How to fix critical error message and cannot boot into windows 11. Updated chipset driver. Crashed. Deleted driver. Now Stuck.

Question

How to fix critical error message and cannot boot into windows 11. Updated chipset driver. Crashed. Deleted driver. Now Stuck.

tanner stegman 0

I've already bought a sleeve and backed up the SSD, and I still have the original windows 11 USB. I can get to install and it will load to a various %s but always stalls. And obviously cant repair itself through any other troubleshooting thus far.

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3 answers

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Answer 1

tanner stegman 0

ill have to retry another restart to see the error, it just flashes for half a second. can it be any usb with enough room or should i use a new and/or clean one?

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Answer 2

Ivan B 124.8K Independent Advisor

Hi,

Does the installation fail after it completes when you try to install Windows on your PC?

What is the laptop model or desktop configuration?

Thanks.

tanner stegman 0 Reputation points

2026-10-04T18:32:57.3333333+00:00

AMD Ryzen 5700G - Gigabyte B550M custom build. I actually pulled one of the ram and just tried the one 16gm in the 2nd slot and got to a different section of the windows load page that time, it said copying windows files with a green check, moved on to "getting files ready for installation and was at 25% all night, this morning it says 100% but appears to have stalled there.. cant get past this #2 installing windows.
Ivan B 124.8K Reputation points Independent Advisor

2026-10-04T19:21:09.5266667+00:00

Hi,

It is possible that the SSD is faulty. Can you access the BIOS, run an SSD erase, and repeat the installation process—if possible, using only one memory module and without XMP/DOCP enabled.

Thanks.
tanner stegman 0 Reputation points

2026-10-04T20:35:48.3033333+00:00

that was earlier this morning, i did erase via command promt as no option in bios. according to claude my samsung ssd firmware has a known bug that caused drives to fail - but honestly everything was fine until my own doing with the chipset download and then two driver file deletions... ur method has me stuck at 43%, its been about ten minutes
Ivan B 124.8K Reputation points Independent Advisor

2026-10-04T22:36:36.73+00:00

Hi,

Could you provide the SSD model? Also, after the procedure, did you reinstall Windows and manage to access the system, only for the PC to freeze again with a single memory stick after installing the chipset drivers?

Thanks.
tanner stegman 0 Reputation points

2026-10-04T23:53:46.4133333+00:00

SAMSUNG E 1TB 980PRO NVME GEN4SSD S/N: S5P2NL0W433606 - no, windows never installed. i have a back up - is there a way to add the correct or original chipset drivers to help reboot it back into windows? or should i try next the media creation tool with different usb? i just wiped off a usb thats ready right now but havent tried that route yet
Ivan B 124.8K Reputation points Independent Advisor

2026-10-05T00:18:14.0133333+00:00

Hi,

It’s very strange that it’s crashing while recreating the Windows 11 installation drive using the new Windows 26H2 ISO and resetting the BIOS settings to default.

Thanks.
tanner stegman 0 Reputation points

2026-10-05T01:43:40.88+00:00

Im so lost and over my head. But an hour with it at micro center and he couldnt figure it out. All he did was send me home with the sleeve for backup.
Ivan B 124.8K Reputation points Independent Advisor

2026-10-05T02:09:57.1166667+00:00

Hi,

So, did you take the PC to the repair center and they sent you home? Sorry, I didn't quite understand.

Thanks.

Answer 3

Hi @tanner stegman

Good news is you've already done the hard part by backing up the SSD. Since repair is out and a clean install is stalling, the two usual suspects are install media that's out of date or damaged, and a storage controller the installer can't see because the driver you deleted was part of the chipset package. Both are fixed the same way, so let's do a clean rebuild properly.

On another PC, make fresh media. Download the Media Creation Tool from https://www.microsoft.com/software-download/windows11 and create a new USB. Old install USBs stall often because they're missing newer drivers and updates.
Unplug everything except keyboard, mouse and the one SSD. Other drives and USB devices are a common cause of stalls at random percentages.
Boot into BIOS and load default settings. If you see an option called VMD or RAID mode for storage, switch it to AHCI, since that's exactly what the missing chipset driver would have been handling. Make sure UEFI boot is on.
Boot from the new USB, choose Custom install, delete all partitions on the SSD so it shows one block of unallocated space, select it and continue. This removes whatever the crash left behind.

To help narrow it down, what's the exact critical error text you saw, and what's the PC make and model (or is it Intel or AMD)? If it's an Intel system with VMD, there's a driver you can load during setup and I can point you to it.

If this helped, please click Accept Answer so others stuck in the same spot can find it.

Reference: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/create-installation-media-for-windows-99a58364-8c02-206f-aa6f-40c3b507420d

tanner stegman 0 Reputation points

2026-10-04T18:38:06.9933333+00:00

AMD Ryzen 5700G, Gigabyte B550M. If you can see my comment above I made it further than I had on previous attempts but still stalled. And I also tried your suggestion using a new download on a different USB but it didn't work. I'm going to retry that though as I may not have did that correctly and may have different or changed some options in BIOS. Will try your suggestions now. Thank you