Quick fix: Boot from a Windows 11 install USB, open Command Prompt from Repair your computer → Troubleshoot → Advanced options, and run bootrec /fixmbr, bootrec /fixboot, and bootrec /rebuildbcd. If fixboot reports access denied, run bcdboot C:\Windows /s S: /f UEFI using the actual EFI partition letter.

Reset This PC starts cleanly, gets to 30%, then fails with “There was a problem resetting your PC. No changes were made” or worse, leaves you with an unbootable system. The reset wiped some boot files before failing, so neither Windows nor the recovery environment can start. You need to repair the boot configuration manually from an external boot source.

Symptom: Reset This PC failed partway through; PC now won’t boot or boots to a recovery error.
Affects: Windows 11 on UEFI systems with GPT disks (modern hardware).
Fix time: 30–60 minutes.

What you need before you start

You need a working PC to make a Windows 11 install USB, and a USB stick (8 GB or larger). Download the Media Creation Tool from https://www.microsoft.com/software-download/windows11 and let it write the USB. You don’t need a license — you’ll only use the recovery environment from this USB, not the installer.

If you have BitLocker on the system drive, find your recovery key now (check https://account.microsoft.com/devices/recoverykey for a Microsoft account, or look at any printed/saved copy). Without it, the repair steps will run but you won’t be able to unlock C: to fix it.

Method 1: Repair boot files with bootrec

Plug the install USB into the broken PC and boot from it (typically by pressing F12, F9, or Esc at power-on to select the USB).
At the Windows Setup screen, click Next, then Repair your computer (bottom-left).
Choose Troubleshoot → Advanced options → Command Prompt.
Identify your Windows drive letter. Run diskpart, then list volume. Note the letter for the Windows partition (usually 100–500 GB, NTFS). Type exit to leave diskpart.
Run the bootrec commands one at a time:

bootrec /scanos

bootrec /fixmbr

bootrec /fixboot

bootrec /rebuildbcd
When prompted to Add installation to boot list, type Y.
Close Command Prompt and choose Continue to Windows 11.

If fixboot works, the PC reboots into Windows. If it returns Access is denied, move to Method 2.

Method 2: Rebuild the EFI partition with bcdboot

On UEFI systems, the boot loader lives on a small FAT32 EFI System Partition (ESP). Sometimes Reset corrupts the BCD inside that partition rather than the MBR, and you need to rewrite the loader.

From the same recovery Command Prompt, run diskpart.
Type list disk, identify your boot disk, and run select disk 0 (or whichever number matches).
Run list partition. Identify the EFI partition — it’s ~100 MB, type System.
Run select partition X where X is the EFI partition number.
Run assign letter=S. Then exit.
Run bcdboot C:\Windows /s S: /f UEFI. Replace C: with your Windows partition letter if different. The command writes fresh BCD entries into S:.
Close Command Prompt and reboot.

This is the right move 80% of the time when fixboot fails. The Reset process is much more likely to corrupt the BCD than the MBR on modern UEFI systems.

Method 3: Run DISM and SFC against the offline Windows install

If boot is repaired but Windows starts and immediately fails with system file errors, run integrity checks against the offline image before letting Windows boot fully.

From the recovery Command Prompt, run sfc /scannow /offbootdir=C:\ /offwindir=C:\Windows. This scans the Windows folder offline.
Then run dism /image:C:\ /cleanup-image /restorehealth /source:wim:D:\sources\install.wim:1 /limitaccess where D: is your install USB and 1 is the index for Windows 11 Home/Pro (use dism /get-wiminfo /wimfile:D:\sources\install.wim to confirm the index).
Wait for completion (10–30 minutes). DISM repairs corruption against the install media.
Reboot.

If install.wim is replaced by install.esd on your USB, swap install.wim for install.esd in the command.

How to verify the fix worked

The PC boots to the Windows sign-in screen without entering recovery.
Sign in and confirm the desktop, Start menu, and Settings open without error.
Open Settings → Windows Update and run Check for updates. It completes without errors, confirming the update stack is healthy.
Open Settings → System → Recovery. Reset this PC should be available again (don’t click it).

If none of these work

If Windows still won’t boot after all three methods, the system image itself may be unrepairable. Your options are: (a) do an in-place repair upgrade by mounting the install USB inside a partially-working Windows (boot into Safe Mode if possible, run setup.exe from the USB, choose Keep my files); (b) reinstall Windows from the USB, choose Custom: Install Windows only, target the existing C: partition, and your old files go to a Windows.old folder; (c) wipe and clean install if data is backed up. Option (a) preserves apps and most settings if Windows is at least bootable in Safe Mode.

Bottom line: A failed Reset usually breaks the boot loader, not the Windows install. bootrec handles MBR cases; bcdboot handles UEFI BCD corruption. Together they recover 90% of failed-Reset PCs without a full reinstall.