Solved Reboot troubles

The past few times I've rebooted my desktop, it hangs on the Dell logo and never finishes rebooting.
I have to shut it down manually, wait a few minutes, and start it up again. Usually it then finishes booting up.

Except for a few days ago...
After shutting down and restarting, it booted to the Dell repair screen. It scanned the drive, and did other acrobatics, and I had to sign into my MS account to use my Bitlocker codes before I could proceed with repairs. I don't even use Bitlocker, but apparently my MS account has some assigned to my machine.

Even after all that, it still rebooted again to the repair screen, and after another scan it rebooted normally.

This happened immediately after an update. I have now paused updates for the time being.

Earlier today when I rebooted, it hung on the Dell logo and I had to do the manual shutdown/restart. It booted normally.

But I'm thinking something is gumming up the works. Hopefully not the hard drive. The computer is only 3 years old, and not used heavily.

And suggestions as to what I need to check?

cbiweb said:

Hopefully not the hard drive.

Click to expand...

Without additional testing, that would be the first suspect on my list....sorry. Hope I'm wrong. Until others chime in to give their opinions, I strongly recommend you get your data backed up to external media to protect yourself (unless you have everything syncing to Onedrive or another cloud service.). There are several imaging softwares available, some free, some paid.
A free one not on this list is Hasleo. Preliminary Test of Hasleo Backup V4.

cbiweb said:

I had to sign into my MS account to use my Bitlocker codes before I could proceed with repairs. I don't even use Bitlocker, but apparently my MS account has some assigned to my machine.

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Windows Home does not have bitlocker but has device encryption instead. I like to call device encryption a lightweight version of the full bitlocker. It automatically enables on all connected drives when one uses a MS account and has Home version of Windows 11. I advice you to disable it, at least until you solve your problem.

glasskuter said:

Without additional testing, that would be the first suspect on my list....sorry. Hope I'm wrong. Until others chime in to give their opinions, I strongly recommend you get your data backed up to external media to protect yourself (unless you have everything syncing to Onedrive or another cloud service.).

Click to expand...

Thanks. I run nightly backups on everything, so I'm covered there. I secretly suspect the hard drive, too, but I'm keeping it quiet, lol.

glasskuter said:

I advice you to disable [device encryption], at least until you solve your problem.

Turn On or Off Device Encryption in Windows 11

This tutorial will show you how to turn on or off device encryption on a Windows 11 PC. Device encryption is a Windows feature that enables BitLocker encryption automatically for the Operating System drive and fixed drives. It’s particularly beneficial for everyday users who want to ensure...

www.elevenforum.com

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Done. And I will try not to reboot the machine for as long as possible. I feel like each time is closer to death.

1) Please check Windows fast startup.

If it's on please turn it off:



2) Place the computer in clean boot:



3) Run Tuneup plus > post a share link





4) If the computer continues to have hangs and reboot problems then run the V2 log collector and post a share link into the newest post:




5) Indicate the method used to prevent updates


6) Post a share link displaying all drives in disk management:

zbook said:

1) Please check Windows fast startup.

If it's on please turn it off

2) Place the computer in clean boot

3) Run Tuneup plus > post a share link

4) If the computer continues to have hangs and reboot problems then run the V2 log collector and post a share link into the newest post:

5) Indicate the method used to prevent updates

6) Post a share link displaying all drives in disk management

Click to expand...

Thank you so much for these troubleshooting options. This will take a bit of time, so I have to wait until I can dedicate that time to it. But when I do, I'll post back with the results. Please allow a day or two for it to happen. Thanks again!

I can say that I have turned off fast startup, and I previously prevented updates by going to Settings > Windows Update, and using the pause feature. I paused it for 5 weeks, to be sure I have time to get this resolved.

Download Crystal Disk Info and /or DiskGenius. in my Signature. View the SMART info about your drive(s) If it is anything less then Good, it needs to be replaced.
Boot into Setup (Bios) Load the Bios to Defaults.

You list your computer as a recent Dell Inspiron. On Dell computers made in the last few years, you have complete hardware ePSA diagnostics built in.

To run the ePSA diagnostics, turn off the system, hold down the "Fn" key on the Keyboard and press the Power button at the same time. You should not find any error messages while running any of these tests. Complete diagnostics can take more than an hour to run, depending on your hardware.

TraderGary said:

You list your computer as a recent Dell Inspiron. On Dell computers made in the last few years, you have complete hardware ePSA diagnostics built in.

To run the ePSA diagnostics, turn off the system, hold down the "Fn" key on the Keyboard and press the Power button at the same time. You should not find any error messages while running any of these tests. Complete diagnostics can take more than an hour to run, depending on your hardware.

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I held down Fn while pressing the power button at the same time. The Dell logo is on the screen and is hanging there. Am I supposed to be seeing something else, or are the diagnostics running in the background while the logo is showing?

cbiweb said:

I held down Fn while pressing the power button at the same time. The Dell logo is on the screen and is hanging there. Am I supposed to be seeing something else, or are the diagnostics running in the background while the logo is showing?

Click to expand...

After a short time you should see a diagnostics screen showing you the progress and what is currently being analyzed.

TraderGary said:

After a short time you should see a diagnostics screen showing you the progress and what is currently being analyzed.

Click to expand...

Unfortunately that didn't happen. I managed to get into a Diagnostics screen by pressing F12 during boot, and it's running as we speak (the diagnostics).
This is after Dell's Support Assist scan and troubleshooting.
This machine just doesn't want to reboot anymore, but I'm working on it.

EDIT: After all the diagnostics, which passed, no problems (so it said), it finally booted all the way. It's a mystery, though, and I'll keep troubleshooting with the other suggestions in this thread.

Turn off Fast Boot in the Bios.

Spunk said:

Turn off Fast Boot in the Bios.

Turn On or Off Fast Startup in Windows 11

This tutorial will show you how to turn on or off fast startup in Windows 11. There are three startup modes in Windows: Cold (traditional) Wake-from-hibernation Fast Starting with Windows 8.x, the default shutdown and restart scenario has been updated and named fast startup. Fast startup...

www.elevenforum.com

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I previously turned it off via Windows settings. Does it make a difference doing in BIOS?
I'm now trying to avoid rebooting unless I have to. There's work to do and I have to wait until I have some dedicated time for more troubleshooting.

cbiweb said:

I previously turned it off via Windows settings. Does it make a difference doing in BIOS?
I'm now trying to avoid rebooting unless I have to. There's work to do and I have to wait until I have some dedicated time for more troubleshooting.

Click to expand...

Yes it does make a difference. They are two separate settings. Seeing how your computer has had trouble booting I would wait until you need to restart your computer.