PC won't boot to windows anymore

[GoogalyMoogaly]

So I just built a new PC, installed Windows and it all seemed fine.
Was just doing some Windows updates and installing some drivers as you do, it needed to restart, so I did. But from that point on it wouldn't boot into Windows. All the motherboard LEDs go out as I believe they should. If the screen comes up because Windows has failed to boot enough times, that menu works fine. I can boot into safe mode, but it won't boot into Windows.

I used a Restore point and then it worked again, for a little bit and then the same thing happened.
Then I got it to do a self re-install of Windows using the installed version. That worked, so I then downloaded the Win10 media creation tool and used that to "upgrade" windows. It then seemed to work again. I was just installing and uninstalling a few things and it needed to reboot and from then it won't boot again.

SFC /scannow says it fixed some corrupt files but it doesn't change anything.

Same symptoms each time, the "lock" LEDs on the keyboard flicker then either all stay on or all go off. Then after a few more seconds the monitors go to standby.

Anyone got any ideas?

 

[mickyflinn]

Could it be the keyboard itself as a faulty usb device can cause weird issues change usb port in case it's the port.

Built the pc did you set memory speed , etc in the bios ?

 

[Gray2233]

So I just built a new PC, installed Windows and it all seemed fine.
Was just doing some Windows updates and installing some drivers as you do, it needed to restart, so I did. But from that point on it wouldn't boot into Windows. All the motherboard LEDs go out as I believe they should. If the screen comes up because Windows has failed to boot enough times, that menu works fine. I can boot into safe mode, but it won't boot into Windows.

I used a Restore point and then it worked again, for a little bit and then the same thing happened.
Then I got it to do a self re-install of Windows using the installed version. That worked, so I then downloaded the Win10 media creation tool and used that to "upgrade" windows. It then seemed to work again. I was just installing and uninstalling a few things and it needed to reboot and from then it won't boot again.

SFC /scannow says it fixed some corrupt files but it doesn't change anything.

Same symptoms each time, the "lock" LEDs on the keyboard flicker then either all stay on or all go off. Then after a few more seconds the monitors go to standby.

Anyone got any ideas?

Make sure that you've taken the USB stick out that you installed with.

Did you install with only one drive/partition? If so start by going to the boot menu and prioritising that drive, try doing this even if you have multiple drives/partitions. If that fails disconnect all but the OS drive and see what happens, it might be cycling due to thinking it's still in the process of installing Windows or due to data being spread over X amount of partitions/drives or the aforementioned USB stick being in the PC still.

Make sure everything else in the bios is stock, don't set XMP/EXPO or anything else until you're fully up and running.

Windows installation has come a long way, but still somehow manages to be utterly ****.

 

[GoogalyMoogaly]

Could it be the keyboard itself as a faulty usb device can cause weird issues change usb port in case it's the port.

Built the pc did you set memory speed , etc in the bios ?

I did, but after having issues I set it back and it made no difference.
One day it was fine the next (well, later that same day) it just wouldn't boot.

 

[GoogalyMoogaly]

Make sure that you've taken the USB stick out that you installed with.

Did you install with only one drive/partition? If so start by going to the boot menu and prioritising that drive, try doing this even if you have multiple drives/partitions. If that fails disconnect all but the OS drive and see what happens, it might be cycling due to thinking it's still in the process of installing Windows or due to data being spread over X amount of partitions/drives or the aforementioned USB stick being in the PC still.

Make sure everything else in the bios is stock, don't set XMP/EXPO or anything else until you're fully up and running.

Windows installation has come a long way, but still somehow manages to be utterly ****.

Yeah, definitely removed the drive.
I only had 1 drive connected when I installed Windows, but have since installed two more. Disconnecting drives is awkward as they're NVMe drives under a heatsink, under a GPU.
I did set the memory speed, but then reverted it when getting issues.

 

[Gray2233]

Yeah, definitely removed the drive.
I only had 1 drive connected when I installed Windows, but have since installed two more. Disconnecting drives is awkward as they're NVMe drives under a heatsink, under a GPU.
I did set the memory speed, but then reverted it when getting issues.

You might be able to disable the additional drives via the bios, but rule of thumb when installing Windows or running a restore/upgrade should be that you only have the drive you intend to use to boot with installed during the process. The O/S likes to spread bits of itself around and it can cause problems, this might not be the case for you but I'd suggest in future part building outside of a case until you're fully set up, then moving the innards into the case afterwards.

 

[GoogalyMoogaly]

You might be able to disable the additional drives via the bios, but rule of thumb when installing Windows or running a restore/upgrade should be that you only have the drive you intend to use to boot with installed during the process. The O/S likes to spread bits of itself around and it can cause problems, this might not be the case for you but I'd suggest in future part building outside of a case until you're fully set up, then moving the innards into the case afterwards.

Like I said I only had one drive in when I installed Windows. I added the other later. I thought it was all working, it was fine for hours. I can't set the PC up when the other hard drives aren't installed so it was set up as much as it could be with one drive in.

 

[mickyflinn]

There's sort of problems are a real head bash.

Mite be worth updating the motherboard bios.

 

[ATIorNvidia]

Have you changed around which slots your OS drive is in?

 

[GoogalyMoogaly]

There's sort of problems are a real head bash.

Mite be worth updating the motherboard bios.

Tell me about it! Running out of ideas and not sure what to do.
I did update the motherboard BIOS to the latest version quite early on, perhaps before installing Windows. Wondering if I should try using a slightly older BIOS (Asus Strix X670E-F).

Have you changed around which slots your OS drive is in?

No. Since I have 2 NVMe drives under a single large motherboard heatsink I don't want to have to fiddle with them if I can avoid it.

 

[BUDFORCE]

There's sort of problems are a real head bash.

Mite be worth updating the motherboard bios.

Yup.

I had similar, turned out a GPU wasn't 100% seated correctly, and would work fine at initial windows install.

However updating all drivers etc , restart and dead......

Amazing how something will "sort of" work when not properly connected.

I'd say to the OP keep swapping stuff about, doing things in different order etc. make sure everything is firmly seated and connected.

It'll be something simple like that, but hard to diagnose.

 

[mickyflinn]

Tell me about it! Running out of ideas and not sure what to do.
I did update the motherboard BIOS to the latest version quite early on, perhaps before installing Windows. Wondering if I should try using a slightly older BIOS (Asus Strix X670E-F).

Mite be worth trying and older bios..

Check any power saving/sleep options in windows and bios..

Are you using windows11 ?

 

[GoogalyMoogaly]

Mite be worth trying and older bios..

Check any power saving/sleep options in windows and bios..

Are you using windows11 ?

No, Windows 10. The odd thing is that safe mode and all that seems to work fine, it's just normal Windows that won't load.

 

[mickyflinn]

No, Windows 10. The odd thing is that safe mode and all that seems to work fine, it's just normal Windows that won't load.

I would try 11 just to see if you get the same results.

 

[Drumroll]

As it is an intermittent fault, was fine, later wasn’t, I would check if all is fully connected (cables, RAM, USB internal cables, etc). Had issue with an ISB C before that was shorting the motherboard. Case was a Lian Li O11D Air Mini.