Earlier this week, I restarted my PC and it began restarting repeatedly at the ASRock motherboard logo. Occasionally it displays "Preparing automatic repair," but it never reaches Windows. I created a Windows installation USB to attempt a repair, yet that also only shows the Windows logo for 15–30 seconds before rebooting, so I cannot reach the repair or installation menus.
I checked the boot SSD in an M.2 enclosure with CrystalDiskInfo, which reports 92% health. I tested each of my four RAM sticks individually, but the behavior remained unchanged. I also updated the BIOS, replaced the CMOS battery, disconnected all drives except the boot and SATA M.2 drives, and confirmed the boot order. The motherboard's Dr. Debug display cycles through normal-looking codes and then turns off without showing an error.
I have not changed the hardware recently, and the system was working normally aside from installing Windows updates. I'm wondering whether this is still likely to be a Windows problem or whether I should focus on hardware, and what diagnostic steps I can try next. My system has a Ryzen 7 5700G, ASRock X470 Fatal1ty Gaming K4, 32 GB of Trident Z RGB DDR4-3200, Radeon RX 6900 XT, Crucial T500 1 TB NVMe boot drive, additional SATA SSDs and a hard drive, a Corsair RM1000X PSU, and Windows 11 Pro.
2 Answers
Since the Windows installer itself also reboots before displaying its menus, this points more toward a hardware or firmware problem than a damaged Windows installation. A useful next test is a Linux live USB. If the computer can boot and run Linux from USB, the core hardware is probably functional and you can focus on the Windows drive or installation. If it reboots there too, continue troubleshooting the hardware with a minimal configuration.
A fresh Windows installation would normally be worth trying, but you first need to get the installer to stay running long enough to reach the setup screen. Because even the installation media crashes, reinstalling Windows probably isn’t the first step. Try the live operating-system test and boot with only the essential components connected.
I can’t currently reach either the repair options or the clean-install screen. Booting from the installation USB only shows the Windows logo on a black background for a short time before the PC restarts again.