After a malware incident, I completely wiped the drive and tried to install a clean copy of Windows 11 from an official ISO. The installer USB was created with Ventoy, and setup starts normally but freezes or suddenly restarts after a few minutes, sending me back to the beginning or the boot menu. The computer did not have this problem before. What should I check next, and could the USB creation method, flash drive, SSD, or another hardware component be responsible?
3 Answers
Start by ruling out the installation media. Re-download the ISO from an official source, use Microsoft's Media Creation Tool instead of Ventoy, and preferably create it on a different USB stick. A bad flash drive or an incompatibility with the boot environment can cause setup to freeze or restart.
The SSD is also worth checking, especially since setup fails while copying or preparing files. Disconnect any other storage drives, verify that the target drive is detected correctly, and try installing to another drive if you have one available. If the installer still reboots with known-good media, the issue may be hardware rather than the erased disk.
If a different USB and a fresh installer do not help, load BIOS defaults and check for unstable settings such as overclocking or an unusual storage mode. Testing the RAM and SSD from a bootable diagnostic tool would be the next step. Repeated sudden restarts can indicate faulty memory, storage, overheating, or power problems.
I would rather avoid changing the BIOS for now, so I’m going to try creating the USB with the official Windows tool first.