Let’s move on to the fixes that can get your system past the restart screen.
Quick Fixes:
Wait Patiently: After updates or heavy background tasks, Windows may take longer to restart. If your PC is stuck on the “Restarting” screen, wait 15–20 minutes before taking further action. Avoid powering off too early to prevent potential data corruption.Force Restart the PC: If waiting doesn’t help, hold the Power button for 5–10 seconds until the system shuts down. Wait another 10 seconds, then turn it back on. Use this only when necessary, as it can lead to unsaved data loss.Remove External Devices: Disconnect all USB drives, printers, and other peripherals, as they can interfere with the restart process. Restart your system again, then reconnect devices one at a time to identify any problematic hardware.
1. Run Startup Repair
Startup Repair is a built-in Windows recovery tool that diagnoses and resolves issues preventing your system from booting correctly. It can automatically repair corrupted system files, fix problems with the Boot Configuration Data (BCD) or Master Boot Record (MBR), resolve faulty driver conflicts, and undo recent system updates that may be causing boot failures. This tool is especially useful for addressing startup errors and system instability.
2. Disable Fast Startup
Fast Startup is a Windows feature designed to reduce boot time by saving the system state to a hibernation file during shutdown. However, it can sometimes lead to issues—especially if outdated drivers, system updates, or dual-boot configurations are present. These conflicts may prevent certain services like Easy Anti-Cheat from initializing properly after a reboot. Disabling Fast Startup ensures that Windows performs a full initialization on every boot, reducing the chance of cached conflicts. Although this may slightly slow down startup, it improves stability and resolves launch-related errors in many cases.
3. Use a System Restore Point
If you created a System Restore Point before the issue began, you can roll Windows back to that stable state. System Restore works by reverting critical system files, configurations, and installed programs to a previous snapshot—without affecting your personal files like documents, photos, or videos. This can help undo recent changes (such as driver installs, registry edits, or failed updates) that may have triggered the EAC startup failure. If the issue still persists, you may need to consider resetting or reinstalling Windows. This approach is particularly effective when the root cause lies in deeper system-level problems, such as corrupted system files, damaged Boot Configuration Data (BCD), or a corrupted Master Boot Record (MBR). Resetting or reinstalling Windows will restore your system to a clean state and eliminate any software-related conflicts that might be preventing Easy Anti-Cheat from functioning correctly. For detailed steps, follow this step-by-step tutorial.
