Can't get out of Repair loop

[LCC_Matt]

I have a laptop that is stuck at the "Preparing Automatic Repair" screen after upgrading from Windows 10 to 11. It will stay at the screen for hours, occasionally displaying a BSOD with a DRIVER PNP WATCHDOG error. It then reboots right back to the "Preparing Automatic Repair" screen. Rinse and repeat. Since I can't access Windows or the actual Repair screen, I am attempting to just reinstall the OS. I have tried to reinstall both Windows 11 and Windows 10 from a bootable USB drive, and the same thing happens: I get to the screen where I must install the Rapid Technology Storage driver, which I have downloaded from HP directly and extracted to the same USB the Windows OS are on. It finds the driver but never finishes loading it. It hangs for awhile, then reboots right back to the "Preparing Automatic Repair" screen. I'm stuck! How do I get past this?

[Nal_NR]

Hi @LCC_Matt,

Welcome to the HP Support Community. 

I'd like to help!

You’ve done an excellent job of diagnosing the issue from your end. Superb effort and spectacular research were done as well.  Kudos to you on that score.  

To fix this issue, you will need additional support from our internal teams in HP. For that to happen, we will give you additional instructions/information via Private Message.

Please check your inbox on the forums page for the private message.

If the information I've provided was helpful, give us some reinforcement by clicking the Accepted Solution button, that'll help us and others see that we've got the answers!

[LCC_Matt · Accepted solution]

To follow up with the issue, I tested a different M.2 SSD and it loaded Windows just fine. It must have been a hardware issue (even though HP Diagnostics did not detect any.)