Blue screen CRITICAL SERVICE FAILED (0x5A): causes and working solutions in Windows 10/11

Among the various blue screen options, the CRITICAL SERVICE FAILED (0x5A) error stands out. Most often, it appears during the loading phase of Windows 10/11, and not during operation, and is unpleasant because it may not allow entry into the system at all: the computer goes into a cyclic reboot or returns to BSoD every time. 

Next, we’ll explain why this happens and what you can do to get Windows back to working order.

Why does CRITICAL SERVICE FAILED occur?

The very wording of the error means the following: one of the services marked as critical for starting the system could not start. Until such a service starts, Windows stops loading — this is protection against starting in an unstable state.

In practice, most often the cause is not hardware problems, but failures in the system part:

1. Drivers. We are talking not only about drivers for physical devices (video card, network adapter, etc.), but also about virtual ones — for example, after installing virtualization software, VPN, network filters, and some anti-virus components. Sometimes the problem depends on the driver signature: Windows blocks an unsigned or incorrectly signed driver, and the download breaks.
2. Registry corruption. This happens after manual editing of parameters, unsuccessful tweaks, and also due to programs that promise to “clean/optimize” the system.
3. Damage to Windows system files used by services. The reasons can be different: from incorrect installation of updates to the consequences of user actions and disk failures. But according to statistics, most often this is still the result of changes in the system that were made recently.

The good news: in most cases, the problem can be fixed using software, without replacing components.

What to do: step-by-step solutions

Typically, after several unsuccessful boot attempts, Windows itself launches Automatic Repair and prompts you to go to advanced options. This is where the tools that most often help are located.

Below is a sequence of actions from simpler to more “deep”. You don’t have to do everything: try in order and move on if a particular step doesn’t work.

1) If the failure appears only “after shutdown”, and after reboot everything is fine

There is a situation when the error occurs only on the first start after shutting down, but after a normal reboot the system boots normally. In this case, a common culprit is Windows fast startup.

If you manage to get into Windows (even after a reboot), disable Fast Startup in the power options. This often eliminates repeated crashes at startup.

2) Open the recovery environment and find the tools you need

In the Advanced Options menu, the path usually looks like this:
Troubleshooting → Advanced options.

Next, choose the appropriate tool.

3) System restore using restore points

If there are restore points on the system, this is one of the neatest options. It rolls back system settings and components to the state when Windows was still starting.

The advantage of this method is that personal files (documents, photos, etc.) should not be damaged. If the recovery is successful, in most cases the error disappears.

4) Safe mode and temporarily disabling driver signature verification

If there are no recovery points or they do not help, try booting in special modes.

Open Boot Options and select:

• safe mode to boot with a minimum set of drivers and services;
• if necessary, a boot option with disabling driver digital signature verification (this is important if suspicion falls on a problematic driver).

If you manage to get into Windows in this way, then the logic is simple: undo recent changes that could lead to a crash. This could be a recently installed driver, an “optimization” utility, software for virtual network adapters, traffic filters, old versions of drivers, etc. Sometimes it is enough to remove a specific component or roll back a device driver.

5) Check and restore system files via SFC (in a recovery environment)

If safe mode does not start, it makes sense to check the integrity of system files offline — from the recovery environment.

Open Command Prompt and run the command:

sfc /scannow /offbootdir=C: /offwindir=C:Windows

An important point: in the recovery environment, the system drive letter is not always C:. To clarify which letter is assigned to the Windows partition, you can sequentially run:

• diskpart
• list volume
• exit

After that, substitute the correct drive letter in the SFC command.

6) If the reason is manual editing of the registry

If you know for sure that you changed the registry settings before the problem (manually or through “tweakers”), sometimes rolling back these changes helps.

In the recovery environment, open a command prompt, run regedit, then connect the necessary registry hives of the installed system and manually correct the settings. This is a method for those cases when you understand what exactly was changed, or you can restore it using the instructions/screenshots.

7) If «Advanced options» are not available

On some builds of Windows, the recovery environment is disabled or reduced. Then a working workaround is to boot from the Windows installation flash drive and open the recovery tools from there:

• In Windows 11 Installer, select the «Repair my PC» option, then continue.
• In the Windows 10 installer, after selecting your language, click System Restore (usually bottom left).

Next, the familiar recovery menu will open and you can follow almost all the steps described above.

If all else fails

If after all attempts the error remains, it is important to record the details: exactly when it appeared, what was changed in the system before (drivers, updates, “optimizers”, registry settings), whether you can get into safe mode, and whether SFC is executed without errors. With such information, it’s easier to pinpoint a solution, including restoring the bootloader or deeper disk checks.

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