Stuck on “Preparing Automatic Repair,” tried chkdsk, sfc, reboot, reset (fails), nothing works.

[Jessica249]

Hi, my HP desktop serial number [edited] is stuck in an automatic repair loop. I have tried chkdsk, sfc, rebooting, and resetting but nothing works. Please help.

[Bill_To]

Greetings @Jessica249 

Welcome to the HP Forum. Sawadee Khap (Hello)!

This could be a tough one to fix.

Possible causes are:

- The system disk is failing

- Windows is corrupted. Windows would probably be unrepairable if the Windows registry is corrupted. Microsoft have disabled registry backups.

Check your PC's hardware using HP Diagnostics as follows:

Start the PC. Repeatedly tap the "ESC" key.

Select "F2". Run extensive system and component tests to confirm: a drive problem, a memory problem, or other component problem.

Let the Forum know how the hardware tests go.

Have you tried doing a System Recovery in the WinRE when you were doing other recovery procedures?

You may have to back up data. Then do a clean Windows install or a HP Cloud Recovery if your PC qualifies.

Both of the above recovery procedures take a lot of time. You will have to reinstall all third party software. You will have to reconfigure Windows settings and preferences.

I can provide a YouTube link showing how to fix the Windows bootloader if the system disk is okay and you are comfortable working at the command prompt. There is no guarantee the YouTube video will fix the problem.

You're in a tough situation.

The following suggestion will not you help now. Maybe in the future.

I routinely do Windows system image backups when Windows is running good.

A system disk failure or Windows corruption can be fixed in a very small fraction of time using a Windows system image backup. 

Regards (Khwaam rák dîi)