Windows 10 booting stuck at DOS-like black screen with blinking caret but no prompt or mouse cursor

Question

I’ve been running Windows 10 for a few weeks without major issues, but yesterday I got my first “CRITICAL PROCESS DIED” Blue Screen of Death:

I let it finish collecting data and restarting, but after that Windows 10 doesn’t boot anymore. It gets stuck at a DOS-like black screen with a rapidly blinking caret, but no prompt or mouse cursor.

From this screen, pressing Ctrl+Alt+Delete once reboots. Anything else I tried (clicking, typing) doesn’t seem to have any effect.

Rebooting in safe mode doesn’t seem to be an option since I’m using an SSD.

Before I give up and reinstall Windows 10 from scratch using a bootable USB stick, is there anything else I could try?

Solution

I ended up having to remove my primary SSD drive (where Windows was installed), attach it to another computer, format it, move it back to my original computer, and reinstall Windows. :(

Comments

[Admin]

Do you ever see the Windows boot logo? If yes, try pressing the restart button on your case (if you do have one). Next time the computer boots, you may be asked to troubleshoot it.

[Admin]

Its not a Samsung ssd by any chance?

[Admin]

@Kamen: It never even gets to the Windows boot logo. :(

[Admin]

@NickEagle: Nope, it’s an OCZ SSD 2.5″, 120GB, SATA600, Vertex 3. Why?

[Admin]

I just had something similar with a Samsung ssd when I performed a manual garbage collection, required me to get a recovery disc go to command prompt and then issue a check disk and repair.

[Admin]

@NickEagle Thanks for the suggestion. I just tested a recovery USB stick, opened “Command Prompt” and ran chkdsk /f on all drives. I also ran the “Startup Repair” tool. The problem persists, though.

[Admin]

You haven't installed any updates since having Windows 10 installed have you? I remember with the recovery disk with Windows 8.1 and I suspect Windows 10 you have the option to uninstall Windows updates... Can you give this a go?