What to do after booting into safe mode?

Question

My Win10 sometimes gets stuck during login (after I type in the password).

Booting into safe mode with networking loads OK. But now, what should I do in order to fix the normal login issue?

All the guides I found explain how to boot into safe mode, but not what to do next.

Answer 1

Safe mode loads only the bare minimum, Microsoft-only, components needed to start the computer. If it works in safe mode but has problems with a normal boot, it means that something that is loaded during startup, other than what's included in safe mode, is causing the problem. So the task is to identify what that is.

If you've been rolling along problem-free and this suddenly started, it's typically one of a few things. For example:

• A problematic update, possibly a compatibility issue.
• Something got corrupted
• You installed software that loads at startup that has a compatibility problem, conflicts with something else, or is defective.

Fixing it depends on the problem, and could include these kinds of things:

• roll back a Windows or software update
• repair corrupted system files
• repair file damage caused by corruption of hard drive sectors
• reinstall software from an uncorrupted source
• reinstall software with modified compatibility settings
• update or upgrade a problem application
• update or upgrade your anti-malware software
• solve a conflict between applications

Once you identify the culprit, the solution may be obvious, or you could post a new question about how to solve that specific problem. There are a couple of approaches for the next step after successfully booting in safe mode.

Find and Fix

So how to identify the offender? This typically comes down to a manual process of trial and error. You start with what's in a safe boot and add items back into the startup, then boot and see if you have a problem. If not, you know those items weren't the problem, so repeat the process.

A way to speed up the process is to test groups of items at a time. If none of them are the problem, you've verified the group in one pass; otherwise, the search is narrowed to a few items.

The first logical step is to try a "clean" boot. This adds other Microsoft-only items to safe mode on the assumption that those items are less likely to be the problem. The procedure is covered in detail here. Basically, you use MSCONFIG to disable non-Microsoft items. If that group turns out to be the source, the problem is likely corruption or a Windows update.

After that, look for groups of items that you either think are unlikely to be the problem or potentially the problem, and add those. Recently added or updated items are a good place to start if you have no clue.

Anti-malware software is a common source of conflicts, but save that for last. If it is causing a problem with another application, you won't see it unless that application is included in the startup, and the solution is typically updating the anti-malware application.

Once you identify what's causing the problem, that drives the required solution.

Fix (and maybe Find and Fix)

Find and Fix might not be too burdensome if you have a barebones installation, it boots from an SSD, and the freeze or crash happens by the time booting or login is done. However, if you load everything but the kitchen sink while booting from a hard drive, and the failure doesn't happen immediately, that can be a long and arduous process. It also requires your dedicated time and attention for the whole thing.

It's very common that once you figure out the offending item, the solution will be rolling back an update, repairing system files, or repairing hard drive corruption. So an alternative approach is to just start with those and see if the problem goes away.

• Uninstall the most recent Windows updates and see if that solves the problem.

• Run the System File Checker:

  1. Open a Command Prompt as Administrator.
  2. Run the command sfc /scannow.
  3. See if that solved the problem.

• Run CHKDSK. This can take hours on a large hard drive, and you shouldn't interrupt it. But you can start it and go do something else until it's done.

  1. Open a Command Prompt as Administrator.
  2. Run the command chkdsk /r c:
  3. You will get a message that it is scheduled for the next boot, so reboot. Once the process has started, go on vacation until it's done (only kidding).
  4. See if that solved the problem.

• If you still have the problem, do Find and Fix as described above.