[SOLVED] New PC freezing at windows install

[Domino84]

Hey there, I just did sort of computer swap where i put a new motherboard, CPU, RAM, PSU, and case together.

New components
H710 NZXT case
Gigabyte z390 auros Master
i9 9900K
Gskill rip ram CL 14 or whatnot
80 plus gold evga 750w psu

old components:
NVMe m2 ssd
2TB samsung 860 ssd.
1080ti

So the issue I am having is this:

When i boot up I am using the windows USB installer. When i begin the install i get to where it starts installing and then it freezes randomly. doesnt really matter on the % and I have gotten as far as it actually being done and then asking me if I want to use cortana and such. It just ends up freezing and I need to hard boot.

Here is what i have done so far and it hasnt changed anything.

Changed the drives to try to install on though I know the drives are fine.
eliminated one drive entirely.
changed the RAM to older ddr4 ram I have and i got the same issue

I have fully formatted my drives and made sure its all GPT and such

What i am going to do next or if someone else has a better recommendation I am all ears:

Use integrated graphics first and take out the video card.
re seat EVERYTHING starting with all PSU connections and mobo connections.
work my way to cleaning cpu and re-applying thermal paste and cooler
pulling out full mobo and re-building etc.

I just wasnt sure if anyone else had an idea of what might be causing the hiccup or if I am doing the right things. I would hopefully not have to flash the bios or anything like that as its brand new.

thoughts?

 

[QwerkyPengwen]

shouldn't need to do all that fancy stuff.
First and foremost, make sure the drive is at least 8gb in size.

Second, clean it and format it.

Then use a freshly downloaded Windows Media Creation Tool to make it into a bootable flash drive.

Then go to install from it at boot.

Also be sure to use a USB 2.0 port as sometimes a 3.0 port can cause issues.

Another thing to make sure of is to only have the drive you are installing to plugged in.
Unplug all other storage devices, since if you have any other storage devices plugged in when installing, then Windows, still to this day (for some super dumb reason), will install the MBR (Master Boot Record) onto a different drive than the one you are installing Windows to if it sees another drive, which basically means that if that drive dies, or get's removed or whatever, then you won't be able to boot into Windows anymore.

So just remove all but the drive you are installing Windows to when you do the install.

 

[Domino84]

Apologies if i was unclear at all. I actually did do it with only one drive available (NVMe m.2) but I have also tried only the 860 EVO and had the same issue.

Also I have tried two separate 16GB bootable USB sticks with the windows creation tool (both are cleanly formatted and installed from this PC that I am typing on at this moment).

I have heard that the GPU being plugged in can cause issues like this so I will use the native HDMI that comes with the mobo, but other than that it just keeps freezing. I would normally think it might be the motherboard or the CPU overheating, but I am not showing any real indications of that and clearly they are working.

thoughts?

 

[QwerkyPengwen]

honestly you shouldn't be having any issues unless there's an issue with the motherboard or the hardware.
check to make sure that the CPU was properly seated into the socket.
(This unfortunately will require you to take off the cooler, and make sure the CPU is in there the right way, which will also require you to clean the thermal paste and reapply it)

check that the RAM is properly seated as well.

since you don't have integrated graphics you have no choice but to leave the GPU installed, but that shouldn't be causing an issue, and the connection type (whether it be HDMI, DVI, DP) shouldn't matter.

Can try updating the BIOS to the latest version to see if that helps.

And of course as I stated earlier, make sure to use a USB 2.0 port on the rear I/O of the motherboard and not a 3.0 or front panel port.

Try creating the bootable drive using a 2.0 port as well if you can.

Otherwise, (while the 16 size of the drive shouldn't matter, I've done installs with 16GB drives before myself) could try getting a hold of an 8GB drive to try installing from instead to see if that makes a difference.
But save that for last.

And lastly, to make sure that you are properly cleaning and formatting the drive for making it bootable, try the following:

open start menu and type CMD then right click and run as admin.

type the following lines one at a time while pressing ENTER after each line

DiskPart
List Disk
Select Disk # (number being the one for the flash drive)
Clean
Create Partition Primary
Select Partition 1
Active
Format Quick FS=FAT32
Assign
Exit
Exit

Now open the media creation tool and make a bootable drive.
When finished, click the last button prompt to finish the process, then don't do anything at all except to just click start menu, power options, and restart.

When the system restarts, press the appropriate key to load boot menu options, then select the flash drive to boot into the installer then go through the typical install process.

(P.S. - You don't have to use the capitol letters when doing the commands, I just type like that is all)

 

[Domino84]

Thanks for sticking with me here. I think it could come down to updating the BIOS here because I have done just about everything you have said here. CPU looked good, but i still re-seated it and put the cooler back on. i verified all connections and such.

I dont have a 8GB drive handy so i can't do the boot disk from that, but i have a boot disk i have used on a recent format without issue and that one is still freezing.

I am aware I shouldnt have any issues. so that is what is pretty infuriating about the whole thing.

i had done the full cleans through diskpart using shift+f10 at disk selection screen. Basically after i select a disk ill get to about 20-80% and then it will crash.

RAM looks good and i tried different RAM as well that I know works just fine and still had the same issues. I am thinking something could be wrong with the hardware or the BIOS just needs to be updated.

I will do that next and see how things go from there.

 

[Domino84]

I finally got this thing to boot and update. I ended up pulling the gfx card just to be safe. I flashed my bios to the latest 10b, and then i was getting weird installation media crashes. I created new media 3 times, until finally one of them actually worked. I have no idea why it was being such a PITA but thanks for all the help.