How Do I Get out of “Diagnosing Your PC” Loop?

After installing the latest Windows feature update, your computer may occasionally get stuck on an automatic repair loop. The OS keeps saying that it’s diagnosing your PC, but there’s no real progress going on. Force restarting your device rarely helps. If you’re experiencing similar issues, follow the troubleshooting steps below.

What to Do When Windows Gets Stuck on “Diagnosing Your PC”

Turn off Your PC Three Times and Run Automatic Repair

1. First, unplug all the external devices connected to your computer. Unplug your router as well. Make sure your computer can’t connect to the Internet.
2. Press and hold the Power button until your machine turns off.
3. Press the Power button again to restart the machine. Repeat this process three times.
4. After you boot up your device for the third time, let it load. The “Preparing Automatic Repair” message should appear on the screen shortly.
5. Go to Advanced Options, and select Troubleshoot.
6. Then select Advanced Options, and click on Startup Repair.
7. Wait for 30 minutes until the repair process is over. Enable your Internet connection afterward.
8. If the repair tool fails to fix the problem, go to the next step and uninstall the update.

Uninstall the Update

Most likely, the update files failed to install properly. That’s why your computer is stuck in that repair loop trying to diagnose your PC.

1. When your machine arrives at the Automatic Repair screen, select Advanced options.
2. Go to Troubleshoot, and then select More options.
3. Go to Uninstall updates.
4. Simply hit Uninstall latest feature update.
5. Enter your admin password when prompted. Wait until your computer finishes uninstalling the update. Check if you can boot up your machine normally.

Use a USB Recovery Drive

If your PC won’t boot up, you can use a USB recovery drive to fix the problem. You need a 16GB USB flash drive to create and store a recovery image. If you don’t have a recovery image, you can create one using a second computer.

1. Press the power button to turn off your machine.
2. Then insert your recovery USB drive into your computer.
3. When prompted, select the option that allows you to boot up your machine from the USB drive, instead of your hard drive.
4. Select Recover from a drive to reinstall the OS from the bootable USB drive.
   • Note: Keep in mind that your apps and files will be permanently removed.
5. Select the Recover option to launch the process.
6. Wait until your device reinstalls Windows.

Conclusion

If your Windows computer is stuck on the “Diagnosing Your PC” screen, turn it off three times in a row and then rerun Automatic repair. If the problem persists, enter Advanced troubleshooting, and uninstall the problematic update. As a last resort, reinstall the OS using an external bootable USB recovery drive. Did you find other ways to troubleshoot the problem? Let us know in the comments below.