Stuck in boot loop after the July update? (Windows 11 - Dell XPS 15)

RomPereira · 2026-07-22T01:42:56+00:00

Hey everyone, Is anyone else having issues with the latest Windows update from this July? My PC was running perfectly fine yesterday, but it forced an updat...

AS-m7t9m

RomPereira I'm sorry for your situation, but this is exactly why the "3-2-1" backup rule exists. You shouldn't be relying on a single drive for work files in 2026. Have you tried checking your MS account for the BitLocker key yet? At least you can grab your files from another machine if you really have to wipe it.

LanceBryantGrigg

RomPereira Don't panic. Put the keyboard down for a second and take a breath. "Automatic Repair" almost never works for these updates anyway.

Try this first: Get into the Advanced Startup options (turn it on/off 3 times in a row if you can't reach the menu). Go to Troubleshoot > Advanced Options > Command Prompt.

Can you get to the black screen there? If yes, reply back, don't run anything yet.

RomPereira

LanceBryantGrigg I managed to get to the Command Prompt. Now what?

yossefnabil2122

@LanceBryantGrigg is right. The reason this is happening is almost certainly because the EFI system partition is too small to handle the new boot files from the July update. Windows tries to write, runs out of space, and corrupts the bootloader. It's a classic technical debt issue with how Windows handles partition sizing on factory installs.

LanceBryantGrigg

RomPereira Okay, good. Type diskpart and hit enter. Then type list disk and list volume.

Tell me what you see. Are you seeing an EFI or System partition that's like 100MB or less? That's usually the culprit.

hogongee

LanceBryantGrigg Adding to that, if it is the EFI partition, bootrec /rebuildbcd usually fails because the BCD store is corrupted due to the write error. Don't waste time with bootrec yet until you confirm the partition status.

RomPereira

LanceBryantGrigg I see "Volume 1" as System (100MB, Hidden). It says "Healthy" but I can't really tell if it's full? Is that the problem?

Kobo_kuin_deka

LanceBryantGrigg I'm checking mine too... Yep, mine says 100MB as well. This is definitely the issue.

LanceBryantGrigg

RomPereira That's the one. Since it's full, you need to assign a letter to it so you can see the files, delete the temp update junk, and rebuild the boot configuration.

Follow this:

select volume X (pick the 100MB one)
assign letter=Z
exit
Then run bcdboot C:\Windows /s Z: /f UEFI

Let me know if that runs without errors.

AS-m7t9m

LanceBryantGrigg Make sure you tell them to backup the BCD file first! If they delete the wrong thing in the EFI partition, they aren't just stuck in a boot loop, they're looking at data recovery services.

RomPereira

LanceBryantGrigg It said "Boot files successfully created". I'm restarting now. Oh my god... it’s booting into the login screen! Thank you so much!

Kobo_kuin_deka

RomPereira That's fantastic news! I’m honestly so relieved for you. I just tried it on my XPS, and I’m back in the OS too. I can’t believe a measly 100MB partition was the whole problem... it feels so stupid that Windows just dies like that without a clearer error message. Thanks for keeping us posted!

AS-m7t9m

RomPereira Seriously, do yourself a favor and offload those files right now before you do anything else. Once you’re safe, you might want to look into re-partitioning that drive eventually, because 100MB is just asking for trouble with how big these Windows 11 updates are getting. Glad to hear you didn't have to nuke the whole drive!

LanceBryantGrigg

RomPereira Haha, happy to help! It’s a common Dell headache. If you have some time later, just use a partition tool to bump that System partition to 300MB, and you’ll be set for good.

RomPereira

AS-m7t9m Already on it! Backing up to an external SSD as I type this.

RomPereira

LanceBryantGrigg Yeah, total nightmare is an understatement! Everything is stable now, thankfully. I’m just glad I didn’t have to resort to a clean install. Marking this as resolved now; hopefully, this helps the next person who Googles this at 2 AM in a panic.

RomPereira

Cheers everyone, really appreciate the community here!