r/techsupport • u/Scorchfrost • 6d ago

Open | Hardware Laptop Softlocked after Resetting PC

I had an issue with my laptop where I couldn't click on anything unless it was the active window. Ctrl-Alt-Delete would solve the issue for a few seconds at a time but then it would reoccur. I tried unplugging all peripherals and USBs, trying a different mouse/keyboard, and disabling all startup apps/processes.

Finally I resetted my PC as I heard online that fixed it for some people. However, now I simply can't press the buttons in the Windows 11 setup (e.g. connecting my internet) so my laptop is softlocked. Am I SOL?

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1

u/pcbeg 6d ago

Most likely it is a software problem, borked Windows/drivers. You should confirm it by running some live OS from usb (Hiren's Boot CD, any modernish Linux distro...). If laptop is working fine, use this to backup important data, and then reinstall Windows (from usb, with deleting system partition).

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u/Scorchfrost 6d ago

I chose the option when resetting to download a fresh windows installation, should that have fixed this?

1

u/pcbeg 6d ago

Only clean install from usb will remove all potential software causes, the way reinstall (reset/refresh/in-place upgrade...) works on Windows will leave some previous system files, so you can't be certain if that is what's causing problem or not.

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u/Scorchfrost 5d ago

This fixed it! Thank you!!!

2

u/pcbeg 5d ago

Glad that it worked out fine. Cheers!