Question Windows boot loop after formatting drive ?

Jan 23, 2022
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I formatted my ssd after suspecting my copy of windows had become corrupted and then tried reinstalling it. It will show the bios logo and then the windows logo but after around 5 seconds, the system will restart and repeat the process. I tried swapping my ssd for an old hard drive and had the same results.

I tried changing USB ports and using a different USB for the windows installer. The PC will reach the bios menu just fine without a installation USB.

Edit: tried doing a CMOS reset and nothing changed.
Also tried installing an older version of windows 10 and that didn't work either.
 
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What is this Windows installer usb you mention and how was it prepared? Did you create it yourself using the Windows media creation tool.

You could try downloading a Linux distro (e.g. Linux Mint Mate) and creating a usb (e.g. rufus) and seeing if you can boot successfully from that. That would help narrow down whether its a hardware problem or a Windows problem.
 
Jan 23, 2022
10
0
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What is this Windows installer usb you mention and how was it prepared? Did you create it yourself using the Windows media creation tool.

You could try downloading a Linux distro (e.g. Linux Mint Mate) and creating a usb (e.g. rufus) and seeing if you can boot successfully from that. That would help narrow down whether its a hardware problem or a Windows problem.
It's was made using the windows media creation tool downloaded from the Microsoft website, I'll try booting from a USB and update you whether it works or not.
 
Posting to confirm that it boots perfectly fine on Linux mint from a bootable USB.
When you used the media creation tool, did you choose the option to allow direct writing to a usb or did you choose the option to create an iso file and then use something like rufus to write the iso onto the usb? (My personal opinion is that the iso and rufus method is more reliable).

After the cmos reset, did you check to make sure that the bios was set for Secure Boot?

(And once again, I advocate that every Windows user already have on hand a usb with a Linux distro to help narrow down problems like these so they can tell if its hardware or software as soon as they arise).
 
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Jan 23, 2022
10
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When you used the media creation tool, did you choose the option to allow direct writing to a usb or did you choose the option to create an iso file and then use something like rufus to write the iso onto the usb? (My personal opinion is that the iso and rufus method is more reliable).

After the cmos reset, did you check to make sure that the bios was set for Secure Boot?

(And once again, I advocate that every Windows user already have on hand a usb with a Linux distro to help narrow down problems like these so they can tell if its hardware or software as soon as they arise).
I used Rufus to put the iso file for the bootable Linux USB. I tried doing both Rufus and the media creation tool to put the windows installation on a USB and it did not work both times.

I checked my bios settings and secure boot was already enabled.
 
My final thoughts: does install target drive have a GPT partition identifier and is otherwise totally unallocated? I've done several installs in the last month and this has always worked for me. Is it possible that the iso created by Windows experienced a glitch in creation; maybe a second iso might help but I think you said you already created two. Since the hardware seemed to work perfectly when the Linux usb was booted, there has to be something in the Windows installer and the only alternative I can think of is a new copy or perhaps a new usb stick.
 
Jan 23, 2022
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My final thoughts: does install target drive have a GPT partition identifier and is otherwise totally unallocated? I've done several installs in the last month and this has always worked for me. Is it possible that the iso created by Windows experienced a glitch in creation; maybe a second iso might help but I think you said you already created two. Since the hardware seemed to work perfectly when the Linux usb was booted, there has to be something in the Windows installer and the only alternative I can think of is a new copy or perhaps a new usb stick.
I've already tried removing any partitions but that made no difference, also I tried using several older versions of windows 10 but all had the same problem. Also just tried using windows 8 and it works and got up to the product key screen but it doesn't let you skip it like windows 10, no clue why it works with 8 and not 10.