Windows 10 is always stuck at spinning dots; can't reset and can't recover

Question

I just upgraded my Alienware Aurora R4 from Windows 8.1 Pro to Windows 10 Pro. Everything seemed to go okay. I was able to log in and everything as per the usual. Then I went to reboot it, and now it stays stuck at the spinning dots (before loading Windows). I am able to get into the BIOS but I cannot do a lot of things I have been trying to do to fix it:

• Can't boot into Safe Mode (stuck at spinning dots).
• Tried running the command prompt from the recovery screen and doing chkdsk and sfc scans. Nothing seemed to be wrong.
• Can't System Reset (also gets stuck at spinning dots).
• Can't boot into Windows 10 USB recovery media I made for it (tried both legacy and UEFI boot mode options, but this also is stuck at the spinning dots).
• I unplugged all peripherals besides mouse and keyboard.
• ePSA boot looks good; no problems found.

I have researched into this, I know that some people have successfully been able to reset after this, but not I. Similar questions haven't helped. I can't seem to do anything. I don't mind wiping this garbage PC at this point and reinstalling from scratch, but am unsure how. It looks like I may need to run some other boot software to wipe the entire system off the PC. Any suggestions?

Answer 1

The problem was because of this creepware from Intel. Windows Update was trying to push the Intel Management Engine Interface driver to my system. I found a workaround using this tool from Microsoft which basically lets you stop certain updates on Windows 10:

1. Vanilla install offline.
2. Plug network cable in.
3. Run this tool right away and hide Intel Management Engine Interface.
4. Make sure you tick the box under This PC to not push drivers in case Microsoft ever fixes the issue.