This usually happens when Windows tries to make changes to your PC by installing the new files and settings which were downloaded during the latest update. Therefore, uninstalling the update(s) is the go-to solution to fix it. Additionally, faulty program(s) or damaged system files are also likely offenders. Let’s discuss the other problem-causing features for this issue and their corresponding solutions through this article.
How to Fix Preparing To Configure Windows?
The first thing you should do is wait. When your PC is rebooting with this message on the screen, Windows is trying to solve any issues within the system files or install updates. Therefore, be patient and wait until this process is complete, and do not turn off your system. However, if the configuration process takes a very long time i.e. more than 3 hours to complete or you encounter this situation frequently, there can be other issues causing this error which are listed below.
Perform a Clean Boot
Clean Boot initiates your PC with the least number of drivers and programs, essentially only the ones which are required by the system. Therefore, if your system is facing this error due to some faulty programs during the start-up, clean booting should solve it. Here’s how you do it: Your device will now start in a clean boot environment. Check whether the problem occurs or not. If not, then one or more faulty program(s) in your system is to be blamed. Now, you need to manually find out which program is causing this issue and either disable it during startup or remove it. After you load into Windows in Clean boot, go to Services on msconfig and enable one program that you had previously disabled. Now restart your device. Repeat this process for each application individually until you locate the faulty one. Do the same process for startup apps in the Task Manager. Once you determine the faulty application, either disable or uninstall it.
Uninstall updates
Sometimes, a problematic Windows update is to blame for keeping your PC in an infinite configure loop. After you perform an update, Windows will install the updates during the next start-up phase. Hence, due to issues in the update files or some glitches during installation, Windows can take a long time to complete the configuration or even get stuck. For such a case, uninstall the updates to rejuvenate your computer. Follow along to do so: For Windows 10, For Windows 11,
Run SFC scan
As mentioned earlier, corrupt and broken system files are also one of the likely causes of this problem, since the configuration is the stage when Windows uses these files to make necessary changes to the system. Therefore, run the System File Checker (SFC) scan to scan and restore the broken files. For this,
Run the Check Disk system tool
The system files are stored by default in the C: drive inside your Hard drive. Issues within the hard drive cause file system errors leading to the main problem. So it’s best to look at disk errors and rectify them using the chkdsk tool. Follow the steps to run it: Now when the system restarts, the disk checking tool scans and performs logical repairs to the specified drive, solving your problem.
Reset your PC
Resetting your PC will change all system settings to default and remove all updates. Therefore, this will also remove the faulty files or programs causing the “Preparing to Configure Windows” problem. Reset removes all apps except the default ones. You have the option to either delete or keep your files after the reset. To reset your PC, follow these steps: For Windows 10, For Windows 11, Your PC will restart after a brief time and initiate the reset process.
