Fix Windows failed to start.

A recent hardware or
software change might be the cause -
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Fix Windows failed to start. A recent hardware or software

change might be the cause

Last updated on February 3, 2018 By adityafarrad

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**Fix Windows failed to start. A recent hardware or software change might be the cause: **If you are
facing this error then chances are you may have installed a new hardware or software which is causing
the issue. Sometimes installing the latest Windows updates seems to cause this issue but you can’t be
sure until you troubleshoot the issue. Now as far as software problems are concerned, these might be
the possible reasons as to
why you are facing this error:

Corrupted BCD information

System File is damaged

Loose or faulty SATA/IDE Cable

Conflicting 3rd party software

Virus or malware
The error which you will get after a reboot will be:

Error: Windows failed to start. A recent hardware or software change might have caused the
issue after you install Windows Updates

The main problem is that you won’t be able to boot into Windows and you will be stuck at this error
message screen. In short, you will be inside a reboot loop as everytime you restart your PC you will
again face the same error message until you fix the issue. So without wasting any time let’s see how to
actually Fix “Windows failed to start. A recent hardware or software change might be the cause” with the
below-listed troubleshooting steps.

Table of Contents

Fix Windows failed to start. A recent hardware or software change might be the cause

Method 1: Run Startup/Automatic Repair

Method 2: Boot into Last Known Good Configuration

Method 3: Perform a System Restore

Method 4: Run SFC and CHKDSK

Method 5: Rebuild BCD configuration

Method 6: Set Correct Boot Order

Fix Windows failed to start. A recent hardware or software change might

be the cause
Method 1: Run Startup/Automatic Repair

1.Insert the Windows 10 bootable installation DVD or Recovery Disc and restart your PC.

2.When prompted to Press any key to boot from CD or DVD, press any key to continue.
3.Select your language preferences, and click Next. Click Repair your computer in the bottom-left.

4.On choose an option screen, click Troubleshoot.

5.On Troubleshoot screen, click Advanced option.
6.On the Advanced options screen, click Automatic Repair or Startup Repair.
7.Wait til the Windows Automatic/Startup Repairs complete.

8.Restart and you have successfully Fix Windows failed to start. A recent hardware or software
change might be the cause, if not, continue.

Also, read How to fix Automatic Repair couldn’t repair your PC.

Method 2: Boot into Last Known Good Configuration

Before going any further let’s discuss how to Enable Legacy Advanced Boot Menu so that you can easily
get Boot Options:

1. Restart your Windows 10.

2.As the system restarts enter into BIOS setup and configure your PC to boot from CD/DVD.

3.Insert the Windows 10 bootable installation DVD and restart your PC.

4.When prompted to Press any key to boot from CD or DVD, press any key to continue.

5.Select your **language preferences, **and click Next. Click Repair your computer in the bottom-left.

6.On choose an option screen, click Troubleshoot.

7.On Troubleshoot screen, click Advanced option.

8.On Advanced options screen, click Command Prompt.

9.When the Command Prompt(CMD) open type C: and hit enter.

10.Now type the following command:

BCDEDIT /SET {DEFAULT} BOOTMENUPOLICY LEGACY

11.And hit enter to Enable Legacy Advanced Boot Menu.

12.Close Command Prompt and back on the Choose an option screen, click continue to restart Windows
10.

13.Finally, don’t forget to eject your Windows 10 installation DVD, in order to get Boot options.

14.On Boot Option screen choose “Last Known Good Configuration (Advanced).“
Method 3: Perform a System Restore

1.Put in the Windows installation media or Recovery Drive/System Repair Disc and select your language
preferences, and click Next

2.Click Repair your computer at the bottom.

3.Now choose Troubleshoot and then Advanced Options.

4..Finally, click on “System Restore” and follow onscreen instructions to complete the restore.

5.Restart your PC to save changes and see if you’re able to Fix Windows failed to start. A recent
hardware or software change might be the cause error.

Method 4: Run SFC and CHKDSK

1.Again go to command prompt using the method 1, just click on command prompt in the Advanced
options screen.

2.Type the following command in cmd and hit enter after each one:

sfc /scannow /offbootdir=c:\ /offwindir=c:\windows

chkdsk C: /f /r /x

Note: Make sure you use the drive letter where Windows is currently installed. Also in the above
command C: is the drive on which we want to run check disk, /f stands for a flag which chkdsk the
permission to fix any errors associated with the drive, /r let chkdsk search for bad sectors and perform
recovery and /x instructs the check disk to dismount the drive before beginning the process.

3.Exit the command prompt and restart your PC.

Method 5: Rebuild BCD configuration

1.Using above method open command prompt using Windows installation disk.
2.Now type the following commands one by one and hit enter after each one:

a) bootrec.exe /FixMbr
b) bootrec.exe /FixBoot
c) bootrec.exe /RebuildBcd

3.If the above command fails then enter the following commands in cmd:

bcdedit /export C:\BCD_Backup

c:
cd boot
attrib bcd -s -h -r
ren c:\boot\bcd bcd.old
bootrec /RebuildBcd

4.Finally, exit the cmd and restart your Windows.

5.This method seems to Fix Windows failed to start. A recent hardware or software change might be the
cause error but if it doesn’t work for you then continue.

Method 6: Set Correct Boot Order

1.When your computer starts (Before the boot screen or the error screen), repeatedly press Delete or F1
or F2 key (Depending upon your computer’s manufacturer) to enter BIOS setup.

2.Once you are in BIOS setup select Boot tab from the list of options.
3.Now make sure that the computer Hard disk or SSD is set as a top priority in the Boot order. If not
then use up or down arrow keys to set hard disk at the top which means the computer will first boot from
it rather than any other source.

4.Finally, press F10 to save this change and exit.

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That’s it you have successfully Fix Windows failed to start. A recent hardware or software change
might be the cause but if you still have any questions regarding this post then feel free to ask them in
the comment’s section.

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Comments

1. Ravi Bhagat
June 14, 2019 at 11:09 pm
Hi,
 Thank you so much for your precious details.
Reply

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