Yesterday I left my PC in “sleep mode”. Overnight, we had a power outage. After power came back, Windows restarted but the Login screen did not show up – and I could not log in!
The solution was to use the power switch to turn off the system, then power it back on.
Shortly after the Windows logo appears, and the chasing circle appears, press and hold the power button to turn the PC off.
Repeat this at least one more time, may be two.
Eventually it will restart and Windows will display “Preparing Automatic Repair” or “Diagnosing your PC”
You’ll need a wired keyboard to proceed (at least I did). Use the keyboard arrow keys to select Advanced Options, then Troubleshooting, and look around for Advanced Options
Eventually I found an option to restore from a System Restore point – which was conveniently saved yesterday. I selected this and let it run to completion, restarted the system, and everything was working again.
A related power problem was for some reason my powered USB hub did not reset it’s power – unpowered, the Bluetooth adapter plugged in there was not “live”. A simple reset and the USB hub started to work again.
