Windows 10 Crashing Every Other Startup; Sleep seems to fully shut down too

Within the last month or so, my PC has been basically crashing on startup every other boot. It never wavers: First time from a cold start, it starts loading Windows 10, then stops. When I reset via the PC case's reset button, it starts normal. Next time I shut down (or even put it to Sleep mode), the process repeats.

The failure seems to happen in one of two ways. I took a series of small videos (apologies if the video plays sideways):

First attempt to boot up results in no spinner on the Windows 10 load screen. Hangs forever.
Next attempt it boots up normally
Next attempt the spinner seems to crash, and the screen fades to black. Hangs forever.
Next attempt it boots up normally again (no video here).

Like clockwork it is every other boot that fails to start. And as mentioned above, if I even put the computer to sleep (which I normally never do, but for testing this out I've been trying), on wake up it seems to go through the same process as a cold start.

What it is not

Windows 10 Anniversary Update: This problem predates the installation of the Windows 10 Anniversary update/edition on my PC.
Peripheral hardware (except the monitor I guess): Tried booting with nothing plugged in except the monitors shown in the above video.

What might've caused it

I had Catalyst Control Center installed for years now. I don't know when, but at some point (when I started digging) it enabled some Adaptive Sleep Service, which kept changing my Power Options to things like "make the hard disk shut off after 3 minutes of inactivity" and other such nonsense. I only started digging when this problem first started to occur.
- Eventually I just uninstalled CCC altogether and manually disabled the service that kept resetting my power options. Currently my Power Options are back at what they were: Turn off the display after 1 hour, and that's it. No other auto-power options are enabled.

PC Details

Winver (Windows 10 Pro; Version 1607, OS Build 14393.51)
16 GB RAM
CPU
Graphics
Any additional information available upon request.

Scott

Posted 2016-08-14T17:36:05.483

Reputation: 557

I do not have an answer. But I can suggest you make a "Reset PC". Last day I got the Anniversary Update, and my computer was slow at any task. I had made the upgrade to Windows 10 from a Windows 7 that I had working for years. So I chose the "Reset PC" option, that keeps user files, but reinstalls the OS. I had to reinstall all programs, but this is not a big deal, an hour work. Now my Windows 10 (1607, build 14393.51) works perfectly well. So, you could always move to this last resort - "Reset PC" with keeping user files. – Victor Ivanov – 2016-08-14T18:09:18.253

Yeah, that's a solution I'm keeping in my back pocket for now. I've been running Windows 10 for months now, without issue. Only recently did this start becoming a thing. That's kind of a last resort option for me, though I realize that might be the only option I have. – Scott – 2016-08-14T18:29:22.603

Had a similar problem when upgraded from Win 7 to Win 10. My netbook-Asus 1215N. After I upgraded to Win10, every time I did a cold start, it reached to the Windows logo with several spinning dots, then a slight creaky sound like from the HDD, and stopped to a full Power Off. If I press again the Power button, it then started absolutely normally. As in your case, this was every second time from a cold start. I had used BCDedit before, I thought it is the problem. Now, after "Reset PC", I do NOT have the problem! I see a new-made BottSect file. http://vi8.info/pic/2016-08/Changed-Boot.jpg

– Victor Ivanov – 2016-08-15T09:22:18.170