Strange Problem With Windows 11 Booting

Thread Starter

MrAl

Joined Jun 17, 2014
11,388
Hello,

This is a strange problem but maybe you have some idea what is going on.

When i boot to win 11 it goes into the bios screen first. The only way to get to the desktop is to "load defaults" then "save settings and exit", then it goes to the desktop.
However, if i unplug the power brick (wall wart) and let the energy bleed out (LED light goes out) then it boots normally to win 11 desktop. If i dont do that it always boots to bios only.

This computer came with Win 11 preinstalled and runs with a power brick which plugs into the computer. It has a power button that you can press to boot up, and if you dont unplug the power brick and let it drain first, it boots to bios, but if you do let it drain first, then it boots to the win 11 desktop.

Also, if i disable the internal SSD drive that has win 11 installed on it and just enable an external USB drive, it still boots into Windows 11.

What i suspect here is that Windows 11 is different than previous OS's in that it partly controls the bios, which is very unlike other op sys's. That could mean that it does not 'listen' to some bios settings. I cant be sure about this i was hoping someone else has more info i cant seem to find anything useful on the web.

Any ideas or suggestions?
If i cant fix this i have to return the computer and i hate to do that because it's a nice computer and fits my needs very well.

Thanks very much for any ideas or anything else that might help.

Sincerely,
MrAl
 

MrSalts

Joined Apr 2, 2020
2,767
Sounds like it is setup for a dual boot. If a Linux OS or a second bootable windows version is on one the disks, then it needs to know which one to boot from. You should be able to go into the bios to set the boot order (which discs to boot from when they are available). Usually,the preferred is a USB so you can plug one in and it will automatically boot from there is you have a problem. If that is causing the problem, you can check your usb devices and make sure other OS versions are somehow deleted or disabled.
 

MaxHeadRoom

Joined Jul 18, 2013
28,617
Hello,
This is a strange problem but maybe you have some idea what is going on.

MrAl
Similar to an issue I have, I picked up a second used HP PC, previously owned by a gamer, I think.
It has a WIN10 upgrade from WIN8.
When I power up, I get the HP logo, it then just sits there, I tried all number of keys to see if it continuous, no luck.
The only thing I have to do, is push the OFF button until it powers down, then immediately push the start button again. it Boots up normal.
HP have not been much help.
 

KeithWalker

Joined Jul 10, 2017
3,063
I had a similar problem. When I turned on the computer, it would hang up before it loaded Windows. If I turned off the power and back on again, it booted OK. I finally solved the problem but still don't quite understand why: I had a non-system disk in the CD drive. This somehow stopped the operating system loading from the hard drive. When I removed it, everything booted up correctly.
 

Thread Starter

MrAl

Joined Jun 17, 2014
11,388
Sounds like it is setup for a dual boot. If a Linux OS or a second bootable windows version is on one the disks, then it needs to know which one to boot from. You should be able to go into the bios to set the boot order (which discs to boot from when they are available). Usually,the preferred is a USB so you can plug one in and it will automatically boot from there is you have a problem. If that is causing the problem, you can check your usb devices and make sure other OS versions are somehow deleted or disabled.
Well first thing i looked at was the boot order and it was correct, and did not change. After some other searching i was lost.
 

Thread Starter

MrAl

Joined Jun 17, 2014
11,388
Similar to an issue I have, I picked up a second used HP PC, previously owned by a gamer, I think.
It has a WIN10 upgrade from WIN8.
When I power up, I get the HP logo, it then just sits there, I tried all number of keys to see if it continuous, no luck.
The only thing I have to do, is push the OFF button until it powers down, then immediately push the start button again. it Boots up normal.
HP have not been much help.
That's interesting, do you know if that Win10 you have uses "secure boot"?
I have a feeling that is at the heart of these problems.
 

Thread Starter

MrAl

Joined Jun 17, 2014
11,388
I had a similar problem. When I turned on the computer, it would hang up before it loaded Windows. If I turned off the power and back on again, it booted OK. I finally solved the problem but still don't quite understand why: I had a non-system disk in the CD drive. This somehow stopped the operating system loading from the hard drive. When I removed it, everything booted up correctly.
Did you check the boot order? If it tries to boot to another drive of any kind, it may not go to the next drive in line automatically.
 

KeithWalker

Joined Jul 10, 2017
3,063
Did you check the boot order? If it tries to boot to another drive of any kind, it may not go to the next drive in line automatically.
Yes, I had checked the boot order. It was purposely set to try the CD drive first in case of a hard drive problem. Unfortunately, the game disk that I had forgotten in the CD drive stopped the boot. It took a few days to solve the problem.
 

MaxHeadRoom

Joined Jul 18, 2013
28,617
Yes, I had checked the boot order. It was purposely set to try the CD drive first in case of a hard drive problem. Unfortunately, the game disk that I had forgotten in the CD drive stopped the boot. It took a few days to solve the problem.
I think I solved my problem from your post #4,
I looked into the system - Gaming - settings and it was set to ON, turned everything in there to off, and now boots OK. :cool:
 

Thread Starter

MrAl

Joined Jun 17, 2014
11,388
Hi,

Happy to hear you guys got your problem solved.
I think mine is related to the new 'secure boot' functionality and i am still looking into this. Windows 10 does not enforce that law, but windows 11 does. This all may change in the future though.
So i am wondering if this functionality is to protect the system from a 3rd party loading the computer with junk, then forcing a reboot. If the system reboots automatically it can install just about anything it wants to install without you knowing it. If it forces you into bios, you have to reload the defaults. Just some guesses here though im totally lost right now none of my other computers in the past 40 years did this, and that includes the newer ones from around 1998 to present.
 

MrChips

Joined Oct 2, 2009
30,701
Just in case this applies to you, I experienced something similar.
It turned out that I had a USB stick plugged into the computer and it had some kind of Live OS installed.
 

geekoftheweek

Joined Oct 6, 2013
1,201
Something about this sparked my curiosity... I think my battery comment is wrong. Something about having to "Load Defaults" and save to get it to start made me think the settings were getting lost.

Something makes me think it is not shutting down correctly. Windows does not restart every time you "turn off" your computer. Instead it goes into a state of sleep where an image is stored in memory and by unplugging and letting the power bleed off you are forcing it to boot fresh without the stored image. It may be worth a try to disable sleep and hibernation modes in your power settings and see if that makes a difference. I don't know how the secure boot would work with the stored image, but there is a good possibility the two aren't playing nicely.

I would also bet that booting from a USB drive would disable the normal sleep / hibernation scheme and go through a fresh boot every time which may explain why it works... although I really don;t know.

I'll admit I don't use Windows myself at home and I can say restarting the laptop I use at work fixes it 99.9% of the time. It has problems with a USB driver not unloading correctly if things aren't done in the right order.

Here's a good video to explain things better than I can.

Good luck... I just wanted to give it a shot
 

Thread Starter

MrAl

Joined Jun 17, 2014
11,388
Is the system clock right when it goes into setup? Wondering if the bios battery is dead.
Hello,

Well i checked the clock and with power completely disconnected, and when power is again applied and boot up to bios the clock is still correct. So i guess that is a good test for the CMOS battery? It would be hard to measure the voltage on this one.
 

Thread Starter

MrAl

Joined Jun 17, 2014
11,388
Just in case this applies to you, I experienced something similar.
It turned out that I had a USB stick plugged into the computer and it had some kind of Live OS installed.
Hi,

Oh right i'll have to be careful about that too, but in this case i dont have anything plugged in so it's a bit mysterious.
 

Thread Starter

MrAl

Joined Jun 17, 2014
11,388
Something about this sparked my curiosity... I think my battery comment is wrong. Something about having to "Load Defaults" and save to get it to start made me think the settings were getting lost.

Something makes me think it is not shutting down correctly. Windows does not restart every time you "turn off" your computer. Instead it goes into a state of sleep where an image is stored in memory and by unplugging and letting the power bleed off you are forcing it to boot fresh without the stored image. It may be worth a try to disable sleep and hibernation modes in your power settings and see if that makes a difference. I don't know how the secure boot would work with the stored image, but there is a good possibility the two aren't playing nicely.

I would also bet that booting from a USB drive would disable the normal sleep / hibernation scheme and go through a fresh boot every time which may explain why it works... although I really don;t know.

I'll admit I don't use Windows myself at home and I can say restarting the laptop I use at work fixes it 99.9% of the time. It has problems with a USB driver not unloading correctly if things aren't done in the right order.

Here's a good video to explain things better than I can.

Good luck... I just wanted to give it a shot
Hi and thanks. I'll have to give this some thought. I'll check out the video next.
 
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