How-To

Getting Windows Ready Stuck: How to Fix

By Brian Burgess

Published March 13, 2022

Stuck seeing Getting Windows Ready after an update? It shouldn’t take forever. If you need to fix the problem, try the steps in this guide.

Stuck on a Windows update? There’s nothing worse than seeing Getting Windows Ready stuck on your monitor as the screen icon spins, and spins, and spins, with no ends in sight.

Windows updates can take a while to download and install, but after a while, it’s time to investigate. Unfortunately, the Getting Windows Ready stuck error often occurs when an update glitch happens—seemingly out of nowhere.

If you don’t know how to fix this problem, here are some troubleshooting tips you can try.

Disconnect your Internet Connection

You can often run into the error while the finalization process on an update occurs. For example, Windows is finalizing the update while communicating with Microsoft servers. Unfortunately, the Getting Windows Ready message prevents Windows from getting you to the desktop.

Disconnect your internet cable if you’re plugged in, or if connected wirelessly, disconnect from the Wi-Fi access point. After that, Windows should continue to load correctly to the desktop after disconnecting from the internet.

Hard Reboot Your PC

If the Getting Windows Ready error has been running for over an hour, it’s time to take more drastic actions. First, hard boot your PC. Even if the screen says don’t power off your PC, that’s exactly what you want to do.

Press and hold the power button for 10 seconds or more until it’s completely shut down. After that, please wait a few seconds and fire it back up. After that, your PC should start normally, and it will get past the Getting Windows Ready screen and boot to the desktop.

Boot Into Safe Mode and Run SFC and DISM

Another option you have is booting into the Safe Mode Recovery Environment with the command prompt. You can then run a System File Checker (SFC) scan and a Deployment Image Servicing and Management (DISM) scan to check your PC for corrupted installation files.

To run SFC and DISM:

1. While in Safe Mode, select Troubleshoot > Advanced Options > Startup Settings.
2. Click the Restart button, and under Startup Settings, select Enable Safe Mode with Command Prompt.
3. Launch Command Prompt, enter the following command, and hit Enter:

   sfc / scannow

   

4. If the SFC found corrupt files but couldn’t replace them with working system files, try a DISM scan. It scans for corrupt files and replaces them from Microsoft servers.
5. To run a DISM scan, launch the terminal in Safe Mode, run the following command, and hit Enter.

   DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth

   

Run a Check Disk Scan

Typically, one of the steps above will fix the Getting Windows Ready stuck error, but the issue could run deeper. For example, the following troubleshooting step you want is to run a ChkDsk scan to ensure your drive is free of errors.

To run a ChkDsk scan of your PC’s local drive, do the following:

1. While in the Windows Recovery Environment – Safe Mode, launch the Command Prompt.
2. Run the following command and hit Enter.

   chkdsk /r /f

3. The utility will prompt you to scan the next time you reboot – type Y and press Enter.

Uninstall Windows Updates

If you started getting the Getting Windows Ready stuck error after a particular update, you can uninstall the cumulative update.

To uninstall a troublesome update, use the following steps:

1. Open Start > Settings > Windows Update and select the Update history option under the More options section.
2. Continue to scroll down on the following screen and click the Uninstall updates option under the Related settings section.
3. Now, find the problematic update and uninstall it.

Reset and Restore Your PC

If you’re still having the problem with the Getting Windows Ready stuck error, it’s time to take more drastic action like resetting Windows 11 or if you’re not on 11 yet, reset Windows 10.

The process of resetting either version of Windows is straightforward. However, you’ll want to ensure you select the option to keep your files. Note that settings and apps will be removed, but your personal files will stay intact.

Still, something could go awry with the reset process. First, ensure you’ve created a complete system image backup so then you can restore your PC to a working state afterward.

Installing Windows

Generally, installing Windows and updates is a straightforward process. However, there may come a time when the Getting Windows Ready message gets caught up. Luckily, using the steps above should bet the bug worked out, so you’re up and running again.

For more on Windows issues, read how to fix Windows 11 stop code memory management errors or fix 100 percent disk usage problems. Other errors you can fix include Windows Resource Protection found corrupt files error.