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Stuck on Windows 10 Welcome Screen.

I have been running Windows 10 Pro (latest version) on my Dell Vostro 3500 laptop for several months with no major problems.

After changing my login to bypass a PIN or Password,  I now find that I cannot go further than the welcome screen (see attached) which only reflects 4 icons.

I have tried shift & restart, powering up 3 times, pressing F8 at start up but I am not able to get into a boot mode. Whatever happens I just end up with the welcome screen and nowhere to go.Image

Answer
Answer

Hi Paul -

It appears you are accessing the Advanced Startup Options in Windows 10.  It may be more stable and successful if you access these booting the Windows 10 Installation Media  or  Windows 10 Recovery Drive

If you used a registry edit to try to remove the Sign In screen instead of the method shown in the link I asked you about, you can possible set it right with SFC.  It explains in the link for SFC Scannow to Repair Windows System Files

how to use it, what it does, and what drive letter is most likely needed for referencing the boot and Windows files.  Watch the wording and spacing as it must be precise.

To confirm  what letter the Windows partition has in boot mode, type in Command Prompt:

DISKPART

LIST DISK

SEL DISK # (replace # with the WIndows disk #)

LIST VOL

Determine Windows partition letter (C: in Windows) by it's size, likely D but could be any other.  

If you did indeed remove the Sign In screen correctly as shown in the link I gave you, then you may have serious corruption of the OS which also could be remedied by SFC and if necessary DISM commands from DISM - Repair Windows 10 Image.

But if nothing works then you might want to go ahead and Reset Your Windows 10 PC  which will let you save your files, or if it fails Clean Install Windows 10.  If your files are not backed up you can try to Rescue Files when Windows Won't Start  or during the Clean Install instead of deleting all partitions (to get it cleanest) choose the Windows partition for install but do not delete or format it, and it will create a C:\windows.old folder which will archive your old install with your files under your User name. 

Windows MVP 2010-2020 (ret).
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Last updated April 20, 2025 Views 767 Applies to: