What to do when Windows 11 cannot boot due to driver issues

Windows sets up the drivers at boot time, so if there is a problem you will be stuck at the boot screen. The main causes of not booting due to driver issues are driver installation, driver update, Windows update update, and driver data corruption.
Check by disconnecting the device with the problematic driver
If the device with the problematic driver is detachable, remove the device and try to boot. If you can boot, you can definitely conclude that it’s a driver problem. You can also remove the driver directly in Device Manager without having to boot into Safe Mode from the recovery environment .

• If an update update is the cause, then ” Remove Updates ” will deal with the driver issue.
• For other causes, “Remove the driver” to deal with it. If ” System Restore ” is enabled, you can deal with it by running the restore.

In any case, Windows 11 cannot be started, so it is necessary to launch the “recovery environment (repair function)”.

If you can’t boot due to driver issues, it will boot in safe mode in most cases. However, when using the recovery environment with installation media, booting into safe mode is usually not possible. 1. Optionally click Startup Settings.
 2. When the startup settings appear, click “Restart”.  3. When you reboot, you will see an option to boot into safe mode, click ” 4 ” on your keyboard.
4. After booting in safe mode, right-click the “Start button” and click “Device Manager” in the menu.
 If you cannot start in safe mode , you can remove the driver with ” Remove the driver with the command prompt ” in the next section.5. When Device Manager is displayed

• Click the “>” icon for the type of driver to be deleted to expand it.
• Right click on “Driver to Remove”
• Click “Uninstall device” in the right-click menu to remove the driver

 6. Restart your computer and check if Windows 11 starts.

Delete the driver with Command Prompt

Deleting a driver with Command Prompt is a little more difficult as you need to confirm the “published name” of the driver. First, launch it by clicking on the option “Command Prompt”. 

Things to check before removing drivers from Command Prompt

Before deleting the driver, check the drive letter where Windows 11 is installed . Type notepad into the command prompt and press Enter.  When Notepad opens, click “File” in the menu, and then click “Open” in the menu.
 When File Explorer opens, click This PC.

• If “Reserved by system (C:)” and “Local disk (D:)” are displayed, the drive letter where Windows 11 is installed is “D: “ .
• If “Reserved by system” is not displayed, the drive letter is ” C: “.

Here, local disk ” C: ” is explained.

Remove driver via command prompt

1. Type dism /image: C : /Get-Drivers in the command prompt and press Enter to display driver information.
 3. Check the “published name” of the driver to be deleted. The public name ” oem5.inf ” is used here as an example.
Check the “public name” of the driver to be deleted by referring to the “class name” and “provider name”.4. Run driver removal Type
” dism /image: C :\ /remove-driver /driver: oem5.inf ” and press the “Enter” key.
 5. When “Driver package was successfully removed” is displayed, driver removal is complete.
After uninstalling the driver, click the ” X ” button to close the command prompt.5. When the Choose an option screen appears, click “Turn off your PC” to shut down.
 6. Turn on the PC and check if Windows 11 starts.

If System Restore is enabled, it may be easier to fix driver issues. 1. Optionally click System Restore.Depending on your environment, you may need to select an administrator user and enter a “password” when performing a system restore from the recovery environment.
When the account selection screen appears, select a user with administrator privileges, enter the password, and click Continue.
2. When the “Restore system files and settings” window opens, click “Next”.
 

Installation of Windows 11 updates may update drivers and prevent booting. In this case, remove the update to deal with it 1. Optionally click Uninstall Updates.

Depending on the environment, removing updates from the recovery environment may require selecting an administrator user and entering a “password”.
When the account selection screen appears, select a user with administrator privileges, enter the password, and click Continue.
2. Click ” Uninstall the latest feature update ” on the Uninstall updates screen .
 3. When “Uninstall the latest feature update” is displayed, click ” Uninstall the feature update “.