    Motherboard
    Product : 190A Version : KBC Version 94.56
    Memory
    16 GB Total: Manufacturer : Samsung MemoryType : DDR3 FormFactor : SODIMM Capacity : 8GB Speed : 1600
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVIDIA Quadro K3100M; Intel(R) HD Graphics 4600
    Sound Card
    IDT High Definition Audio CODEC; PNP Device ID HDAUDIO\FUNC_01&VEN_111D&DEV_76E0
    Hard Drives
    Model Hitachi HTS727575A9E364
    Antivirus
    Microsoft Defender
    Other Info
    Mobile Workstation
Once it's up and running, use Macrium Reflect to create an image (a suspect system is better tan no system at all).

Then install disk checking software to test the integrity of the SSD.

However, if it was me (I luv spending other peeples money :devilish: ), I'd skip the possible endless hours of troubleshooting and (attempted) problem solving ... more than often fruitless ... and get a new SSD and do a clean install of Win 11.
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Windows 11 22H2 (latest update ... forever anal)
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    HP Slim S01
    CPU
    Intel i5-9400
    Memory
    8GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVIDIA GeForce GT730
    Sound Card
    OOBE
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Acer 32"
    Screen Resolution
    1920x1080
    Hard Drives
    2 x 1TB SSDs
    PSU
    OOBE
    Case
    OOBE
    Cooling
    OOBE
    Keyboard
    Logitech wireless
    Mouse
    Logitech wireless
    Internet Speed
    Classic Australian w.a.p.
    Browser
    Brave
    Antivirus
    KIS
  • Operating System
    Windows 11 Pro (latest upadte ... anally always)
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    HP Pavillion 15
    CPU
    i7-1165G7 @ 2.80GHz
    Graphics card(s)
    Intel Iris Xe Graphics
    Hard Drives
    Samsung NVMe 512GB
    + numerous/multiple SSD Type C USB enclosures
    Internet Speed
    NBN FTTN 50
    Browser
    Brave
    Antivirus
    KIS
If you open the log file, you’ll be shown details of all the tests performed by Startup Repair, with any errors discovered detailed. We can use this information to help diagnose and get to the root cause of the problem.



To open log file from the Windows Recovery Environment, click and open the Command Prompt. When the Command Prompt is open, type Notepad and press Enter key to open the Notepad application. The Startup Repair log file is located at:



Code:
C:\Windows\System32\Logfiles\Srt\SrtTrail.txt



You will need to navigate to the drive on which you have Windows installed (usually the C: drive) to see the SrtTrail.txt log file.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 11
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    HP Pavilion
    CPU
    AMD Ryzen 7 5700G
    Motherboard
    Erica6
    Memory
    Micron Technology DDR4-3200 16GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060
    Sound Card
    Realtek ALC671
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Samsung SyncMaster U28E590
    Screen Resolution
    3840 x 2160
    Hard Drives
    SAMSUNG MZVLQ1T0HALB-000H1
It sounds like a startup problem rather than a hardware problem.

You could try booting from the installation USB to run startup repairs [instead of running the installation itself].
Startup Repair - TenForumsTutorials There does not seem to be an ElevenforumTutorial yet but I'd not expect it to be any different anyway.

The Macrium Reflect boot disk has, so its users say, even better startup repair facilities.

Best of luck,
Denis
I have seen it booting into the Startup repair mode by itself (or because I force shut it down multiple times), which then fails. This happens multiple times.

The startup repair utility has been pretty useless in my experience. It has never worked on my devices as far as I can remember. On my HP laptop, it is superfast to tell me 'Startup Repair couldn't identify the problem'.
1) Make sure fast startup is off.

2) Place the computer into clean boot > reboot > report findings

3) Perform startup repair > indicate whether it reports that it did create srttrail.txt > post a share link

4) If problems continue consider making a boot trace using Windows Performance Recorder (WPR)

5) Run the V2 log collector > upload results into this thread
I don't have the laptop with me right now. I'll do this and report back.

Once it's up and running, use Macrium Reflect to create an image (a suspect system is better tan no system at all).

Then install disk checking software to test the integrity of the SSD.

However, if it was me (I luv spending other peeples money :devilish: ), I'd skip the possible endless hours of troubleshooting and (attempted) problem solving ... more than often fruitless ... and get a new SSD and do a clean install of Win 11.
So you are suspecting a problem with the SSD. Like I said in the OP, everything runs smoothly once inside Windows. I will run a disk check and report back.

If you open the log file, you’ll be shown details of all the tests performed by Startup Repair, with any errors discovered detailed. We can use this information to help diagnose and get to the root cause of the problem.



To open log file from the Windows Recovery Environment, click and open the Command Prompt. When the Command Prompt is open, type Notepad and press Enter key to open the Notepad application. The Startup Repair log file is located at:



Code:
C:\Windows\System32\Logfiles\Srt\SrtTrail.txt



You will need to navigate to the drive on which you have Windows installed (usually the C: drive) to see the SrtTrail.txt log file.
Thanks. I'll try that and report back.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 11
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    HP Envy dv7
    CPU
    Intel Core i7 3630QM
    Motherboard
    HP
    Memory
    16 GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    Intel HD Graphics 4000 & Nvidia GeForce GT 635M
    Sound Card
    IDT High Definition
    Screen Resolution
    1080p
    Hard Drives
    1 TB Crucial MX500 on bay 1.
    1 TB Seagate HDD on bay 2.
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender
So you are suspecting a problem with the SSD. Like I said in the OP, everything runs smoothly once inside Windows. I will run a disk check and report back.
Windows has limited capacity for repairing itself in the event of some malfunctions. In the case of a failing drive, Windows will attempt to recover data in bad sectors and (re)write to good sectors. But if the drive is failing, Windows must continually repeat this on each (re)boot, until ....
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Windows 11 22H2 (latest update ... forever anal)
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    HP Slim S01
    CPU
    Intel i5-9400
    Memory
    8GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVIDIA GeForce GT730
    Sound Card
    OOBE
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Acer 32"
    Screen Resolution
    1920x1080
    Hard Drives
    2 x 1TB SSDs
    PSU
    OOBE
    Case
    OOBE
    Cooling
    OOBE
    Keyboard
    Logitech wireless
    Mouse
    Logitech wireless
    Internet Speed
    Classic Australian w.a.p.
    Browser
    Brave
    Antivirus
    KIS
  • Operating System
    Windows 11 Pro (latest upadte ... anally always)
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    HP Pavillion 15
    CPU
    i7-1165G7 @ 2.80GHz
    Graphics card(s)
    Intel Iris Xe Graphics
    Hard Drives
    Samsung NVMe 512GB
    + numerous/multiple SSD Type C USB enclosures
    Internet Speed
    NBN FTTN 50
    Browser
    Brave
    Antivirus
    KIS

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