Computer won't boot past bios

[lsymphonyxl]

Unable to get my computer to boot past the bios. This happened about 8 months ago, then the computer got shelved for awhile till I had time to dig into this.

I just remember turning on the computer and being unable to boot it. I hadn't made any major changes that I recall. Now when I try to boot, it gets to the bios flash screen, then simply goes to a black screen with the blinking line/cursor. I've tried partitioning a USB Flash Drive with a Windows 10 installer and even when I select it from the boot list, the same thing results. I've also tried removing the battery off the motherboard and resetting the bios to no avail. My motherboard also has an EZ-Flash for the BIOS, which essentially freezes when I try to load it.

Also, the mobo has a Express Gate loader that no longer seems to work. I'm fairly certain that the mobo probably needs to be replaced but I wanted to see if anyone here has any ideas that have not been tried before I purchase one. Thanks!

 

[rocktalkrock]

What are the parts in your system?

"A black screen with the blinking line/cursor" means the BIOS is searching for a connected device, but can't find it. Do you have the boot order set properly?

 

[lsymphonyxl]

I can get the part list later today when I get home from work. I've left the unessential components out for now till I can get it running so its just the mobo, graphics card and peripherals.

I've gone into the bios and changed the boot order to both the SSD housing the OS and to the flash drive with the Windows 10 installer with the same results. I've also pressed F8 on startup to choose which device to boot to with the same results. The only time I got a different .message was when I selected the flash drive with the BIOS on it, it mentioned replacing the media and pressing any button to continue, but wouldn't progress from there.

 

[rocktalkrock]

I can get the part list later today when I get home from work. I've left the unessential components out for now till I can get it running so its just the mobo, graphics card and peripherals.

I've gone into the bios and changed the boot order to both the SSD housing the OS and to the flash drive with the Windows 10 installer with the same results. I've also pressed F8 on startup to choose which device to boot to with the same results. The only time I got a different .message was when I selected the flash drive with the BIOS on it, it mentioned replacing the media and pressing any button to continue, but wouldn't progress from there.

Are you sure the Windows 10 installer is bootable? Did you use the Microsoft Windows 10 Media Creation Tool to make the USB flash drive?

 

[lsymphonyxl]

Are you sure the Windows 10 installer is bootable? Did you use the Microsoft Windows 10 Media Creation Tool to make the USB flash drive?

I don't know for certain. I have a cheap laptop that I used to create the flash drive, but the Windows 10 Meda Creation tool wouldn't let me make the drive due to no space on drive C. I have space on an SD card but even if I move the exe to that it still wants the free space on drive C. C: has very little space as it is, and I would be hard pressed to find stuff to remove but it might be doable.

So I downloaded the most recent Windows 10 ISO from another site and used Rufus to create a windows install drive. Whether or not it works or if I went about it the right way I am unsure.

 

[rocktalkrock]

Are you sure the Windows 10 installer is bootable? Did you use the Microsoft Windows 10 Media Creation Tool to make the USB flash drive?

I don't know for certain. I have a cheap laptop that I used to create the flash drive, but the Windows 10 Meda Creation tool wouldn't let me make the drive due to no space on drive C. I have space on an SD card but even if I move the exe to that it still wants the free space on drive C. C: has very little space as it is, and I would be hard pressed to find stuff to remove but it might be doable.

So I downloaded the most recent Windows 10 ISO from another site and used Rufus to create a windows install drive. Whether or not it works or if I went about it the right way I am unsure.

Windows has to be installed on drive C, it will not boot from an SD card. It may be easier to use the Windows 10 Media Creation Tool to make your USB key.

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows10

 

[lsymphonyxl]

Are you sure the Windows 10 installer is bootable? Did you use the Microsoft Windows 10 Media Creation Tool to make the USB flash drive?

I don't know for certain. I have a cheap laptop that I used to create the flash drive, but the Windows 10 Meda Creation tool wouldn't let me make the drive due to no space on drive C. I have space on an SD card but even if I move the exe to that it still wants the free space on drive C. C: has very little space as it is, and I would be hard pressed to find stuff to remove but it might be doable.

So I downloaded the most recent Windows 10 ISO from another site and used Rufus to create a windows install drive. Whether or not it works or if I went about it the right way I am unsure.

Windows has to be installed on drive C, it will not boot from an SD card. It may be easier to use the Windows 10 Media Creation Tool to make your USB key.

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows10

I'm not trying to install it on the SD card. When using the Windows 10 tool, I'm picking the option to create a bootable USB drive to install, but it then gives me the error of not enough room on drive C:. So the download path is on drive C: but it will not let me change it, even though I have inadequate space, hence the workaround.

I'll try to make some space on there and see if i can't get it to work, but I don't know what all I can remove.