[2023] 15 Ways to Fix Automatic Repair Loop on Windows 11 and 10 without Losing Data

Automatic Repair is a built-in tool on Windows to fix boot issues when a Windows PC cannot start up properly. Since its release, it has helped Windows users fix a lot of problems, but itself brings new issues as well. Most of them are benign and can be just ignored, but some of them are persistent and harmful to our Windows PC, Automatic Repair Loop is one the most annoying one. 

In my experience, this happens for reasons like abrupt shutdown, power failure, hardware change, windows registry issues, boot file corruption, missing or damaged system files. To fix Automatic Repair Loop on Windows 11 or 10, we have compiled this guide for you, you will be able to fix even without losing any data on your PC.

Part 1. 12 Fixes for Automatic Repair Loop on Windows 11 and 10

Automatic repair keeps looping can rear its head at any time when you start up a Windows PC, but relax, there are 12 fixes to this issue, and we will outline below with all the basics and steps.

Fix 1. Restart

Whenever our Windows PC runs into a problem, we are recommended to restart, especially when we have no clue about what causes such a problem. But magically, restarting fix most of the problems. A simple restart just refreshes the system memory, ends every single program and process, giving back your Windows PC a clean and fast state.

If your Windows PC stuck on automatic repair loop screen, just click the Restart button to reboot.

Fix 2. Use Startup Repair

Windows 11 and 10 has a built-in repair tool to fix common start up problems, it is Startup Repair, which can diagnose and repair your PC, then creates a log file to list the startup problems.

1. In the Automatic Repair window, choose Advanced options.
2. Choose Troubleshoot > Advanced options > Startup Repair.
3. The diagnosing will start. This will take several minutes to an hour.
4. Once the repairing finishes, restart your PC.

 

Fix 3. Remove Devices

The issue of automatic repair going into loop can be caused by hardware changes, you might insert a hard drive, connect to USB drive, battery or AC Adapter that is not compatible with your PC. In this case, you should remove the peripheral devices, then restart it to see if it can start up.

 

Fix 4. Boot Windows in Safe Mode

Safe Mode is a diagnostic startup mode that uses a limited set of files and drives. In this mode, a Windows PC is kept in a basic state, it won’t run configuration system files, won’t load most device drives, and only uses standard VGA graphics mode. Safe Mode is used to troubleshoot Windows issues and help you find out the reasons.

If Automatic Repair Loop doesn’t happen in safe mode, it means the default settings and basic device drivers aren’t the reasons causing the issue, then you should try other fixes as follow.

1. In the Automatic Repair window, select Advanced options.
2. Then choose Troubleshoot.
3. Select Advanced options > Startup Settings.
4. Click Restart in the settings window.
5. After PC restarts, select 4 or press F4 to boot your Windows PC in safe mode.

Fix 5. Uninstall Update

If this Automatic Repair Loop issue just happens after updating operating system on your Windows PC, you should uninstall the update, to remove recently installed quality or feature updates from Windows.

1. In the Automatic Repair window, choose Advanced options.
2. Choose Troubleshoot > Advanced options > Uninstall Updates.
3. Choose Uninstall latest quality update or Uninstall latest feature update.
4. Check if you can boot into Windows now.

 

Fix 6. Disable Early Launch Anti-malware

The Early Launch Anti-malware is a built-in driver on Windows 8, 10 and 11 to provide protection against threats at startup, so malware won’t have much change to attack your system. It is useful, but sometimes, it may flag a required driver by mistake and your system cannot work properly without loading this driver. In this case, you need to temporarily disable the Early Launch Anti-malware on your Windows.

1. In the Automatic Repair window, select Advanced options.
2. Then choose Troubleshoot > Advanced options > Startup Settings.
3. Click Restart.
4. After PC restarts, select 8 or press F8 to disable Early Launch Anit-malware.

 

Fix 7. Disable Automatic Repair

Also, you can disable Automatic Repair at startup if it loops and your screen is stuck. The process is quite similar to that of disabling Early Launch Anti-malware, you just need to choose No. 9 from the Startup Settings.

1. In the Automatic Repair window, select Advanced options.
2. Choose Troubleshoot > Advanced options > Startup Settings.
3. Click Restart.
4. After PC restarts, select 9 or press F9 to disable Automatic Repair.

Fix 8. Hard Reboot

If this issue insists even after trying all the fixes listed above, you should try the hard reboot using the Emergency restart option, to set your PC back to a clean working environment.

1. Press Ctrl + Alt + Delete on your keyboard.
2. Press and hold Ctrl, then click the power button.
3. Click OK on the Emergency restart window.

 

Fix 9. Restore System

If the issue persists on your Windows even after above fixes, you should use the native tools to restore your system, unless you know commands and want to try the fixes with command prompt in fix 11, 12 and 13. The System Restore tool can fix problems like PC running slow or not responding, it won’t delete your documents, photos and other personal data.

1. In the Automatic Repair window, select Advanced options.
2. Choose Troubleshoot > Advanced options > System Restore.
3. Click Next.
4. Select a restore point and continue with Next.
5. Click Finish to confirm your restore point, click Yes.
6. Once the restoring process completes, click Restart to boot your PC.

Fix 10. Go back to Previous Windows Version

For Windows 10 users, they can also go back to previous Windows version that has no issues when Automatic Repair loop.

1. In the Automatic Repair window, select Advanced options.
2. Choose Troubleshoot > Advanced options > Go back to the previous version.
3. Choose an account to continue and enter the password. Click Continue.
4. Click Go back to the previous version.

Fix 11. Check Disk with Command Prompt

You can also run commands on your Windows PC to check the integrity of your hard drive and fix filesystem related errors that causing the automatic repair loop issue.

1. In the Automatic Repair Windows, choose Advanced options.
2. Then select Trouble Shoot > Advanced options > Command Prompt.
3. Enter chkdsk /f /r c: and press Enter.
4. It will start scan and auto fix the errors in the file system on your disk.
5. Exit Command Prompt and restart your PC to check if this issue persists.

Fix 12. Change Windows Registry with Command Prompt

You can revert you registry configuration to the one of you most recent successful startup to fix this issue as well, by changing the Windows Registry with commands.

Notes: I am working on Windows 10, 32 bit, if your startup drive (the one installs operating system) is not C drive, replace C with the drive in step 3, if you use 64 bit Windows, replace 32 with 64 in step 5.

1. In the Automatic Repair Windows, choose Advanced options.
2. Then select Trouble Shoot > Advanced options > Command Prompt.
3. Enter c: and hit Enter.
4. Enter dir and hit Enter.
5. Then enter cd \windows\system32\config and hit Enter.
6. Type MD backup and hit Enter.
7. Then type copy *.* backup and hit Enter, all the configurations files will be copied.
8. Type CD regback and hit Enter.
9. Then type dir and hit Enter.

 

Fix 13. Rebuild Boot Configuration Data with Command Prompt

Boot Configuration Data contains parameters that decides how to boot your Windows, if there is any issues at startup, it may be caused by corrupted configuration file, and by rebuilding BCD, you will be able to fix the automatic repair loop issue.

If C drive is not your startup drive, replace C with your startup drive in the step 4, 5, 6.

1. In the Automatic Repair Windows, choose Advanced options.
2. Then select Trouble Shoot > Advanced options > Command Prompt.
3. Enter Bootrec /fixmbr and hit Enter.
4. Enter bcdedit /export c:\bcdbackup and hit Enter.
5. Type attrib c:\boot\bcd -h -r -s and hit Enter.
6. Enter ren c:\boot\bcd bcd.old and hit Enter. 
7. Type bootrec /rebuildbcd and hit Enter.
8. Type Y to continue and your Windows PC will restart.

Fix 14. Reset Windows 

If none of above fixes get the issue solved, you will have to reset Windows and set everything on your Windows back to original state, this will be the last resort as a self-assistant fix before paying for an expert.

1. In the Automatic Repair Windows, choose Advanced options.
2. Then select Trouble Shoot > Reset this PC.
3. There are 2 options, keep my files and remove everything, you can recommended to start with option No.1.
4. Choose a way to reinstall Windows.
5. Confirm to reset this PC, it will show you the resetting process with percentage.
6. Wait for the PC to restart and check if the problem has been fixed.

Fix 15. Contact Windows Support or Call Expert

If you are not a skilled Windows users, or you don’t want to risk your PC by running the commands that you don’t understand at all, you should contact technical support from Windows, or visit a local store, even hire an expert to fix the issue without further devastating problems to your PC.

 

Part 2. Recover Data Lost Due to Automatic Repair Loop

Lost data due to automatic repair loop or in the fixing of this issue? Relax, we have you covered to fix automatic repair loop without losing data, by using Cisdem Data Recovery.

Cisdem Data Recovery has been around since 2014 and becomes one of the best data recovery services in 2020s, due to its super fast file scanning and analyzing, also because of its excellent support on restoring nearly all file types, file systems, storage devices. There is also a "Repair" feature, allowing users to repair damaged documents, videos and photos.

It is available on both Windows and macOS, supporting the latest OS versions.

How to Recover Data Lost Due to Automatic Repair Loop?

1. Download and install Cisdem Data Recovery on your Windows 11 or 10.
   Free Download Windows 11/10/8/7
2. Choose PC Recovery and select the disk where you lost the data,then click Scan. 
3. Cisdem will list all the recoverable items in different folders according to file type, go to Type or use the Filter to find a lost file quickly.
4. Preview the files by double clicking on the file icon.
5. Select the files you want to recover and click Recover.

 

Final Thoughts

Hope this guide allow Windows users to breathe a sigh of relief, as there is nothing frustrated than running into a boot problem and stopping you from accessing to your files. But this just gives us a lesson, always back up your files, so whenever you try to fix a Windows issue, you won’t worry about data loss.