I recently rolled back from Windows 11 to Windows 10 after my PC updated without my consent, and now I'm facing a frustrating boot loop. It displays a message saying 'Restoring your previous version of Windows...' before crashing with a blue screen error (SYSTEM_SERVICE_EXCEPTION, ntfs.sys). After crashing, it restarts and repeats this cycle. It's tough to access the recovery menu, but occasionally it pops up. I'm looking for solutions to resolve this issue without losing any of my data. Here are my PC specs:
- CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 2600G 6-Core 3400 MHz
- Motherboard: MSI B450M Mortar Max
- GPU: Radeon RX 570
- RAM: 2x 8GB Kingston DDR4 Fury Black
- Storage: 250GB Kingston SSD + 1TB Seagate Barracuda HDD
- PSU: Silverstone 500W
- OS: Windows 11 (rolling back to Windows 10)
3 Answers
When the recovery menu shows up, try navigating to the Command Prompt option. Once there, type in 'C:', hit enter, then 'cd C:WindowsMinidump' and enter again. Check for files with the command 'dir'. If you see any, use a USB drive to copy them over so you can upload them later for troubleshooting. If you can't access the Minidump, don't worry; I'll help you find other ways to resolve this problem!
To get past that boot loop, try doing three hard restarts in a row. This should boot you into the Windows Recovery Environment (WinRE). From there, you can reinstall Windows without losing any data. Just a heads up, you might need a bootable USB drive made with the Windows Media Creation Tool. If you have access to another Windows PC, that would help! Good luck!
If you manage to get into Windows or Safe Mode, check the C:WindowsMinidump folder for crash log files. These dump files can help diagnose the BSOD issues. You can zip them up and upload them using a file-sharing site like catbox.moe or mediafire.com. It's best to have multiple dump files for a clear analysis, so make sure you follow the right steps to configure your system for MiniDump collection too!
I can try that, but I’m not sure how to access the recovery menu when it's stuck in a boot loop. How do I do that?