Reset failure now Laptop won't boot

Question

It's quite messed up. I wanted to hard reset my laptop as it was lagging quite a lot so I put it in reset while clearing everything and choose Cloud Install after 2 hours it came into the process of resetting and it got stuck at 31% and I tried going to advanced option and redo it then this issue started happening it went to reset mode after so much time and then suddenly it would again come back to the advanced menu. I got tired of it and clicked shut down and removed the battery then tried opening it in a hope that it would reboot but what exactly is happening is it is showing the dell screen when booting up and it goes again back to black screen and again the dell screen and the cycle continues. I can hear the fan sound, the light flicking as the laptop turns on as it is plugged in charger but no response.

anne_droid · Answer

Hi

Please can you confirm the Make Model and OS, along with any configuration details like touch screen, backlit keyboard, SFF or tower etc etc.

I suggest that, if you can boot from USB, make a USB either via the Microsoft method, or by using Rufus or similar.

If in doubt please ask.

noahemir · Answer

Adding to anne_droid's reply since they asked the right starting questions. While you're confirming model and OS for them, there are a few things worth trying that don't need a USB stick yet, because what you're describing (loop between the Dell logo and a black screen, fans running, charger light reacting) almost always means Windows is stuck part way through the reset and just needs to be forced back into the recovery environment to clean up.

Try this first. With the laptop off, press the power button to start it. The moment you see the Dell logo, hold the power button down until it shuts off completely. Do that three times in a row. On the fourth boot Windows should give up trying to start normally and drop you straight into Automatic Repair, which has the Advanced options menu. From there go to Troubleshoot, then Reset this PC again, but this time pick Local reinstall instead of Cloud download. Cloud reset is a lot less reliable when the internet hiccups partway through, which is almost certainly how you ended up stuck at 31 percent the first time.

If Reset fails again, go back into Advanced options, open Command Prompt and run these in order. sfc /scannow /offbootdir=C:\ /offwindir=C:\Windows. Then chkdsk C: /f /r. Then bootrec /rebuildbcd. The bootrec one in particular fixes the boot loop in a lot of these cases because a failed reset usually leaves the boot configuration corrupted, which matches what you're seeing.

Before going down the USB route I would also run Dell's built in hardware test. Power off, power on, and immediately tap F12 repeatedly until you get the boot menu, then pick Diagnostics. Let it run the full pass. If it throws any error code, especially anything to do with storage or memory, note it down because that changes the whole approach. No software fix is going to help if the SSD itself is failing, and an interrupted reset can sometimes expose a drive that was already on its way out.

If all of that fails then yes, anne_droid's USB clean install is the right call. One thing worth doing before you wipe though, if you have anything important on the laptop, boot an Ubuntu live USB first (no install, just the live session), copy your files to an external drive, then do the clean Windows install. Saves the heartbreak later when you realise you missed something.

Also for next time, pulling the battery while it was mid reset is what made things worse, but you weren't to know. Future reference, Cloud reset on a shaky connection is a coin toss, Local reinstall from a known good install is almost always the safer choice.

anne_droid · Answer

Hi Over the Top Windows 10/11 Installation To install Windows over an existing version while keeping files and apps (a 'Repair Install' or in-place upgrade), use the Windows Media Creation Tool and select 'Upgrade this PC now.' This method reinstalls Windows to fix errors while preserving personal data and installed software.   For OEM systems, this process automatically activates using the embedded digital license without requiring a new product key. https://www.elevenforum.com/tutorials/?prefix_id=7

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Reset failure now Laptop won't boot

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