Windows won't boot after trying to install new gpu

Kattinicat.Matt

Kattinicat.Matt

Kattinicat.Matt

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7 Dec 2015
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Windows won't boot after trying to install new gpu. Now resolved.

Hi all
Firstly I'm a total newb as you will quickly see, but I am trying learn by tinkering a little at a time.
Ok so I picked up a cheap HP pro 3400 micro tower, i5-2400, 300w psu, 4gb ram, 500gb hdd. I went for this as it sounded a like good starting point to play with, I may have been wrong but we'll see.

So I wanted to upgrade the graphics card but as I don't yet want to plow a fortune in I did some research & it seemed a number of people have had success with a gtx 750 ti on the standard psu but I'm guessing they were only just getting away with it, for what I wanted this wasn't needed anyway as I'm not a big pc gamer. So did more research & built a pc to the same spec on ************ & decided on a gt730 which is more than enough for what I want this tower for, plus it has a very low power consumption & powers of the mobo. So I picked up an Asus nvidia geforce gt 730 thinking it would be a straight foward plug & play, how wrong was i!

So after following many how to's I'm now at a loss. With the card plugged in the it wouldn't get past the first HP screen, so I managed to boot in safe mode & install the drivers with the card installed then turned off safe mode & still no good however would boot up with the card installed sometimes but would take an age if at all, sometimes getting just a black screen with an underscore in the corner. I googled this & it was suggested that the integrates graphics needed turning off however when I eventually managed to get it booted up with the card installed it would only show me the gt730 in the devices so I had to turn off the pc , remove card them boot back up, at which point I could disable the integrated graphics, turned off & that was it now no matter what I do I can't get past the first blue HP screen which says "press the ESC key for start up menu" & pressing ESC doesn't do anything, I've even tried booting up with a bootable usb to restore but it won't do that either.
I don't mind upgrading other parts to get it up an running like a bigger psu aslong as that is what the issue is, or even if I get it back up & running I'll flog it & maby just build one myself.....

Thanks
Matt
 
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While I'm aware I've obviously created a new issue, Is it possible that the original problem is down the the mobo bios not being a current enough version for the new card (if this is the case I don't think mobo is supported anymore so I guess I'd have to get an older card, or new mobo)
 
following what Rroff said -
try and get basic system without gt 730 plugged in working again (so using igp and motherboard hdmi plug) - you imply it was working at one time ?

may need to do a clean install (assume you have win 7 ? ,so no added complication of win 10 automatic driver installs)
 
Next step is probably to try clearing the CMOS/BIOS after which you may find a BIOS update is required for the 730 which is a bit complex - shouldn't be the case but not a completely unheard of scenario with systems like those HP and Dells, etc. with GPUs that have come out after they were released.
 
Ok I'm just clearing the CMOS/BIOS now, I have a bootable usb with Windows 10 but can make another with Windows 7 if need be, what's the advantage of using Windows 7? (I must admit I prefer using Windows 7)
I may need a walk through on updating the bios if I can't find a good how to, on HP's website I cant seem to find anything current.

Thank you
 
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Ok I've done the by removing the little penny battery on the mobo, it's now going through the HP splash screen to a black screen with some specs & says time & date not set, press ESC key for start up menu, however ESC is still not working?
 
Have you seen this

Re: HP Pro 3400 Microtower and zotac GEFORCE gtx 750 gpu
Options

‎06-28-2015 10:06 PM
Check this msi gtx 750ti out. Doesn't need power cable and has a legacy switch to work with older bios.

http://www.frys.com/product/8003654?source=google&gclid=CjwKEAjwtr6sBRDv7uzB492H9XISJADj6aqbjziR4A3P...

Call msi just to double check the part number matches
Click to expand...

if you have not already , go to hp site and check what bios version are available against what you have (msinfo32.exe) - on cursory inspection articles suggest card needs a legacy switch, or whatever a version '8' bios is
but maybe you have found another thread ? where someone has got your exact card to work (you may need to join that forum and post ?)

Presumably you already followed some specific instructions when you had modified bios config to try new card ? did you try and reverse that (as opposed to resetting bios?)
 
I've been all over looking, I'd didn't actually modify the bios (to my limited knowledge) the last thing I tried before the above happened was I switched of the internal graphics card :S
I may end up going for the gtx 750 ti but will have to look for them second hand, I was also looking at a cheap GT 610 which if seen work on my system although not sure if that was straight foward or not. At least with the 750 it has a legacy switch as you say.
I've updated the bios to the latest through HP's site which is v7.16 but I suspect this GT 630 I already have needs v8 onwards. If started another post related my graphics card dilemma now in the appropriate sub

Thanks
 
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