How I Fixed the "Personalized Settings" Frozen Screen after a Windows Update

 

A real experience turned into a survival guide, with every tested method before reinstalling Windows.

---

Introduction

After a recent Windows update, my Alienware laptop (Intel Core i9) refused to boot correctly. The moment I typed in my password, the screen would go black and show a frozen box labeled “Personalized Settings”.

Nothing worked. No mouse, no keyboard, no Task Manager.
Searching online, I saw many people stuck in the same loop. So I decided to try every serious fix available—until I found the one that finally worked.

---

Option 1: Use Dell SupportAssist OS Recovery

1. Restart your PC and press F12 to enter the boot menu.

2. Select SupportAssist OS Recovery.

3. Click on Repair.

4. If asked, enter your BitLocker Recovery Key (you can retrieve it at https://aka.ms/myrecoverykey).

5. Let it scan and fix your system files.

Result: Repair completed, but the freeze at "Personalized Settings" remained.

---

Option 2: Safe Mode and deleting Shell cache

1. Force shutdown your PC 3 times to enter the Recovery Menu.

2. Navigate to:
   Troubleshoot → Advanced Options → Startup Settings → Restart → Press 4 (Safe Mode).

3. Open File Explorer and go to:
   %localappdata%\Microsoft\Windows\Shell
   Delete any files like BagMRU.dat or similar.

4. Restart normally.

Result: May help if the explorer config cache is corrupted. In my case, didn’t solve it.

---

Option 3: Create a New User Profile (common fix)

1. In Safe Mode, run compmgmt.msc.

2. Go to Local Users and Groups > Users → Right-click → New User.

3. Assign Admin rights.

4. Restart and log in with the new user.

Result: A clean user profile usually avoids the freeze. But I wanted to keep my current one.

---

Option 4 (The one that worked for me): Uninstall Recent Windows Updates

1. From the Recovery Menu, go to:
   Troubleshoot → Advanced Options → Uninstall Updates

2. First select:
   “Uninstall latest quality update”

3. If that doesn’t help, then select:
   “Uninstall latest feature update”

4. Restart your PC

Boom. My system booted cleanly—no more freeze.

---

Final Thoughts

This bug can feel like a dead end, but it’s fixable. Start from least invasive (Repair, Safe Mode) to more aggressive (New User or Update Removal).
Don’t rush to reinstall Windows—you may not need to.