Windows 8 Locking Up During Boot

Since I first installed Windows 8 there have been a few things that have been a bit difficult (read: stupid) to get used to, such as a Metro TIFKAM only start menu (FIXED), the ‘requirement’ to have a Microsoft account when installing (FIXED), amongst a few but overall it’s started to become a bit more managable after having made a couple of changes.

However, the one problem that’s been bugging me since day 1 is that the first boot of the day always and always locks up during the Windows loading screen (pictured above). I’d been assuming it was my hardware warming up but it became more than annoying after a while so decided to do a bit of research.

The fix is insanely simple and I’m surprised that Windows doesn’t automatically fix this setting after a few failures.

What causes it:

As it turns out, a lot of people who dual boot their PC have been complaining about similar Windows 8 boot issues (I dual boot with #! CrunchBang Linux) so I imagine that once again, it’s Windows that isn’t playing nicely here. Exactly why, I’m still yet to find out.

How it’s fixed:

  1. Open up the Control Panel and bring up the Power Options
    (use the search box at the top right if it’s buried away)
  2. On the left hand side, click ‘Choose what the power buttons do
    windows8loading-power1

  3. In the System Settings box presented, click ‘Change settings that are currently unavailable
    windows8loading-power2
    You may be prompted with a UAC window asking for permission to continue.
  4. At the bottom of the window, you’ll see a tickbox for ‘Turn on fast-start-up‘. Turn this OFF.
    windows8loading-power3

  5. Finally, click Save changes.

To check this has worked, simply shut down your computer (not reboot!) and switch on again. Problem solved!

One comment

  1. Jon Gibbins says:

    In addition:
    It looks like fastboot also stops wake-on-lan from working too. If you’re struggling with WOL, it’s worth giving this a shot too.

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.