The computer restarted unexpectedly Windows installation cannot proceed Windows 11

During Windows 10 installation or Windows update, you may get the error message that reads “The computer restarted unexpectedly loop Windows 10 or encountered an unexpected error. Windows installation cannot proceed. To install Windows, click OK to restart the computer, and then restart the installation”.

No matter how many times you try to restart your PC and the Windows 10 installation, it would still show this pop up error message. On the error screen, you can’t do anything else other than restarting it again. This could happen in any Windows 10 installation, especially new installation that contains latest updates (particularly the Windows 10 April 2018 version 1803 update for now. It may also happen in future updates).

The computer restarted unexpectedly loop error could also happen in Windows 10 64-bit and 32-bit, Windows 7, Windows 8 or 8.1, and on devices such as surface pro 4, Lenovo, Windows tablet, bootcamp, and even on Mac if you’re installing Windows 10 on your mac as virtual machine.

How to fix The Computer Restarted Unexpectedly Loop Windows 10

Here’s a few solutions you can try to get rid of the The computer restarted unexpectedly loop Windows 10 error. The first solution is what actually works for us and our customers who also have the same loop issue during Windows 10 installation.

Use Registry Editor to edit setup value

After trying all other fixes, this fix is what actually works for us and our customers’ computers which recently also have the same loop issue. We just need to set a new value to the setup.exe entry in registry editor. Here’s how to do it.

1. On The computer restarted unexpectedly loop Windows 10 error message screen, press the SHIFT + F10 keys on your keyboard. This will bring up the command prompt.
2. In the command prompt, type regedit and hit the Enter key.
3. In registry editor, navigate to the following registry entry folder.HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\Setup\Status\ChildCompletion
4. While in the ChildCompletion folder, on the right pane, double-click on setup.exe entry.
5. Under value data, change the value to 3 (by default it should be 1).
6. Close the registry editor and restart your PC.
7. Resume the Windows 10 installation. If it can’t be resumed, restart the installation.

Reset Windows 10

If the fix above doesn’t works, you may want to reset your Windows 10 to its factory default. You do not need to worry about your files as it allows users to choose whether they want to keep their files during the reset. You can, of course, find other solutions elsewhere, but if nothing works, reset is probably the best option here if you are still getting the computer restarted unexpectedly loop Windows 10 error.

To be able to reset Windows 10, we need to boot into Windows recovery mode. To force boot your PC into Windows recovery, use the physical power button on your computer to force power on and off as soon as it starts loading Windows 10. Repeat this for 3 times. When Windows detects too many failed startup attempts, it will boot into Windows RE.

In Windows Recovery, navigate to Advanced options > Troubleshoot > Reset this PC. Follow the on-screen instructions to reset your Windows 10 PC. This option will let you choose to keep or remove your personal files, and then reinstalls Windows 10.

For detailed instruction on how to reset your PC, read: How to reset Windows 10 to factory settings.

Create a new Windows 10 installation Media Disc

If the workaround above doesn’t solve the computer restarted unexpectedly loop Windows 10 issue, try to do a clean install by using a new Windows 10 installation disc and boot from it. This fix requires at least some knowledge of changing the bios boot sequence and be able to run Windows 10 installation. Here’s what you’re going to do.

On another PC that works, go to https://www.microsoft.com/software-download/windows10 and click on the Download tool now. This will download the Windows 10 media creation tool. Run it on the working computer to create a Windows 10 installation disc on an external drive such as a USB flash drive.

When you have the drive ready with you, insert to the computer that stuck in “the computer restarted unexpectedly loop Windows 10”. Go to BIOS and look for boot sequence. Set your BIOS to boot the USB drive first. Restart your PC.

When your computer successfully boot into Windows 10 installation from your USB drive, follow the on-screen instruction to do a clean install of Windows 10.

Description for sharing: A quick workaround to fix "The computer restarted unexpectedly loop" Windows 10 error during Windows 10 Installation or Windows Update using regedit without booting into Windows. This solution also works for Windows 7 and 8.

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