You mightn't think it, but the Windows 11 Recovery Environment is genuinely powerful.

OK, I'm really tired, so I hope this comes across right. I'm wondering if there's a way that I can change the order in which programs load during boot-up. Specifically, I'd like to load my AV as early ...

Its probably just the boot order. Go into the BIOS and make sure its trying to boot from the correct hard drive first. If you aren't sure what drive you are supposed to boot from, just switch whatever ...