Computer Stuck In Weird Loop

Hello,
My friend's computer is completely stuck. As of right now, I cannot use it to download FRST and get logs.

She was playing a game we bought and are sure does not cause issues last night. She paused the game but left it up, pushed her table away, then came back and sat down, and her computer was restarting all on its own.

When it finally restarted, the right side of her task bar was blank (we'd adjusted the settings so the bar looks like it did on previous Windows, where Start is to the left and the clock and icon tray is to the right). The date and time were gone, her security shield and internet connection icon, battery icon, everything was gone. The left side looked normal, with the Windows Start square, then her Firefox icon.

After a few minutes, another icon appeared on the left that was a picture of a computer mouse and key board (it looked like the icon for Logitech Setpoint event manager, she uses a Logitech mouse) as if some Logitech window was open, but instead it was a Windows security window that said "! These files can't be opened. Your Internet security settings prevented one or more files from being opened: C:\Program Files\Common Files\LogiShrd\CDDRV3\LDConfig.exe" The options are to click a link to "Why can't these files be opened?" which leads to a webpage that is not helpful at all, or click Close. If I click Close, the windows opens and opens again and you get no where.

This led me to believe there was an issue with her mouse (it is very old).

She wanted to give it more time and see if the right side of her task bar would ever load, but when waiting for that, her computer went black with a message that said it encountered a problem and needed to restart. Once it started restarting, the loading circle came up, and below in said it was attempting to repair her C Drive (this is the computer I thought I busted a while back when I attempted a fix to make a failing windows update work, and it did the same thing, like it was running chck dsk or something I believe) and would take a while. So we let it do what it was doing overnight.

When I got up this morning, her computer screen was still black and said "Your Device ran into a problem and couldn't be repaired. Couldn't connect to network. Log file: C:\Windows\System32\Logfiles\Srt\SrtTrail.txt Hit Enter to see options.

I hit Enter, and the first two options were Exit and Continue to Windows, or something Quick to Let PC try to repair itself.

I chose Exit and Continue to Windows, thinking I could see what was going on, but apparently that was the wrong choice. I'd like to try the second choice, but can't figure out how to get it to let me see these options again. I'll be trying to figure out how to get it there while waiting for a reply.

After choosing Exit and Continue to Windows, her computer started up but had the exact same issue as above, right half of the task bar was blank and the Windows Security window that said the same thing.

I was able to open windows settings and check her security settings. It said her firewall and everything else was on, but under Virus and Threat Protection it said "Threat Service has been stopped. Restart it now" with a Restart button. The restart button did nothing.

I browsed through her windows settings, and the task bar settings are as she kept it, it said her computer was offline and unable to connect to the internet. I tried to see if her computer was struggling with a Windows Update, but the windows update section in settings would never load.

She uses Avast instead of Windows security, so I opened up Avast and Avast thinks everything is fine. I ran a quick Smart scan, and it did not find anything.

Still having the belief that it may be related to her ancient mouse, I unplugged her mouse and restarted. It restarted without taking me to the screen I wanted (where I hit Enter for more options and could ask it to try repairing itself) but just went to her desk top with half the task bar and the Windows Security window.

I tried shutting down her computer, letting it sit for an hour, and then turning it on. The same result.

I explained all this to my friend, and she pointed out that I could not have looked at the useless windows help webpage if her computer truly is offline and cannot connect to the internet. So I went to MajorGeeks and tried to download FRST, but before I can, her device runs into a problem and has to restart. I tried accessing the log, and her device ran into a problem. I tried again to check the Windows update page, but it ran into a problem and restarted.

So I have logs and screenshots, but am posting this from my computer so I can't get them for you right now. I'll keep trying.

Her computer just encountered a problem and had to restart, and right now there is a black screen that says it is preparing an automatic repair. Now it's diagnosing her pc, so I guess I'll update you on that when it's done.

Yesterday, I downloaded a PDF from a trusted source on her computer (trusted as in I don't believe they are a raging maniac, but do know they work for an untrusted and greedy albeit legitimate company who had a pdf I needed). Otherwise, we've done nothing different with it, so I think it's some corruption.

Her computer just went back to the black "Your device ran into a problem and couldn't be repaired, hit Enter for other recovery options" as if it heard me telling you I wanted it. I hit enter, clicked Quick Machine Recovery, but it didn't work and took me back to the same screen. I'll leave it there for now and try to think of something else to do. Any help is appreciated! I hope it isn't broken for good....

 

I looked back and found the thread I made when this computer did something similar. Obviously it is outdated, but it has FRST reports if they help you at all:
https://forums.majorgeeks.com/threads/black-screen-of-death.326566/

 

No, I have logs somewhere in the computer that I think must tell something about the problem (Log file: C:\Windows\System32\Logfiles\Srt\SrtTrail.txt) but I have not been able to get to it.
I've been reading my trusty book, and figured out how to get it in Safe Mode. I tried to do safe mode with networking, but it will not connect to the internet now (before safemode it would connect, but restart before I could download FRST).

Here I sit in safemode, unsure what to do, any thoughts?

 

I have a screenshot of the Windows Security thing I think is related to her mouse, but cannot get it to you either.
In SafeMode the right side of her task bar remains blank, without even a clock. Is this normal? It doesn't look like it in the picture of Safe Mode in my book...

 

I was able to navigate to SrtTrail.txt just now (I couldn't get to her C drive before Safemode). It sounds like it fixed the problem, but it didn't. It's short, I'll try to type it out for you:

Startup Repair diagnosis and repair log
Number of repair attempts: 1
Session details
System Disk =
Windows directory = C:\Windows
Autochk Run = 0
Number of root causes = 0
Test performed:
Name: Start network for cloud remediation
Result: Completed successfully. Error code = 0x4c6
Time taken = 10313 ms
Test Performed:
Name: Detect remediation via cloud plugins
Result: Completed successfully. Error code = 0x0
Time taken = 0 ms


My book says I should be able to access troubleshooters, but all the troubleshooters say they cannot work because they don't have an app or something like that.

Sorry for the 3 posts in a row.

 

Oh good idea. I should have thought of that. Hold on.

 

Okay, here are the FRST logs, and a screenshot of the windows security thing that would continually pop up (this stopped in Safemode, as well as the continual rebooting).

 

Okay, thanks. I'll just leave it in safemode like it is and wait for you.

 

She wonders if it's okay for her to try to play her game on it while she waits...?

 

Don't stay late for me. I can try starting her game and see what happens. Have a good night!

 

That's fine, sorry for the 3 posts in a row again. I did get her game to work for her, it just didn't have sound.
The command did not complete successfully. I copied the response I got, and it referred to a log I attached for you, too.
I didn't reboot since it didn't work. Let me know what's next. Thanks!

 

Okay, here's the link: https://gofile.io/d/nxgitP

And the log:

Farbar Recovery Scan Tool (x64) Version: 27-07-2026
Ran by Hellhound Hunter (30-07-2026 16:23:35)
Running from D:\
Boot Mode: Safe Mode (with Networking)

================== Search Files: "ExecutionContext.sys" =============

C:\Windows\WinSxS\amd64_microsoft-windows-n..rk-executioncontext_31bf3856ad364e35_10.0.26100.8875_none_1e084d7deef3ea64\ExecutionContext.sys
[2026-07-14 21:36][2026-07-14 21:36] 000136688 _____ (Microsoft Corporation) FAEA6788D2A29669DFEDBB463A56C3D2 [File is digitally signed]

C:\Windows\WinSxS\amd64_microsoft-windows-n..rk-executioncontext_31bf3856ad364e35_10.0.26100.8875_none_1e084d7deef3ea64\r\ExecutionContext.sys
[2026-07-14 21:36][2026-07-14 21:36] 000031195 _____ () 8C5E7A4F5D71A75D404C36E3D23017A2 [File not signed]

C:\Windows\WinSxS\amd64_microsoft-windows-n..rk-executioncontext_31bf3856ad364e35_10.0.26100.8521_none_1e2416efeedfb15a\ExecutionContext.sys
[2026-06-09 16:50][2026-06-09 16:50] 000136680 _____ (Microsoft Corporation) 3DE63388DFD3BEBCC9981053B7A6AB23 [File is digitally signed]

C:\Windows\WinSxS\amd64_microsoft-windows-n..rk-executioncontext_31bf3856ad364e35_10.0.26100.8521_none_1e2416efeedfb15a\r\ExecutionContext.sys
[2026-06-09 16:50][2026-06-09 16:50] 000026594 _____ () A8EDCAD4E75347F0A343FDDEFA15AA13 [File not signed]

C:\Windows\System32\drivers\ExecutionContext.sys
[2026-07-14 21:36][2026-07-14 21:36] 000136688 _____ (Microsoft Corporation) FAEA6788D2A29669DFEDBB463A56C3D2 [File is digitally signed]


====== End of Search ======

 

Sorry that took me a minute. Here's the file.