Obviously, any Windows user when turning off or restarting the computer very often saw the message “Preparing Windows. Do not turn off the computer. " This is normal and concerns either the initial system setup or the installation of important updates. But there are also situations where the message does not disappear for a long time from the screen, and the terminal does not turn off or the system does not start when the system reboots. What is the reason for this, how to get rid of such a problem, read on.
Windows preparation
We will not consider installation of the system now. Apparently, the message “Preparing Windows. Do not turn off the computer ”is mainly due to a malfunction of the hard drive when the operating system files are copied to it, and it is not possible to run them for the initial setup. Here you will either have to check the disk initially, or change it altogether.
Another thing is installing updates. Indeed, after completing the download of critical packages, the message “Preparing Windows. Do not turn off the computer ”indicates that the system is integrating and configuring them. But freezing or looping of these processes can appear completely unexpectedly.
“Preparing Windows. Do not turn off the computer. " Reasons for freezing
What can cause this behavior of the operating system? Apparently, no one can accurately name the cause. But in most cases, it can be assumed that such a failure is associated with services that oversee the search and installation of downloaded packages.
In other words, failures are observed in the Update Center. Either its components are damaged, or the service does not work correctly, or something really happened with the hard drive. Get rid of the situation when the notification “Preparing Windows. Do not turn off the computer ”hangs too long, and the system does not show signs of life, it is impossible to use a normal reboot (a message may appear again during restart). Therefore, radical methods will have to be applied.
How to solve the problem in the simplest way?
The first proposed solution is to use a safe start. For systems below the tenth version, at the very beginning of the boot, you must use the standard entry in the advanced menu by pressing the F8 key, after which the last successful configuration download is selected.
If this does not help, and upon restart, the message "Preparing Windows. Do not turn off the computer ”for a long time does not disappear from the screen, again working with updates, you can force a reboot of the system several times in order to start automatic recovery.
If this did not happen, the best option would be to boot in safe mode, after which you will need to roll back yourself using either the standard recovery partition in the Control Panel, or by launching the command console with the line rstrui.exe and then selecting the rollback point.
Note: in Windows 10 of different assemblies, entering safe mode can be done through the diagnostic menu or when starting from removable media.
Disabling Update Center
So, we assume that the system in safe mode still booted. The first step is to deactivate the Update Center service.
In the OS below the tenth modification, you can disconnect directly in the corresponding section of the "Control Panel". In Windows 10, this procedure is performed exclusively through the services section. We will build on precisely this section, since this solution is universal for all Windows systems.
First you need to enter the editor using the “Run” console and the services.msc command, find the “Update Center” there, right-click or double-click to open the parameter editing window, stop the service, set its startup type to disabled, and then restart system.
Removing updates
However, it happens that, for example, the corresponding message in Windows 10 ("Preparing Windows. Do not turn off the computer") appears again only because the updates have already been downloaded, but the system is persistently trying to configure them. To correct the situation, they must be completely removed.
To do this, we load the system all in the same safe mode, go to the programs and components section, select the section for viewing installed updates and delete the last downloaded packages. Since the service responsible for the operation of the Update Center is in a deactivated state, it does not make sense to run a manual search with the exception of failed updates. Upon completion of the removal, we reboot. In theory, the system should boot in normal mode.
Other possible causes and solutions
Now briefly about why the message "Preparing Windows. Do not turn off the computer ”may appear cyclically upon reboot. Perhaps the situation is related to viral exposure. If the start is not possible even in safe mode, you need to check the computer with some disk program, such as Kaspersky Rescue Disk, indicating the scan of all boot records, hidden objects and existing partitions.
In case of damage to the hard disk, you should start from removable media and check the hard drive for errors using the recovery attributes of damaged sectors.
If safe boot at least somehow works, it’s possible to restore the disk by using the HDD Regenerator program . Hopes for a favorable outcome, of course, are few, but worth a try. Reviews about this application are rather ambiguous, therefore it is impossible to advise it as a mandatory tool.
Now you know what to do if you see the words "Preparing windows. Do not turn off the computer."