Many Lenovo 14W laptops display the message “You’re about to be signed out. The system will restart in 2 minutes to install a firmware update” on startup. The laptop restarts, but the message pops up again, sending Windows into a restart loop.
This issue is often caused by the Storage Firmware Update. To fix it, we’ll need to first prevent the PC from shutting down in 2 minutes; then, we will disable the faulty firmware in the Device Manager.
Here is how to do it:
- Launch the Run dialog by pressing Windows Key + R. Type shutdown -a and press Enter:
This will disable the automatic shutdown and allow you to do the next steps in time. - Now, type Device Manager on Windows Search and click on Open:
- In the Device Manager, expand Firmware.
- Right-click on the Storage Firmware Update (SanDisk DA4BH) and select Disable device:
Keeping this device disabled will prevent the problem from reappearing. If you select Uninstall device in step 4, Windows will automatically install the wrong firmware when it updates so that the problem might reoccur.
Hardware issues like there are caused by having the wrong driver/firmware. To avoid this kind of issue, stay away from relying on Windows Update to update your drivers, and stick with a reliable third-party solution.
I’ve written an article on how to update all of your drivers at once.
If this doesn’t fix the problem, you can still identify what is causing the problem in Windows PowerShell.
How to Find Out What is Causing Lenovo 14W Firmware Update Restart Loop
To find out what is causing your Lenovo 14W to shut down, do the following steps:
- Press Windows Key + R to open the run dialog. Type shutdown -a and press Enter:
This will prevent your PC from automatically shutting down while doing the steps below. - Now, type Windows PowerShell on Windows Search and click on Run as Administrator:
- In the PowerShell windows, input the following command:
Get-WinEvent -FilterHashtable @{ LogName = ‘System’; Id = 41, 1074, 6006, 6605, 6008; } | Format-List Id, LevelDisplayName, TimeCreated, Message
- Press Enter, and try to find in this list the process causing your laptop to shut down at restart.
Conclusion
A faulty firmware is likely the reason you are seeing the message “You’re about to be signed out. The system will restart in 2 minutes to install a firmware update” on your Lenovo 14W startup.
The first step to fix this Lenovo 14W firmware update restart loop is to enter shutdown -a in the Run dialog (Win key + R) to prevent your PC from automatically shutting down while you fix it.
After that, go to the Device Manager, expand Firmware, right-click on Storage Firmware Update (SanDisk DA4BH) and select Disable Device.
Even though this fixes the issue, you should keep your drivers up-to-date because Lenovo might provide new drivers soon to fix this without needing to disable any device.
If your laptop is missing some advanced power settings, read my article on how to fix Advanced Power Settings missing on Windows.
