As useful as the Windows 10 startup repair tool can be for troubleshooting when it fails, it can get stuck and make it impossible to boot into Windows 10. If you’ve found yourself stuck in the Windows 10 automatic repair loop, here are some ways to fix it and get your PC up and running again.

Windows 10 includes a variety of different troubleshooting and repair tools designed to make the process of solving common Windows problems much more accessible than in previous versions of the operating system. One such tool is Startup Repair, which can fix problems with Windows starting up. If there’s a problem with a driver, service, or file that might be causing your PC to boot up, Startup Repair should be able to fix it for you.

Sometimes, however, the problem cannot be solved. In that case, you will end up in an automatic repair loop, where Windows cannot boot because of the problem that is occurring. If the program does try, the only thing it can do is continue to run Startup Repair.

This loop can manifest itself in a black screen that gets stuck on Preparing Automatic Repair or Diagnosing Your PC. You may also get the Preparing Automatic Repair text on a blue screen, or it may complete the Startup Repair action but tell you that Automatic repair couldn’t fix your PC. At that point, you can restart, but you’ll just be sent back to the Automatic Repair loop. You also have an Advanced Options button, which may give you even more choices to fix the problem, which we’ll discuss below.