Computer will not boot to Windows 10

This article describes general troubleshooting of computers that are powering up correctly and passing the XUM  BIOS screen at boot-up but do not successfully boot to Microsoft Windows 10. Some symptoms of a computer being in a no boot state:

• The system powers on has video and proceeds past the XUM screen or Motherboard Manufacturer's screen (Screen comes on and goes away, could have the XUM, MSI, Gigabyte, ASUS or ASRock Logo) but Windows does not finish booting
• The Caps Lock key is illuminated when toggled
• The hard drive activity light may flicker, stay on or be off
• An on-screen error message may be present
• No diagnostic codes are present and the power button lights up solid under its normal operating colour
• Operating system sounds are not heard

Table of Contents:

1. Verify the Computer Finishes Initial Power-Up (POST)
2. Unplug all external devices and perform a hard reset
3. Check for Specific Error Messages
4. Reset the BIOS to Default Values
5. Safe Mode Troubleshooting
6. Virus and Malware Troubleshooting
7. Reset your Windows 10 Operating System
8. Restore the Operating System to Factory Settings

Verify the computer finishes initial power-up (POST)

In many cases, a computer will not attempt to hand off control to the operating system. If you power the computer on and you see a XUM logo screen or Motherboard manufacturer's logo screen with a bar at the bottom, and that bar fills up completely and disappears, then your computer has successfully completed POST.

Click Here if Your Computer Does Not Complete POST

 If your hard drive is not recognized, click here

Unplug all external devices and perform a hard reset

A piece of hardware may be interfering with the normal boot process of Windows. Try unplugging all devices from your computer, including:

• Printers
• Scanners
• Media Card Readers
• Small Media cradles (iPod, PDA, MP3 player, etc.)
• Digital Cameras and Video Recorders
• USB storage devices
• CDs or DVDs from all optical drives

The only devices you should leave attached to your computer are your monitor, mouse, and keyboard if the computer is a desktop.

Once this is completed, unplug the computer from the wall, remove the laptop battery (if applicable) and hold the power button down for approximately 15 seconds. Then plug wall power back into the computer and attempt to restart.

Check for specific error messages

Try searching for additional solutions on the Web.
Click on your preferred search engine below, then describe your problem, including any specific error messages.

Search Microsoft Search Google Search Bing 

If you are experiencing a blue screen error on your computer, refer to Windows 10 crashes to a blue screen for common blue screen errors and how to troubleshoot them.

If you are experiencing a black screen that will not go into Windows, refer to Microsoft article Troubleshoot black screen or blank screen errors.

Reset the BIOS to default values

If your computer is set to first attempt to boot to another device, this may cause issues with successfully booting to Windows. To reset your computer's BIOS to factory defaults, perform the following steps:

1. Restart the computer
2. At the XUM logo or Motherboard manufacturer's logo during restart, tap the F2 key repeatedly until you see Entering Setup in the top right corner of the screen.
3. Depending on the BIOS, you may need to press a key listed at the bottom of the screen to load default settings.
4. Press ESC to exit the BIOS, and be sure to select Save and Exit to save your changes.
   Note: For Windows-based tablets, perform the following steps instead.

   1. With the tablet completely off, press the Power Button, and then immediately press and hold down the Volume Down until the System Setup page (BIOS) appears (if the tablet boots to Windows, try again).
   2. Touch or click Load Defaults.
   3. Touch or click OK.
   4. Touch or click Exit, if the tablet does not automatically reboot.

Safe Mode Troubleshooting

The software may be causing your system to not boot properly. For more information on booting to Safe Mode, and to troubleshoot using clean boot troubleshooting, refer to the following links:

• How to Boot to Safe Mode in Windows 10

Clean boot troubleshooting

A clean boot is performed to start Windows by using a minimal set of drivers and startup programs. This helps eliminate software conflicts that occur when you install a program or an update or when you run a program in Windows 10. You may also troubleshoot or determine what conflict is causing the problem by performing a clean boot.

• How to perform a clean boot in Windows

Virus and malware troubleshooting

Your computer may be affected by a virus or other malicious software. XUM recommends strengthening your PC against malicious attacks by keeping your antivirus software up-to-date.
View our Virus and Spyware Removal Guide

Reset your Windows 10 operating system

If your system files have been damaged, a reset of Windows 10 reinstall these files without damaging your data. After the third attempt to boot has failed, Windows 10 will automatically boot into the Windows Recovery Environment (WinRE). Follow these steps to reset Windows 10:

1. At the Choose an option screen, select Troubleshoot.
2. At the Troubleshoot screen, select Reset this PC.
3. At the Reset, this PC screen, select Keep my files.
4. Select your user account and enter the password if prompted.
5. Select Reset.
6. Windows will perform the reset process

Restore the operating system to factory settings

If the previous troubleshooting could not resolve your issue, it may be necessary to restore your computer to factory settings. To restore your computer's operating system and software to the original factory settings, refer to XUM Knowledge Base article, "Reset or reinstall Windows 10"