A faulty extension cord caused a breaker to trip while my Windows 11 PC was running. After the first outage, the computer stalled at the motherboard logo with the spinning icon. A forced restart led to "Preparing Automatic Repair," followed by a black screen with a visible cursor. The same outlet problem caused another power interruption while I was troubleshooting.
The electrical issue has now been fixed, but the PC is extremely slow. I tried booting from an older Windows 11 installation USB to repair the boot drive, but it took around 20 minutes just to reach the setup screen, and exiting setup also took a very long time. The USB was not connected during either power cut.
The drives appeared to work normally when I previously entered the BIOS. What should I check next? Could a damaged SSD or hard drive be causing the extreme slowness, and is there a way to test this without immediately disconnecting every drive?
2 Answers
First load the BIOS defaults, then try booting with only the Windows system drive enabled. You may be able to disable the other drives in the BIOS as a quick test, although physically disconnecting them is more reliable because a failing drive can still cause delays during hardware detection. Before attempting repairs, prioritize copying important files if the Windows drive becomes accessible, since repeated forced shutdowns can worsen file-system corruption.
A failing SSD or hard drive is a strong possibility, especially since the system is slow even when booting from installation media. Shut the PC down completely, disconnect power, and test it with the internal drives disconnected. Then enter the BIOS and see whether the menus respond normally. If the BIOS is still sluggish, the problem may be elsewhere, such as the motherboard, power supply, or memory. If the BIOS is responsive but Windows or the installer is slow, reconnect only the drive containing Windows and test again.
I was able to enter the BIOS with the drives connected and it seemed responsive. Is there anything specific I should look for when testing with the drives disconnected?
Can I disable the other drives in the BIOS for an initial test, or is physically unplugging them necessary? I’d prefer to avoid opening the case unless I have to.