[SOLVED] PC doesn't boot up

[THEMUD]

Howdy!

I bought a new SSD yesterday and set it up into my PC, so in my computer I have an SSD and an HDD and both of them are half a terabyte. I installed Windows 10 on my new SSD and it was working completely fine, until today I tried to open the computer and it didn't boot up. When it tries to boot up , it shows merely a black screen with what is called a blinking cursor just like in the image below:

https://i0.wp.com/www.pctechbytes.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/flashingcursor2.jpg?w=224&ssl=1

I opened up the BIOS and made sure that both of the drives are connected and are in order (that is, the SSD in SATA#1 and the HDD in SATA#2). I tried booting up manually from the SSD, but it was still not working. I tried unplugging the HDD thinking it was the problem and tried booting up again, this time the screen was black for 1-2 seconds and then it redirected me back to the BIOS.

My motherboard is ASUS H81M-K, and I'm using my SSD with SATA and NOT PCIe.

I have no clue on what is causing this problem, although it was working completely fine yesterday. So if you know the solution, don't hesitate to post it here.

Thanks in advance!

 

[vule.pcgeek]

Howdy!

I bought a new SSD yesterday and set it up into my PC, so in my computer I have an SSD and an HDD and both of them are half a terabyte. I installed Windows 10 on my new SSD and it was working completely fine, until today I tried to open the computer and it didn't boot up. When it tries to boot up , it shows merely a black screen with what is called a blinking cursor just like in the image below:

https://i0.wp.com/www.pctechbytes.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/flashingcursor2.jpg?w=224&ssl=1

I opened up the BIOS and made sure that both of the drives are connected and are in order (that is, the SSD in SATA#1 and the HDD in SATA#2). I tried booting up manually from the SSD, but it was still not working. I tried unplugging the HDD thinking it was the problem and tried booting up again, this time the screen was black for 1-2 seconds and then it redirected me back to the BIOS.

My motherboard is ASUS H81M-K, and I'm using my SSD with SATA and NOT PCIe.

I have no clue on what is causing this problem, although it was working completely fine yesterday. So if you know the solution, don't hesitate to post it here.

Thanks in advance!

First try booting the installation of Windows 10 again, just to make sure that motherboard's USB ports are well. Do a startup repair like a Britec does:

View: https://youtu.be/5Zkvlcnv-UU


Also, try using Command Prompt and apply commands
bootrec /fixboot and bootrec/fixmbr

Sent from my SM-J730F using Tapatalk

 

[vMax]

The flashing underscore means that the motherboard is waiting for a bootable device because it hasn't detected that any bootable devices are connected.

In BIOS, click on boot sequence, and make sure that you are booting in UEFI mode, rather than Legacy mode.

 

[THEMUD]

Do a startup repair like

I did that. It showed "Diagnosing your PC" then it automatically restarted the PC showing no message and then returned me to the same black screen.

Also, try using Command Prompt and apply commands
bootrec /fixboot and bootrec/fixmbr

The /fixboot argument displayed "Element not found", whilst the /fixmbr argument displayed "Operation was done successfully" but sadly nothing fixed the problem and when I booted up the system, it returned me to the same black screen.

One thing caught my attention is that, Britec had other options like "Continue" and "Use another operating system" meanwhile I hadn't. I just had "Troubleshoot" and "Turn off your PC". I don't know if this has something to do with the situation.

In BIOS, click on boot sequence, and make sure that you are booting in UEFI mode, rather than Legacy mode.

I checked it, it says Windows UEFI mode.

 

[THEMUD]

you should try upgrading your system to the latest version

I found out that my BIOS is outdated, I updated it to the newest version thanks to you. But unfortunately that didn't solve the problem.

Let me recall something I stated above that might add a bit to the story, when I try to boot up manually from my SSD (while the HDD is unplugged), the screen goes black for a second or two (WITHOUT the blinking underscore) and returns to the BIOS.

 

[vule.pcgeek]

I did that. It showed "Diagnosing your PC" then it automatically restarted the PC showing no message and then returned me to the same black screen.


The /fixboot argument displayed "Element not found", whilst the /fixmbr argument displayed "Operation was done successfully" but sadly nothing fixed the problem and when I booted up the system, it returned me to the same black screen.

One thing caught my attention is that, Britec had other options like "Continue" and "Use another operating system" meanwhile I hadn't. I just had "Troubleshoot" and "Turn off your PC". I don't know if this has something to do with the situation.


I checked it, it says Windows UEFI mode.

So baisiclly something is wrong with boot files, maybe to try installing Windows again if it's possible ?

Sent from my SM-J730F using Tapatalk

 

[THEMUD]

maybe to try installing Windows again

Yeah I think that's the only remaining option I have so far. Going to re-install it again, and I will tell you what happens afterwards.

 

[SkyNetRising]

the screen goes black for a second or two (WITHOUT the blinking underscore) and returns to the BIOS.

Can you boot from Windows installation media and open command prompt and execute these commands?

diskpart​

list disk​

select disk 0​

list partition​

list volume​

Make a photo of command output and show it here (upload to imgur.com and post link).

 

[THEMUD]

There you go: Clicky

 

[SkyNetRising]

Something is wrong with the image link.

 

[THEMUD]

Something is wrong with the image link.

My bad, I didn't wait for the images to upload properly. xD
Take this link instead: Clicky

By the way, just to inform you guys so I don't cause further annoyance, I re-installed Windows 10 and now my PC is booting properly with no issues. What a weird problem it was.

Therefore the problem is solved, but I still don't know what was the cause of it.

 

[SkyNetRising]

Windows is installed in legacy mode there. It can not be booted in UEFI mode.
If you disable legacy mode and leave only UEFI available, then you get blinking cursor issue.

It's non-standard configuration btw. There is no separate bootloader partition anywhere.

 

[THEMUD]

I assume that the blinking cursor issue is derived from my HDD (which doesn't hold the boot manager/Windows, therefore it shows the blinking cursor as there is nothing to boot) because when I tried booting from the SSD only (with the HDD being unplugged), the screen turned black for a second and went back to the BIOS. So I'm guessing it's a Windows Boot Manager snag?

And yes, I installed Windows 10 in Legacy (BIOS) mode. But the thing is, the system is working now even though I re-installed Windows 10 in Legacy mode too...

 

[SkyNetRising]

I'd suggest, you make a separate bootloader partition on SSD manually. We can provide you with instructions, how to do that.
Show us screenshot from Disk Management.