Critical Service Failed on Windows 10 – [Fixed]

Are you looking for the best way to fix Critical Service Failed on Windows 10? If yes, you have landed in the right place.

In this blog, we will discuss the Critical_Service_Failed error and how to fix it without affecting the system hardware. Let’s get started!

In this particular blog, you will discover the types of Windows PC Critical Service Failed error. Then, you can resolve it through the provided methods. 

Learn About Critical_Service_Failed Error

Critical Service Failed BSOD error can affect your system hardware. It may include system memory, hard disk drive, system processor, and others. This error displays when some crucial system process dies with Blue Screen or 0x000000EF error code.

If the system process fails to work, it may crash your operating system. Due to this, you encounter Windows 10 critical service failed in loop.

There can be other reasons that are responsible for this error. One of the main causes of having a corrupted or outdated driver on your computer. In addition, system files that are hide, missing or corrupted can also cause Critical Service Failed on Windows 10 update error.

Types of Critical Service Failed Error Messages

This is not necessary that your Windows PC displays an error message in one way. It can appear in different forms. Some of them are as follows:

• CRITICAL_SERVICE_FAILED
• 0x0000005A
• STOP error 0x5A: CRITICAL_SERVICE_FAILED

If your Windows computer encounters any of the problems then you need to fix it immediately. Due to this error, your computer and mouse may work slow. Also, the Windows PC hangs after every second.

How to Fix Critical Service Failed Error in Windows 10?

To fix Critical Service Failed in Dell or other laptops/computers, you can execute several methods. For instance, you can check system files, update drivers, perform a clean boot, restore system refresh Windows PC, and more. Here, we will go through these methods and follow them with a manual procedure.

Method 1: Verify System Files

The first method is to make sure that your system files are running properly. To determine this, you can verify the system files using two ways; SFC command and DISM. Here, we will teach both ways.

Method 1.1: Verify System Files by Running SFC Command

For this, you just have to open the CMD window and run the SFC command. To understand better, follow these steps:

• Press the “Windows” key.
• Type in “Command Prompt” in the search bar.
• Right-click on “Command Prompt” and select “Run as administrator”.
• Now, enter the following command:
  • Sfc /scannow

• Press the “Enter” key.

This process will take a couple of minutes. Once it finishes, you can reboot your system. This is how you can scan your system files using the SFC command.

Method 1.2: Verify System Files by Running DISM

Deployment Image Servicing and Management (DISM) is a tool that assists you in checking the system files and fixing issues. This also requires you to run the Command Prompt with admin rights. Let’s know how to do this in the following steps:

• Press the “Windows” key.
• Type in “Command Prompt” in the search bar.
• Right-click on “Command Prompt” and select “Run as administrator”.
• Now, enter the following command:
  • Dism /Online /Cleanup-Image /CheckHealth
  • Dism /Online /Cleanup-Image /ScanHealth
  • Dism /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth
• Press the “Enter” key.

Once you run these commands, your system files will be checked, scanned, and restored. Make sure you reboot your device after running these commands. This will surely fix the Critical Service Failed on Windows 10 boot.

Method 2: Upgrade Drivers Manually

Drivers with the old version may affect the functionality of your computer. Due to this, you can encounter Critical Service Failed on Windows 10 update. To eliminate this error, you can update your system drivers manually.

If you have no idea how to do that, we are providing a few steps for that. Read below to know the procedure.

• Press the “Windows” key.
• Type “Device Manager” in the search bar and open it.
• Expand the adapters category.
• Choose your device and right-click on it.
• Select the “Update driver” option.

Before updating the driver, your system prompts how you want to search drivers; automatically or manually. You can click on the Search automatically for updated driver software.

However, in some cases, Windows PC fails to find drivers. At this moment, you can visit the manufacturer’s website and download the compatible drivers.

Make a note: If these steps do not help to update drivers, you can first uninstall and reinstall the drivers. For this, you can go to Device Manager, click on your driver, right-click, and choose Uninstall. Then, reboot your system. This will reinstall the new drivers on your computer.

Method 3: Perform a Clean Boot

Windows PC Critical Service Failed error can be resolved after performing a clean boot in safe mode. To do so, you can execute these steps:

• Launch the “Run” dialog box by using the “Windows” + “R” keys together.
• Type in “msconfig” in the text field.
• Press the “Enter” key or “OK” button.
• Go to the “General” tab.
• Choose “Selective startup”.
• Clear the checkbox “Load startup items” and check “Load system services”.
• Select the “Hide all Microsoft services” checkbox located at the bottom left.

• Hit the “Disable all” button located on the bottom right.
• Click “OK”
• Now switch to the “Startup” tab.
• Click the “Open Task Manager” option.
• Click right on each startup (enabled).
• Select the “Disable” button.
• Click “OK” and “Restart”.

Once done, you can restore your system. For that, you can follow these steps instructed below:

• Launch the “Run” dialog box by using the “Windows” + “R” keys together.
• Type in “msconfig” in the text field.
• Press the “Enter” key or “OK” button.
• Go to the “General” tab.
• Click on “Normal startup”.
• Click the “OK” button.
• Now, switch to the “Services” tab.
• Click on “Hide all Microsoft services” to unmark it.
• Select the “Enable all” option.
• Click “OK”.
• Now switch to the “Startup” tab.
• Click the “Open Task Manager” option.
• Click right on each startup.
• Select the “Enable” button.
• Click “OK” and “Restart”.

After performing the troubleshooting steps, Enable all the Microsoft services in order to re-enable the programs. This prevents losing the operating system applications and functions.

Method 4: Restore System via Control Panel

Another Windows 10 Critical Service Failed solution is to restore the system to its earlier state. If you want to know how to perform a restore system, below are the following steps:

• Press the “Windows” key.
• Open “Control Panel”.
• Press the “Ctrl” + “F” key combination. This will show a search bar.
• Type “Recovery” in the search bar and open it.
• Select the “Open System Restore” option.
• Click “Next”.
• Pick one of the available “Restore points” from the list.
• Click “Next”.
• Hit the “Finish” button.
• Click the “yes” option when you see the prompt.

By following these steps, you can easily restore the Windows system. It is possible that you can get rid of the Windows Critical Service Failed error.

Method 5: Run System Restore Tool

Another Critical Service Failed Windows 10 fix is to run System Restore Tool. Before that, you need to get into the Safe Mode. To understand clearly, you can follow these steps:

• Restart your computer many times to view boot options.
• Click on “Troubleshoot”.
• Go to “Advanced Options”.
• Click on the “Startup Settings” option.
• After that, “Restart” your computer.
• When you see the list of options, use function keys to choose “Safe Mode”. F4, F5, or F6 can work.
• Once you get into Safe Mode, type “System Restore” in the search bar.
• Run “System Restore Tool”

By following this procedure, you can restore your device to the previous state. This will resolve the Critical Service Failed in Dell or other computers.

Method 6: Refresh Windows Computer

If Windows 10 error Critical Service Failed constantly bothers you then try to refresh your system. This method requires you to reset your PC so that it can delete the third-party software.

Quick Note: Before you refresh your Windows computer, please take a backup of personal data.

To reset and refresh your computer, you can walk through the following steps:

• Restart your computer many times to view boot options.
• Click on “Troubleshoot”.
• Go to “Reset this PC”.
• Click on the “Keep my files” option.

Please Note: During this process, it requires a USB or Windows 10 DVD to insert. Make sure you have it.

• Now pick the Windows version that you wish to refresh.
• Click on the “Reset” button.

This will take a little time to finish the process. Once you are done refreshing your PC, the Critical Service Failed Windows 10 boot error would have vanished.

Note: If you want to reset everything then select the Remove Everything option instead of selecting the Keep my files option

Method 7: Repair Your PC via Windows Install Media

If you are facing Critical_Service_Failed in Lenovo or other laptops, you can try repairing your Windows computer. For this step, a bootable DVD or USB is required. Once you arrange the Windows installation media, you can start booting up your PC.

Thereafter, you can select the Repair option instead of going with installing Windows. Once done, this process will start scanning the hard drive and fix the issues if it finds any. After completing this process, you can restart your system and check if the issue has been resolved. If external hard drive not shown on windows fix it with the guide.

Pro Tip: If you are not willing to perform a manual procedure to solve this error, you can then use a professional PC Repair Tool. Doing so, the tool will scan, detect, and fix the issues automatically.

Method 8: Run Media Creation Tool

In case, the aforementioned methods are not helping then you can follow a clean reinstallation. Sometimes, BSOD error is critical and can occur again after repairing it. To avoid errors in the future, you can simply start from scratch and reinstall Windows.

To start with the Windows reinstall process, you will have to download the Media Creation Tool. Thereafter, you can do the following:

• Insert Windows media either DVD  or USB flash drive (up to 4 GB).
• Launch the “Media Creation Tool”.
• Select the “Create installation media (USB flash drive, DVD, or ISO file) for another PC”.
• Go “Next”.
• Choose the language, edition, architecture, and go “Next”.
• Select your version.
• Choose ISO or USB flash drive depending on the media choice.
• Then, click “Next”.
• When you are done with the setup, generate a bootable USB drive.
• Then, restart your computer.
• Use function keys such as F10, F11, or F12 in order to open the “Boot” menu.
• Now, select the DVD-ROM or USB flash drive as your primary boot device. Then, use any key to start booting up.
• Click on the “Advanced”.
• Click “format your system partition”.

After that, you can start with the installation. This will successfully reinstall your Windows system. When you start everything from scratch you would not encounter the issue related to Windows 10 critical service failed in loop.

Final Verdict

Windows 10 error Critical Service Failed can be frustrating at first but can be resolved instantly. All you have to go through the Windows configuration and check for the system files.

Furthermore, we have provided different Critical Service Failed Windows 10 fixes. For example, you can update drivers, refresh the Windows system, reset your PC, perform a clean boot, and implement other solutions.

If Windows 10 or Windows 8.1 Critical Service Failed error constantly bothers you, this guide is helpful to follow.

Do you want to know more solutions for Windows errors? Learn how to fix connection failed error 651 in Windows 7.