Question Multiple Freezing Issues after sitting and being moved

[Iltpgs]

Hello! New to Tom's as a poster. I've got a system I built the while back. Specs as follows

msi asrock x99e-itx
Gtx 980 ti
Intel 5820k
Crucial 8gb basic sticks x2
Samsung 1tb ssd
Wd black 3tb

Long story short built it a couple years ago.
Moved alot so it sat for a while about 2 years and finally decided to get back into gaming. Found the few missing pieces and put it back together. Booted it up today kept freezing right after posting on the windows loading screen. Had it blue screen on me a couple times. Irql not less or equal, machine check exception. Figured worst case something was shorted, scrolled through a couple posts and saw one about disabling c6. Disabled cStates in the BIOS and now will boot into windows. First time it did stopped Midway and blue screened a clock watchdog timeout. Restarted and went to log in screen. After trying to remember my password for a while lol I got it and after about 15 seconds no matter what it was on freezes up completely but doesn't shut off or restart. Started in safe mode and it lets me act as normal, disabled a couple programs on startup, restarted and does the same thing. That's where I'm at now, any ideas? Next idea is to run a repair on the disk from a different computer and start testing hardware individually. Any help is appreciated!

 

[Jinxterino]

Where this PC was sitting? I had PC which was exposed a bit to damp air and it caused issues with PSU so I would check visually if there is no damage to any exposed components. Check all connections especially to the OS drive. Unplug and plug it back while checking if everything sits well in the sockets.
Then I would suggest to right away check different Windows installation on a different drive. If there is an issue with other parts then you will run into the issue even on fresh drive/installation and then you know you need to test other parts to find the one which is the problem.
If everything runs fine on new drive/installation then drive or win. instal. is the issue. There are two options: Format the drive and do a fresh installation and if the issue still exists then it's the drive itself which is the issue.

 

[mdd1963]

SSDs are not known for data longevity in 'cold storage', i.e, a full two years in a powered off state if I interpret the scenario correctly...

If you were using WIndows 10, I'd download the latest ISO from MS, put it on USB, and do a complete fresh install to your SSD...(delete existing partitions on the the SSD early in the setup, and allow WIndows to do a quick format)

I'd also consider running Memtest86 from a USB flash drive for several hours just to make sure the mainboard and RAM seem up to snuff.....

 

[Iltpgs]

Where this PC was sitting? I had PC which was exposed a bit to damp air and it caused issues with PSU so I would check visually if there is no damage to any exposed components. Check all connections especially to the OS drive. Unplug and plug it back while checking if everything sits well in the sockets.
Then I would suggest to right away check different Windows installation on a different drive. If there is an issue with other parts then you will run into the issue even on fresh drive/installation and then you know you need to test other parts to find the one which is the problem.
If everything runs fine on new drive/installation then drive or win. instal. is the issue. There are two options: Format the drive and do a fresh installation and if the issue still exists then it's the drive itself which is the issue.

did a visual inspection and test fitted everything. swapped around and tested ram.it was kept in the upper level of a house with all carpet. They kept it pretty warm and was pretty dry. I'll get what I need off the old drive and try a fresh install. Is there any good software that tests the hardware throughly?

 

[Iltpgs]

SSDs are not known for data longevity in 'cold storage', i.e, a full two years in a powered off state if I interpret the scenario correctly...

If you were using WIndows 10, I'd download the latest ISO from MS, put it on USB, and do a complete fresh install to your SSD...(delete existing partitions on the the SSD early in the setup, and allow WIndows to do a quick format)

I'd also consider running Memtest86 from a USB flash drive for several hours just to make sure the mainboard and RAM seem up to snuff.....

Yes it did sit disconnected for long periods of times. Occasionally powered on to get something off of it. Thanks for the help!

 

[Jinxterino]

did a visual inspection and test fitted everything. swapped around and tested ram.it was kept in the upper level of a house with all carpet. They kept it pretty warm and was pretty dry. I'll get what I need off the old drive and try a fresh install. Is there any good software that tests the hardware throughly?

If you find what causes the issues you can test its stability using any popular soft like Prime.
Tbh it wouldn't surprise me if your OS installation was corrupted. Also, even bad SATA plug or even bad connection at the port can cause SSD and OS installed on it to throw freezes and blue screens. Once I've seen PC which was restarting itself due to bad cable which broke inside 🤣

 

[Iltpgs]

If you find what causes the issues you can test its stability using any popular soft like Prime.
Tbh it wouldn't surprise me if your OS installation was corrupted. Also, even bad SATA plug or even bad connection at the port can cause SSD and OS installed on it to throw freezes and blue screens. Once I've seen PC which was restarting itself due to bad cable which broke inside 🤣

Ordered a sata to USB on Amazon will pull off data tomorrow and refresh it. I know this seems like a stupid question but I always have no idea the proper way to refresh an install. Like what program is used to completely wipe and refresh it and do I need to save the key from somewhere and renter or is it saved to the MB somewhere. I've done it before but always forget the right way to do it.

 

[Jinxterino]

Ordered a sata to USB on Amazon will pull off data tomorrow and refresh it. I know this seems like a stupid question but I always have no idea the proper way to refresh an install. Like what program is used to completely wipe and refresh it and do I need to save the key from somewhere and renter or is it saved to the MB somewhere. I've done it before but always forget the right way to do it.

If you have Windows key you just need to DL tool from Microsoft site to create USB with Windows ISO which then you use to install a new copy of OS. During installation, you can format the drive to wipe data from it which is the best way to ensure the fresh and clean installation of the OS.
It's worth to note that OEM Windows keys are bound to the motherboard during the first installation and if you have that key you can just reenter it and you should be good.

 

[Iltpgs]

Update, got the windows tool on a drive tried to format and reinstall. Had many issues along the way. Wouldn't complete the loading process. Troubleshoot that and would get a little further another issue etc. Long story short I finally got into windows and I have the exact same issues. Got bsods during install specifically srttrail.txt and another machine check exception. I'm about to try another drive to see it it'll work but it's driving me nuts. Any more ideas appreciated. Hoping it's just a totally bad drive.

 

[Third-Eye]

A computer sitting in a dry room on carpet and disconnected from the wall is a terrible idea. I'm thinking it might have got hit by static discharge at some point. Some of the components or part of the power delivery on the motherboard or possibly the PSU may have been damaged just enough to cause issues, but not enough to stop the system starting up.

If you haven't tried it yet, swap the PSU for a known working one if you have access to one. If it's not the PSU, you may need to get a new motherboard to test. Use Linux so you don't have to transfer the Windows license incase it's not the motherboard. You could also try running Linux off a fast USB 3.0 drive to see if the system functions that way instead of using the SATA ports.

 

[Iltpgs]

A computer sitting in a dry room on carpet and disconnected from the wall is a terrible idea. I'm thinking it might have got hit by static discharge at some point. Some of the components or part of the power delivery on the motherboard or possibly the PSU may have been damaged just enough to cause issues, but not enough to stop the system starting up.

If you haven't tried it yet, swap the PSU for a known working one if you have access to one. If it's not the PSU, you may need to get a new motherboard to test. Use Linux so you don't have to transfer the Windows license incase it's not the motherboard. You could also try running Linux off a fast USB 3.0 drive to see if the system functions that way instead of using the SATA ports.

Will keep diagnosing tonight. Only thing throwing me off is that in safe mode it functioned fine. Didn't stress test it in safe mode but I don't know why that would allow it to keep running right.

 

[Third-Eye]

Will keep diagnosing tonight. Only thing throwing me off is that in safe mode it functioned fine. Didn't stress test it in safe mode but I don't know why that would allow it to keep running right.

Safe mode only loads the files and drivers required. That means things like video cards, sound cards and other components won't function until you boot back into normal mode. It could be an indication of either a broken driver or a component failing. You could try uninstalling drivers if you get back into normal mode. Then try downloading the newest drivers and reinstalling them or try older drivers. If you are on Windows 10 and want to use older drivers than what are already installed, you will likely have to tell it to roll back the driver after installing and rebooting since it will probably revert to the newest available.

 

[Iltpgs]

Safe mode only loads the files and drivers required. That means things like video cards, sound cards and other components won't function until you boot back into normal mode. It could be an indication of either a broken driver or a component failing. You could try uninstalling drivers if you get back into normal mode. Then try downloading the newest drivers and reinstalling them or try older drivers. If you are on Windows 10 and want to use older drivers than what are already installed, you will likely have to tell it to roll back the driver after installing and rebooting since it will probably revert to the newest available.

I'll be upset if it's the graphics card haha. Any programs that I can easily install the drivers in one swoop?

 

[Ketchup79]

Try running one stick of RAM at a time.

 

[Iltpgs]

So I got another very old drive that had windows 7 that isn't genuine apparently. 500 gb sshd. After another right to remember the password haha I got in and other than os stability issues, windows have faults and then force close and restart, the system has not frozen on me at all for like 30 minutes. At this point I feel comfortable getting a new SSD. if you have a different opinion let me know. Also a question on swapping to a new drive but but keeping the license of windows 10, how will it recognize the product key? Is it based in the hard drive the mother board or something else, do I need to find my product key somewhere in the system? I realize I'm a total noob so I appreciate the patience.

 

[Third-Eye]

So I got another very old drive that had windows 7 that isn't genuine apparently. 500 gb sshd. After another right to remember the password haha I got in and other than os stability issues, windows have faults and then force close and restart, the system has not frozen on me at all for like 30 minutes. At this point I feel comfortable getting a new SSD. if you have a different opinion let me know. Also a question on swapping to a new drive but but keeping the license of windows 10, how will it recognize the product key? Is it based in the hard drive the mother board or something else, do I need to find my product key somewhere in the system? I realize I'm a total noob so I appreciate the patience.

If you created a Microsoft account during setup on the system, the key should be tied to your account. Even with an OEM key, you can transfer the license to a new motherboard, but it's limited to somewhere around 3 times I think. When the Windows 10 installer asks for the key you just tell it to skip it and you would activate in Windows once it's finished installing. You just enter the key or log into your Microsoft account. You will have to contact support through the key activation prompts to get a reactivation key for the new motherboard.

 

[Iltpgs]

So. After a new drive and trying to install Windows 10 EXACT SAME ISSUE. what the hell. Startup repair keeps telling me srttrail.txt is the issue. What is going on

 

[Third-Eye]

So. After a new drive and trying to install Windows 10 EXACT SAME ISSUE. what the hell. Startup repair keeps telling me srttrail.txt is the issue. What is going on

You probably have some fault in the SATA controller or the ports or the cables. Like I've said before, you should try running Linux off a USB 3.0 drive to see if the computer functions at all or if it's just an issue with SATA connectivity. If it turns out it's just an issue with SATA, you can probably bypass the motherboard with a PCIE SATA card to boot the OS drive.

 

[Iltpgs]

You probably have some fault in the SATA controller or the ports or the cables. Like I've said before, you should try running Linux off a USB 3.0 drive to see if the computer functions at all or if it's just an issue with SATA connectivity. If it turns out it's just an issue with SATA, you can probably bypass the motherboard with a PCIE SATA card to boot the OS drive.

I have never used Linux ever so I'd be clueless and it's a e itx build single pci slot.

 

[Third-Eye]

I have never used Linux ever so I'd be clueless and it's a e itx build single pci slot.

Linux is very easy to run and install if you get the more user friendly distributions like Ubuntu or Linux Mint. You can run it off a USB drive as a live disk instead of installing it to a hard drive so you can try it out as if you had installed it to a hard drive. You could use a USB 2.0 drive if that is all you have, but it will be very slow compared to a USB 3.0 drive. This is just to test whether the computer will run at all once you have an OS running that can utilize the hardware installed and to see if there is some hardware component having a problem. Also, I forgot the motherboard is Mini-ITX, so that kills the PCIE SATA card idea.

I would try using Linux Mint x64 first. Creating the bootable drive is quite easy and Ubuntu has the same basic instructions to do that. Start here and read through the simple guide https://linuxmint-installation-guide.readthedocs.io/en/latest/index.html. The Xfce release is more intended for lower-end hardware and may run better off a USB drive if you want to poke around in Linux for a bit. It likely won't matter which one you use.

Edit - I should also mention that Linux Mint is more like Windows and I know of at least two people, that were coming from Windows, found it easier to use than Ubuntu and other Linux distros.

 

[Iltpgs]

Linux is very easy to run and install if you get the more user friendly distributions like Ubuntu or Linux Mint. You can run it off a USB drive as a live disk instead of installing it to a hard drive so you can try it out as if you had installed it to a hard drive. You could use a USB 2.0 drive if that is all you have, but it will be very slow compared to a USB 3.0 drive. This is just to test whether the computer will run at all once you have an OS running that can utilize the hardware installed and to see if there is some hardware component having a problem. Also, I forgot the motherboard is Mini-ITX, so that kills the PCIE SATA card idea.

I would try using Linux Mint x64 first. Creating the bootable drive is quite easy and Ubuntu has the same basic instructions to do that. Start here and read through the simple guide https://linuxmint-installation-guide.readthedocs.io/en/latest/index.html. The Xfce release is more intended for lower-end hardware and may run better off a USB drive if you want to poke around in Linux for a bit. It likely won't matter which one you use.

Edit - I should also mention that Linux Mint is more like Windows and I know of at least two people, that were coming from Windows, found it easier to use than Ubuntu and other Linux distros.

I made an Ubuntu bootable USB. Wouldn't even get to the gui. Listing cpu errors but I don't remember what they were. Using UBCD Right now to see what it finds.

 

[Third-Eye]

I made an Ubuntu bootable USB. Wouldn't even get to the gui. Listing cpu errors but I don't remember what they were. Using UBCD Right now to see what it finds.

You could try booting with legacy bios mode to avoid any uefi issues that might be causing the errors

 

[Iltpgs]

You could try booting with legacy bios mode to avoid any uefi issues that might be causing the errors

Man I'm getting over my head in this. I wish I had a test bench or something. I just don't have the money to replace this stuff. I'll try Linux mint in the morning .

 

[Ketchup79]

Did you try the one stick or RAM at a time idea?

 

[Third-Eye]

Did you try the one stick or RAM at a time idea?

While we still can't rule out memory being the issue, the OP was getting the srttrail.txt error which means files are being corrupted on the drive. It's possible to repair the files, but doing so may only be a temporary fix if some part of the data connection to the drive is at fault. The old drive and the new drive both have the same basic issue, which is why I've suggested there is a problem with the SATA controller, SATA ports or the SATA cables being used. The only real way to test the ports and cables is to swap them for different ones, but the OP likely doesn't have any spare cables on hand. Using the USB drive to run Linux was my way to test if any part of the SATA is at fault assuming USB still functions.