“Recovery it looks like Windows didn’t load correctly” is a common error message during the PC startup process in Windows 11/10. If you are hit by this issue when booting your Dell or Lenovo, take it easy and MiniTool collects multiple methods to fix it easily.

It Looks Like Windows Didn’t Load Correctly Windows 11/10 Dell/Lenovo

According to users who are using a Dell or Lenovo, the error message “Recovery it looks like Windows didn’t load correctly” appears on your computer when trying to boot or recover the PC. Sometimes your PC accidentally stops working with a blue screen and after a restart, you get the error. Sometimes Windows not loading correctly appears randomly. See an example from a Windows 11 user:

Windows didn’t load correctly

The screen gives you two options – See advanced repair options and Restart my PC. To troubleshoot the issue, click the first one. If you would like to restart and try again, click the second one. The error screen is shown below:

recovery it looks like Windows didn’t load correctly

This issue is mainly triggered by damaged Windows files, missing/corrupt BCD, compromised system integrity, etc. It usually happens on Windows 11, 10, and 8. After knowing the reasons to some extent, you can find out how to fix them. Of course, some other solutions are also can help. Now, let’s go to the next part to figure out what you should do.

Tips:

Sometimes you see another error when performing an automatic repair – “Automatic Repair, Your PC did not start correctly." To find solutions, refer to this post - 7 Solutions: Your PC Did Not Start Correctly Error in Windows 10.

Fixes for It Looks Like Windows Didn’t Load Correctly Dell/Lenovo

Enter Safe Mode

Safe Mode is a diagnostic mode in Windows and it boots the system with the minimum drivers and services. When it comes to PC troubleshooting, entering Safe Mode is a safe and reliable way. If you are plagued by the issue of Windows not loading correctly, try this way.

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Step 1: On the Recovery page, click on See advanced repair options to enter the troubleshooting interface. Alternatively, you can restart your PC several times when seeing the Windows logo to enter the WinRE page.

Step 2: Click Troubleshoot > Advanced options and you can see several options.

Step 3: Click Startup Settings > Restart. Then, you see the following figure and press F4 or F5 to open Safe Mode.

Windows 10 Safe Mode

In Safe Mode, you can run a quick diagnostic, for example, uninstall suspicious software or a recently installed driver. To uninstall the driver, go to Device Manager, locate the driver, and right-click on it to choose Uninstall device. To uninstall an app, go to Control Panel > Uninstall a program, right-click on the program and choose Uninstall.

After that, restart your Dell or Lenovo PC to see if the error “it looks like Windows didn’t load correctly” is fixed. If not, continue the troubleshooting.

Turn Off Hybrid Sleep

According to some users, the Hybrid Sleep feature can cause the error of Windows not loading correctly in Windows 10/11. To fix this issue, make sure you disable Hybrid Sleep and see how to do it:

Step 1: In Safe Mode, type Control Panel into the search box and click this app to open it. View items by large icons.

Step 2: Click Power Options > Change plan settings.

Step 3: Click the Change advanced power settings link to open the Advanced settings tab.

Step 4: Expand Sleep > Allow hybrid sleep and then change On to Off.

disable Hybrid Sleep

Step 5: Click Apply > OK.

Run SFC and DISM Scans

Sometimes Windows not loading correctly is triggered by corrupted system files. To get rid of this issue from Windows 10/11, you need to fix the corruption in the Windows system. To do this work, System File Checker (SFC) is helpful. Besides, you can run a DISM scan to repair bad system images. See how to do the scans:

Step 1: In Safe Mode, type cmd to the search box, right-click on Command Prompt, and choose Run as administrator. Alternatively, you can boot the PC to WinRE and go to Troubleshoot > Advanced options > Command Prompt.

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Step 2: Type sfc /scannow and press Enter to begin the scan. This scan will take some time and wait patiently.

sfc scannow Windows 10

Tips:

SFC isn’t always working and sometime it may get stuck. If you encounter this issue, go to find solutions from our previous post - Windows 10 SFC /Scannow Stuck at 4/5/30/40/73, etc.? Try 7 Ways.

Step 3: After the SFC scan, run a DISM scan. Just execute these commands one by one, as shown below. Remember to press Enter after each one.

Dism /Online /Cleanup-Image /ScanHealth

Dism /Online /Cleanup-Image /CheckHealth

Dism /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth

Run CHKDSK

Sometimes the file system is corrupted or there are bad blocks on the hard drive, as a result, “Recovery it looks like Windows didn’t load correctly” appears on your Windows 11/10 PC. In this case, it is necessary to run the CHKDSK scan.

Step 1: Open Command Prompt (as shown in the above way).

Step 2: Type chkdsk /f /r and press Enter to check for file system errors and hard drive errors, and then fix the found errors and recover the readable information from the bad sectors.

Tips:

If you want to know the difference between chkdsk /f and /r, refer to this article - CHKDSK /F or /R | Difference Between CHKDSK /F and CHKDSK /R.

Rebuild BCD

If the BCD files in Windows 11/10 are missing or corrupted, the error “it looks like Windows didn’t load correctly” may appear on the screen. To fix it, try to rebuild BCD. In WinRE, go to Troubleshoot > Advanced options > Command Prompt. After opening Command Prompt, type bootrec /rebuildbcd and press Enter.

rebuild BCD

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Run Startup Repair

Some users recommend running Startup Repair in Windows Recovery Environment. When seeing the error “Recovery it looks like Windows didn’t load correctly”, click See advanced repair options. Then, go to the Advanced options page and click Startup Repair.

startup repair Windows 10

Perform System Restore

If you have a habit of backup via System Restore, you can use a restore point to revert Windows 11/10 to an earlier state to fix Windows not loading correctly on Dell, Lenovo, etc. PC.

Step 1: Click System Restore in WinRE.

Step 2: You can use the recommended restore point or choose to use a different restore point.

Step 3: Then, click Finish to start the restoration operation.

If there are no restore points created previously, this way cannot fix your issue.

Reset Your PC

If all of the above ways fail to solve your issue, the last resort to remove “it looks like Windows didn’t load correctly” from Windows 10/11 is PC resetting. This operation can help to reinstall your system.

Windows 11 gives you an option to keep your personal files during the resetting process. But if you save some important files on your desktop, we still recommend you to back up them in advance to avoid unexpected data loss.

Back up Data Before You Do

To back up significant files/folders, you can seek help from a piece of professional and free backup software. MiniTool ShadowMaker is worth trying. This backup program allows you to easily create a system image, back up your important data via image backup or sync, and clone a hard drive for disk upgrade/disk backup.

To back up your files when encountering the error “it looks like Windows didn’t load correctly”, it is a bit difficult but you can use MiniTool ShadowMaker to create a bootable USB drive on a working PC and boot the unbootable PC from that drive. Then, back up data with the Bootable Edition of this backup software.

MiniTool ShadowMaker TrialClick to Download100%Clean & Safe

Step 1: Download and install MiniTool ShadowMaker on another PC. Then, launch it to the Tools interface and click Media Builder to create a bootable USB drive.

MiniTool ShadowMaker media builder

Step 2: On your problematic PC, go to BIOS, change the boot sequence to let Windows start up from the bootable drive, and then enter the MiniTool recovery environment.

Step 3: Launch MiniTool ShadowMaker to its Backup page, choose files/folders you want to back up, specify a storage path and click the Back up Now button to execute the data backup.

To know more information about the backup steps, refer to our previous post – How to Back up Data without Booting Windows? Easy Ways Are Here.

Reset Your PC

After finishing the file backup, follow the steps below to reset the PC with the error Windows not loading correctly.

Step 1: Boot your PC to WinRE by restarting the machine several times when seeing the Windows logo.

Step 2: Go to Troubleshoot > Reset this PC.

Step 3: Choose the Keep my files option to continue.

reset this PC

Step 4: Select Cloud download or Local reinstall. If you don’t know which one to choose, refer to this post – Cloud Download vs Local Reinstall: Differences on Win 10/11 Reset.

Step 5: Continue the resetting operation by following the on-screen wizards.

“Get the error ‘Recovery it looks like Windows didn’t load correctly’ in Windows 11/10? After trying these ways, it can be easily removed. You can share these solutions with more persons on Twitter.”Click to Tweet

Recover Data from Your Unbootable PC

Sometimes when encountering the situation – it looks like Windows didn’t load correctly Windows 11/10, you choose to recover data before fixing it to avoid additional trouble. Well then, how to do this task? Data recovery is not easy but things can turn simple if you use professional data recovery software – MiniTool Power Data Recovery.

It enables you to recover files from a variety of situations like an unbootable PC, inaccessible hard drive, formatted/lost/deleted/RAW partition, Windows update, etc. In case of Windows not loading correctly, you can also easily get your data from the hard disk.

Just get a paid edition like Personal Ultimate to create a bootable USB drive by clicking the CD icon and then run the machine from that drive. Launch the bootable edition of this program for data recovery. Just go to the Devices tab and click Scan after hovering your mouse over the system disk. Wait some time until the scan finishes. Then, find what you want to recover, choose them and click Save.

MiniTool Power Data Recovery

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Bottom Line

Run your PC but get a blue screen saying “Recovery it looks like Windows didn’t load correctly” in Windows 11/10? To remove this error from your Lenovo or Dell computer, you can try the above solutions collected by us. Just have a shot one by one by following the steps. Of course, if you figure out some other workarounds, welcome to share them with us. Thanks a lot.

It Looks Like Windows Didn’t Load Correctly FAQ

What to do when it says it looks like Windows didn't load correctly?

There are many solutions you can try:

  1. Enter Safe Mode
  2. Turn off Hybrid Sleep
  3. Run SFC and DISM Scans
  4. Run CHKDSK
  5. Rebuild BCD
  6. Perform Startup Repair
  7. Run System Restore
  8. Reset PC

What causes Windows to not start correctly?

File system corruption, missing/corrupt BCD, compromised system integrity, a buggy driver and software, and more can cause Windows to not load correctly.

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