Can't Boot To Windows Or Installation Disc

DaveK · Jul 6, 2011

Hey guys, I have a strange problem here. Turned to my PC as usual today only for it to act funny. When I
first booted up and got to the desktop nothing worked, the wireless didn't connect and when I clicked an icon it froze. I opened up the task manager to fixed RAM usage constantly at around 950MB and CPU usage at 1%. I rebooted and everything was fine, then Apple Software Updater wanted to update iTunes then froze my PC. I rebooted again to get the same problem I had the first time. After a few more tries I restored to when I uninstalled Microsoft Security Center or whatever, only to see a blank white screen instead of a desktop. Tried safe mode and it didn't work. Sometimes it would get stuck on the welcome screen when booting normally. I tried the Windows disc and it would get to the background but the menu wouldn't show up.

I reset my overclocks and tried booting with one stick of RAM, still nothing. Any ideas?

scaminatrix · Jul 6, 2011

Could be failing HDD. If you've got a spare HDD, install OS on that. Then plug in your other HDD in Windows and run your favourite SMART monitoring program.

lilhasselhoffer · Jul 6, 2011

I appreciate what scaminatrix said, but there may be a less (or no) costly solution since you've obviously got another internet connected device. Download a live distribution of linux, or the UBCD (ultimate boot cd).

These two options will allow you to manually test things like the HDD, RAM, and scan windows for corruption errors. Just make sure the optical drive (or usb) is set to the primary boot device in the bios.

What you've described could be way too many things for anyone to know what is going wrong without some more info. Do some testing (HDD and RAM are easiest), then get back to us.

WhiteLotus · Jul 6, 2011

^ I would do that. It's free to do to do. Well at the cost of one CD, and that's like 2p.

Though maybe consider the hard drive failing, however I would think you have seen signs of failure before it just going completely on you.

Bundy · Jul 6, 2011

It might be possibleto check if the HDD is at fault by disconnecting and attempting to get the windows disk to boot to menu.

I think it's more likely to be a failure on the mobo, caused by either the mobo itself, or faulty PSU or loose plug.

DaveK · Jul 19, 2011

I'm unable to boot to the Windows disc so installing to the second hard drive I have is not an option. I have also unplugged the drives from the PC ruling them out, the problem still persists. I ran the Ultimate Boot CD and done a RAM test, nothing failed.

That leaves the motherboard, processor and PSU. I don't see why it would be the PSU though, it's only about 18 months old and isn't pushed to the limit. The processor and mobo on the other hand are quite old and have been used in overclocking a lot.

It's still a very weird problem. After the Windows logo comes up the screen will just stay black with the mouse cursor on the screen, Safe Mode is the same as is the Windows installation disc even with the hard-drives plugged out. Something tells me I'm just going to have to do an overhaul, it's still going to cost around €250 so it's not a cheap fix.

scaminatrix · Jul 19, 2011

Tried resetting CMOS? Long shot, but well worth a try.

de.das.dude · Jul 19, 2011

might be failing anything that is playing with the OS through its driver

might be the South Bridge dying, if not the HDD

System Name	The Beast
Processor	Intel Core i3-2100 @ 3.1GHz
Motherboard	Asus P8P67 LE
Cooling	Stock
Memory	4GB Corsair Vengeance DDR3 @ 1600MHz
Video Card(s)	1GB Sapphire Radeon HD4650 Ultimate Edition
Storage	60GB Corsair Force LE, 1TB Samsung SpinPoint F1, 500GB Seagate
Display(s)	22" Samsung T220HD & 19" Acer X193W
Case	Corsair Obsidian 750D
Power Supply	Corsair HX650W
Software	Windows 7 Ultimate x64

System Name	Benny
Processor	Phenom II 1055t @ 3.3GHz; 300x11; 1.380v; NB 2700; HT 2400
Motherboard	ASUS Crosshair IV Formula (2002 BIOS)
Cooling	Thermalright TRUE 120 Black + 2 Xilence Red Wing PWM 120mm (push/pull) + polycarbonate fan holders
Memory	8GB GeIL Ultra 2133MHZ C9 running at 1600MHz @ 7-7-7-21 1T 1.5v
Video Card(s)	MSI Twin Frozr II GTX470 @ Stock w/CPU fan cable-tied on, as one of the GPU fans broke.
Storage	60GB OCZ Agility3 (OS);500GB WDC Grn; 1x1TB WDC Blk (Backup)
Display(s)	ASUS PA823Q
Case	Silverstone Raven 2 (all cables custom sleeved with velcro mod on side panel...)
Audio Device(s)	X-Fi (Onboard) + Harmon Kardon HK6100 amp powering JVC HA-RX700's with Zalman mic
Power Supply	Corsair HX650W
Software	Win7 Pro x64
Benchmark Scores	No benchies so making this space useful! Corsair M90, Logitech G19. Phobya FlexLight LED's (gawjus)

System Name	Vintage
Processor	i7 - 3770K @ Stock
Cooling	Scythe Zipang II
Memory	2x4GB Crucial DDR3
Video Card(s)	MSI GTX970
Storage	M4 124GB SSD// WD Black 640GB// WD Black 1TB//Samsung F3 1.5TB
Display(s)	Samsung SM223BW 21.6"
Case	Generic
Power Supply	Corsair HX 520W
Software	Windows 7

System Name	Grandpa
Processor	i5 4690K
Motherboard	Gigabyte Z97X-UD5H-BK
Cooling	water
Memory	8GB Corsair Vengence 2400MHz
Video Card(s)	Gigabyte 5850 x2
Storage	Samsung SM951
Display(s)	Catleap 27"
Case	coolermaster stacker
Power Supply	corsair AX860i
Mouse	logitech g5 original
Keyboard	Ducky
Software	Windows 8.1

System Name	The Beast
Processor	Intel Core i3-2100 @ 3.1GHz
Motherboard	Asus P8P67 LE
Cooling	Stock
Memory	4GB Corsair Vengeance DDR3 @ 1600MHz
Video Card(s)	1GB Sapphire Radeon HD4650 Ultimate Edition
Storage	60GB Corsair Force LE, 1TB Samsung SpinPoint F1, 500GB Seagate
Display(s)	22" Samsung T220HD & 19" Acer X193W
Case	Corsair Obsidian 750D
Power Supply	Corsair HX650W
Software	Windows 7 Ultimate x64

System Name	Monke \| Work Thinkpad\| Old Monke
Processor	Ryzen 5600X \| Ryzen 5500U \| FX8320
Motherboard	ASRock B550 Extreme4 \| ? \| Asrock 990FX Extreme 4
Cooling	240mm Rad \| Not needed \| hyper 212 EVO
Memory	2x16GB DDR4 3600 Corsair RGB \| 16 GB DDR4 3600 \| 16GB DDR3 1600
Video Card(s)	Sapphire Pulse RX6700XT 12GB \| Vega 8 \| Sapphire Pulse RX580 8GB
Storage	Samsung 980 nvme (Primary) \| some samsung SSD
Display(s)	Dell 2723DS \| Some 14" 1080p 98%sRGB IPS \| Dell 2240L
Case	Ant Esports Tempered case \| Thinkpad \| Antec
Audio Device(s)	Logitech Z333 \| Jabra corpo stuff
Power Supply	Corsair RM750e \| not needed \| Corsair GS 600
Mouse	Logitech G400 \| nipple
Keyboard	Logitech G213 \| stock kb is awesome \| Logitech K230
VR HMD	;_;
Software	Windows 10 Professional x3
Benchmark Scores	There are no marks on my bench

Can't Boot To Windows Or Installation Disc

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