I have a Dell Precision 7550 laptop running Windows 11. After turning it on, Windows loads normally, but about one or two minutes later it encounters a critical error and restarts, whether I sign in or remain at the login screen. I previously had to use a recovery flash drive after a startup problem around September 17, 2026. I rolled back the related update and disabled automatic updates, but the same type of crash has now returned. Disabling startup apps made the system respond a little faster, but it did not prevent the restart. I cannot get Safe Mode or the recovery tools to stay open. Shift+Restart opens the recovery menu, but the laptop shuts down after roughly a minute. Some recovery options only blink the screen, while choosing the normal boot option starts Windows as usual. Booting from a newly recreated recovery USB also leads back to the same recovery screen. What troubleshooting steps should I try, and how can I protect my files before reinstalling Windows?
1 Answer
Windows may be damaged badly enough that repair tools are not going to work, so a clean Windows installation from a USB drive may be the practical next step. Before wiping anything, boot a separate live operating system from USB and copy your important files to another drive. If the crashes continue even while running the live environment, that points more toward hardware such as failing RAM or the SSD rather than Windows itself. It would also be wise to test the laptop's memory and storage before reinstalling.
Using a live USB to back up the files should have been obvious, but I completely overlooked it. Thanks for the suggestion. After that, I'll look into setting up the drive with separate Windows, Linux, and storage partitions.