Ask a new question

Stuck before login screen

Hello-

I have a Lenovo thinkpad A485 laptop. Yesterday it froze and wouldn't respond to ctrl-alt-dlt so I hard restarted it with the power button. When it turned back on, it went through the Lenovo screen like normal, but instead of loading the login screen, it loads a blank screen with the date and time. If I click on the screen, the date/time goes away and I get 3 small icons (wifi, accessibility, and power) down on the bottom right. From here, I can hit the windows key + i to make my profile picture appear. A spinny loading symbol appears underneath it (where the login box should be), but it just spins for awhile and then eventually goes back to the original date/time screen . I've read through some of the help posts from users with a similar problem. People have suggested:

-shift + restart (this makes my computer freeze)

-restart or power off/on + f8 (either freezes or just brings me to the same stuck screen)

-hard restart, either 3x or repeatedly (same stuck screen)

-sleep (computer goes to sleep but can only be awakened via hard restart)

The only other thing I can do is hit enter to interrupt normal start-up during the Lenovo screen. I then get a menu with several different options including "run hardware diagnostics" (it passed all the tests it ran) and "enter the BIOS setup utility", which gives me many menus and sub-menus that I don't understand. The end goal of most of the earlier help posts was to enter safe mode (via the methods that didn't work for me). Can I enter safe mode through the menus I can access? How do I fix this?

Thanks for your help!

Hi Denise

Do you have any idea when which version of Windows 10 is currently installed? Sometimes preview builds can contain bugs that might prevent it from working properly under certain configurations. Since you have exhausted several troubleshooting options, I would recommend attempting a custom install.

How to: Perform a custom installation of Windows

You can the recover your files from the Windows.old folder.

https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_10-files/recover-personal-files-from-the-windowsold-folder/755e0ea3-b16f-4d5d-89b5-abecfbf68300

Best,
Andre
twitter/adacosta
groovypost.com

Was this reply helpful?

Sorry this didn't help.

Great! Thanks for your feedback.

How satisfied are you with this reply?

Thanks for your feedback, it helps us improve the site.

How satisfied are you with this reply?

Thanks for your feedback.

Hi, Denise_33

My name is Jeffrey and I am an Independent Advisor. I would be happy to help you today.

Try entering Safe Mode to repair

Press and hold the power button for 5 to 10 seconds to perform a complete shutdown

Do this three or more times.

Windows will start in the Recovery Environment and from there you can access System Repair, Safe Mode, Command Prompt

Go to Troubleshoot - Advanced options - Reset this PC

Then you will have 3 options:

Keep my files and applications
Keep my files
Not save anything
Select the option that suits your needs and click Reset

If after executing these steps you still cannot log in, you can create a Windows USB to repair it.

I recommend you look for another computer to create a USB and repair Windows

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-downlo...

https://www.kapilarya.com/how-to-repair-windows...

Note: This is a non-Microsoft website. The page appears to be providing accurate, safe information. Watch out for ads on the site that may advertise products frequently classified as a PUP (Potentially Unwanted Products). Thoroughly research any product advertised on the site before you decide to download and install it.

1 person found this reply helpful

·

Was this reply helpful?

Sorry this didn't help.

Great! Thanks for your feedback.

How satisfied are you with this reply?

Thanks for your feedback, it helps us improve the site.

How satisfied are you with this reply?

Thanks for your feedback.

Hi Andre-

I'm not sure which version of Windows 10 it is. I got the computer in May and it has gone through normal updates and never had issues until now. I'm working through your custom install solution, but am stuck trying to get the ISO burned onto the USB. The problem is that I only have administrative privileges for one computer and that's the one that's not working. I've managed to download the ISO file through the browser onto another computer, but the only option is to burn it to the drive of this computer, not the USB. I've found a bunch of programs online that claim to be able to put it on the USB, but I can't install anything since I don't have admin privileges. Is there a way to move the ISO over without them?

Thanks!

Was this reply helpful?

Sorry this didn't help.

Great! Thanks for your feedback.

How satisfied are you with this reply?

Thanks for your feedback, it helps us improve the site.

How satisfied are you with this reply?

Thanks for your feedback.

Go through these steps to make a bootable copy:

Step 1: Go to another working computer with Internet access, download Windows 10 1803 from the following link:
https://tb.rg-adguard.net/index.php?sid=74a7cf51-12ed-19f5-2885-3b48ad9ee67b

Choose the following:

- Windows Final
- Windows 10, version 1909
- Windows 10 Pro + Home
- English
- x64 (64 bit) x32 (32 bit)

Step 2: create a bootable copy
https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/wiki/windows_10-windows_install/how-to-prepare-bootable-install-media-for-windows/442447c3-0826-4473-a5b7-36568d20ef9d

Step 3: perform a custom install
http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/insider/wiki/insider_wintp-insider_install/how-to-do-a-custom-installation-of-windows/38adfa8c-32f8-4354-8c53-13b5f2cf7e44

Step 4: how to recover your files from Windows.old:
https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_10-files/recover-personal-files-from-the-windowsold-folder/755e0ea3-b16f-4d5d-89b5-abecfbf68300

Best,
Andre
twitter/adacosta
groovypost.com

Was this reply helpful?

Sorry this didn't help.

Great! Thanks for your feedback.

How satisfied are you with this reply?

Thanks for your feedback, it helps us improve the site.

How satisfied are you with this reply?

Thanks for your feedback.

Go through these steps to make a bootable copy:

Step 1: Go to another working computer with Internet access, download Windows 10 1803 from the following link:
https://tb.rg-adguard.net/index.php?sid=74a7cf51-12ed-19f5-2885-3b48ad9ee67b

Choose the following:

- Windows Final
- Windows 10, version 1909
- Windows 10 Pro + Home
- English
- x64 (64 bit) x32 (32 bit)

Step 2: create a bootable copy
https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/wiki/windows_10-windows_install/how-to-prepare-bootable-install-media-for-windows/442447c3-0826-4473-a5b7-36568d20ef9d

Step 3: perform a custom install
http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/insider/wiki/insider_wintp-insider_install/how-to-do-a-custom-installation-of-windows/38adfa8c-32f8-4354-8c53-13b5f2cf7e44

Step 4: how to recover your files from Windows.old:
https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_10-files/recover-personal-files-from-the-windowsold-folder/755e0ea3-b16f-4d5d-89b5-abecfbf68300

Was this reply helpful?

Sorry this didn't help.

Great! Thanks for your feedback.

How satisfied are you with this reply?

Thanks for your feedback, it helps us improve the site.

How satisfied are you with this reply?

Thanks for your feedback.

 
 

Question Info

Last updated March 12, 2024 Views 3,417 Applies to: