[SOLVED] PC restarts while installing Windows ?

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Jul 27, 2022
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Hi

Hoping someone can help. I built a custom pc which was working perfectly until I had some random restarts a month or so after. I read on the internet somewhere that it could be windows and that I should disable the restart on system error feature which I did. I then left my pc on for an hour or two without supervision and came back and the PC was off. When I restarted the pc, it got.to windows login, I typed in my pin and it restarted almost immediately. I did this a few times and it then came up with a boot issue. I created a Windows installation media on USB, got into setup and tried to repair but that didn't work. I then decided to reinstall windows, and it restarted when it was copying files. I formatted the drive, tried installing windows and same again restart when copying files. Since then I've tried the following with the same issue;

  • Clean m.2 and repartition
  • Replace PSU with bigger wattage
  • Try different GPU
  • Test each stick of ram independently
  • Move ram to different slots
  • Try different m.2 with windows preinstalled
  • Resit heatsink on CPU with new heatsink paste
  • Remove usb WiFi dongle
  • Run 4 passes through memtest86, first time found issues, so I updated the bios and now not seeing any issues.
Interesting thing is that I can run memtest86 and work in CMD without any random restart. It's only when I try install windows. I've tried wiping the installation media and redoing that and have same result - restart during copy files. Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks

CPU: and Ryzen 5 3600
Ram: ballistix 2 X 8gb ddr4 3600 RGB
MB: Asus prime b550m-k
PSU: evga 650w 80 plus gold
GPU: palit rtx 3060
HDD: crucial m.2 500gb
 

Ralston18

Titan
Moderator
Noted that you reinstalled Windows.

However, not sure about the process you used.

Recommended:

https://forums.tomshardware.com/faq/windows-10-clean-install-tutorial.3170366

Also - how old is that EVGA PSU? History of heavy use for gaming, video editing, or even bit-mining?

Power down, unplug, open the case.

Clean out dust and debris.

Verify by sight and feel that all connectors, cards, RAM, jumpers, and case connections are fully and firmly in place.

They can, and do, creep loose over time due to expansion/contraction and vibrations.

Take your time with it all. Be methodical. Keep notes.
 
Hi

Hoping someone can help. I built a custom pc which was working perfectly until I had some random restarts a month or so after. I read on the internet somewhere that it could be windows and that I should disable the restart on system error feature which I did. I then left my pc on for an hour or two without supervision and came back and the PC was off. When I restarted the pc, it got.to windows login, I typed in my pin and it restarted almost immediately. I did this a few times and it then came up with a boot issue. I created a Windows installation media on USB, got into setup and tried to repair but that didn't work. I then decided to reinstall windows, and it restarted when it was copying files. I formatted the drive, tried installing windows and same again restart when copying files. Since then I've tried the following with the same issue;

  • Clean m.2 and repartition
  • Replace PSU with bigger wattage
  • Try different GPU
  • Test each stick of ram independently
  • Move ram to different slots
  • Try different m.2 with windows preinstalled
  • Resit heatsink on CPU with new heatsink paste
  • Remove usb WiFi dongle
  • Run 4 passes through memtest86, first time found issues, so I updated the bios and now not seeing any issues.
Interesting thing is that I can run memtest86 and work in CMD without any random restart. It's only when I try install windows. I've tried wiping the installation media and redoing that and have same result - restart during copy files. Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks

CPU: and Ryzen 5 3600
Ram: ballistix 2 X 8gb ddr4 3600 RGB
MB: Asus prime b550m-k
PSU: evga 650w 80 plus gold
GPU: palit rtx 3060
HDD: crucial m.2 500gb
A minor issue: the windows installer prefers that you have only 1 drive connected at install time; others can be connected after installation is complete. It also does not need any partitioning in advance since it creates its own partitions. All it needs is a GPT identifier; if all of the disk space is unallocated it will go quicker and easier since it allows skipping the delete old partitions step. And having a hardwired ethernet connection helps if it needs any files during the install process.

It would also help if you told us any changes you made to any bios settings. With problems like these it helps if all bios setting are left to their defaults.
 

Colif

Win 11 Master
Moderator
the problem appears to be after he has created the partitions on the drives, but he is copying info onto them off the USB. He only lists 1 drive, he mentions he tried 2 but I assume they both not attached at same time.

2nd drive with win 10 installed already probably not fair test if its from another PC. Could still be the nvme although it lets you partition it.

Tried another USB stick? it would be odd for it to be the USB at this stage though as normally get errors relating to the USB at the partition creation stage.

Is this windows 10? Have you tried installing with no internet connection, stops it looking for updates.

if it was ram it would have probably happened before the partition creation stage.

its hardware of some sort, you just have to work out what.
 
Jul 27, 2022
13
0
20
Noted that you reinstalled Windows.

However, not sure about the process you used.

Recommended:

https://forums.tomshardware.com/faq/windows-10-clean-install-tutorial.3170366

Also - how old is that EVGA PSU? History of heavy use for gaming, video editing, or even bit-mining?

Power down, unplug, open the case.

Clean out dust and debris.

Verify by sight and feel that all connectors, cards, RAM, jumpers, and case connections are fully and firmly in place.

They can, and do, creep loose over time due to expansion/contraction and vibrations.

Take your time with it all. Be methodical. Keep notes.

Hi, it's a brand new PSU. The one before it was only 6 months old. But was 550w so I thought it may be too low for the 3060. Everything has been removed and replaced at least once. Still same issue. Will have a go at clean install with no partition and only GPT.
 
Jul 27, 2022
13
0
20
A minor issue: the windows installer prefers that you have only 1 drive connected at install time; others can be connected after installation is complete. It also does not need any partitioning in advance since it creates its own partitions. All it needs is a GPT identifier; if all of the disk space is unallocated it will go quicker and easier since it allows skipping the delete old partitions step. And having a hardwired ethernet connection helps if it needs any files during the install process.

It would also help if you told us any changes you made to any bios settings. With problems like these it helps if all bios setting are left to their defaults.

Thanks will give the no partition a go, but I tried sticking in a different m.2 with a cleanish install (from a laptop) of win 10 and it restarted as it was loading into windows... Same issue, different SSD. And, I removed the other m.2 SSD whilst trying.

No changes to bios, just started happening. But as I say I think the problem always existed, it just got worse... Whatever it is.
 
Jul 27, 2022
13
0
20
the problem appears to be after he has created the partitions on the drives, but he is copying info onto them off the USB. He only lists 1 drive, he mentions he tried 2 but I assume they both not attached at same time.

2nd drive with win 10 installed already probably not fair test if its from another PC. Could still be the nvme although it lets you partition it.

Tried another USB stick? it would be odd for it to be the USB at this stage though as normally get errors relating to the USB at the partition creation stage.

Is this windows 10? Have you tried installing with no internet connection, stops it looking for updates.

if it was ram it would have probably happened before the partition creation stage.

its hardware of some sort, you just have to work out what.

Internet not connected, removed the WiFi dongle and no ethernet connected.

Not tried another usb stick, but it was randomly restarting before I tried to install and same with other copy of Windows pre-installed. I know it's not a great idea to do that, but Win 10 apparently quite adaptable and would at least get into windows, but it's restarting at similar point loading into windows so assumed it wasn't the SSD and replaced with original one.

I think it's hardware too, only other things could be MB or CPU... Any easy way to test those?
 
Thanks will give the no partition a go, but I tried sticking in a different m.2 with a cleanish install (from a laptop) of win 10 and it restarted as it was loading into windows... Same issue, different SSD. And, I removed the other m.2 SSD whilst trying.

No changes to bios, just started happening. But as I say I think the problem always existed, it just got worse... Whatever it is.
A "cleanish install" from another computer would only be expected to work if the 2 computers had almost identical hardware. Plus the windows activation status is linked to a computer's motherboard so even if a boot was successful it would end up as not activated. Microsoft makes its money by using various copy protection schemes to prevent such situations.
 
Jul 27, 2022
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Also if the problem is continuing to appear after a reinstall then take a look in Reliability History and Event Viewer.

Either one or both may be capturing some related error codes, warnings, or informational events.

Check Update History as well.

= = = =

For the record - this motherboard (verify):

https://dlcdnets.asus.com/pub/ASUS/mb/SocketAM4/PRIME_B550M-K/E16604_PRIME_B550M-K_UM_WEB.pdf
Do I need to get into windows to see Reliability History and Event Viewer?
 
Jul 27, 2022
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Just loaded the other 256gb m.2 with windows pre-installed, it failed to load a couple times restarting before it got into windows and then went into troubleshoot mode. I chose to reset the PC, which it "reset" the drive successfully, then when the pc restarted, it said installing windows (no USB attached so assume it's a recovery partition) and that restarted almost immediately. Then after it restarted it said the installation was interrupted and it couldn't finish. Sometimes it would restart before it got to that screen.

I then tried to boot off the installation media USB, it can sit on the windows setup screen where you select your language for as long as you want no issue, it only reboots when you start the install process.

That rules out the M.2, can only be the MB or CPU - why would either of those only fail at the point of starting to install windows / load into windows?
 

Ralston18

Titan
Moderator
Yes. You need to be in Windows to open Reliability History and Event Viewer.

Are you able to get into BIOS?

If so, set POST to be as verbose as possible. In other words the POST process will report/display what it is doing (or trying to do) along with the results.

Verbose POST adds time to the boot process but the information provided via the process may prove helpful.
 

Colif

Win 11 Master
Moderator
Does it restart on the copying files page or after. it stays on that page for a few restarts, does the "copy windows files" stage first, then does a restart before doing the "Getting files ready for Installation" stage of the same page

Are you using boot override in the bios to access the USB or are you changing boot order?
reason being there is a problem windows installer can have where instead of booting up again after the first restart, it hangs and breaks the install. The install doesn't run off the boot drive until towards end of installation, if it can't find the USB after the 1st restart it fails. If you aren't creating user accounts, windows isn't finished.

This can happen if you changed boot order to put USB in first.
Boot override makes Bios boot off USB once and then next restart it goes back to normal - https://dlcdnets.asus.com/pub/ASUS/misc/Manual/PRIME_TUF_GAMING_B550_Series_BIOS_EM_WEB_EN.pdf

It was just a thought, I seen plenty of windows installs fall over at that stage
 
Jul 27, 2022
13
0
20
Yes. You need to be in Windows to open Reliability History and Event Viewer.

Are you able to get into BIOS?

If so, set POST to be as verbose as possible. In other words the POST process will report/display what it is doing (or trying to do) along with the results.

Verbose POST adds time to the boot process but the information provided via the process may prove helpful.

Not tried that, will give it a go and report back.

* turns out I have already disabled logo and fastboot, nothing much else I can do to make it more verbose apparently. *
 
Last edited:
Jul 27, 2022
13
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Does it restart on the copying files page or after. it stays on that page for a few restarts, does the "copy windows files" stage first, then does a restart before doing the "Getting files ready for Installation" stage of the same page

Are you using boot override in the bios to access the USB or are you changing boot order?
reason being there is a problem windows installer can have where instead of booting up again after the first restart, it hangs and breaks the install. The install doesn't run off the boot drive until towards end of installation, if it can't find the USB after the 1st restart it fails. If you aren't creating user accounts, windows isn't finished.

This can happen if you changed boot order to put USB in first.
Boot override makes Bios boot off USB once and then next restart it goes back to normal - https://dlcdnets.asus.com/pub/ASUS/misc/Manual/PRIME_TUF_GAMING_B550_Series_BIOS_EM_WEB_EN.pdf

It was just a thought, I seen plenty of windows installs fall over at that stage

Good shout, it's not that. I've set boot order. It's actually restarting before it gets to copying files in some cases.
 
Jul 27, 2022
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Jul 27, 2022
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ubuntu was more to test if same install problems happened for it as well. I didn't expect you to use it, its just a test. If you can't isntall 2 different OS, its most surely hardware

Ok so tried the new motherboard (gigabyte aorus b550 elite V2). Exact same issue.

Tried Ubuntu and had the same issue when trying to install, just restarted as I hit enter on Install Ubuntu.

That leaves me to think it must be the CPU, I've tired everything else.

In Ubuntu it had an option to load in safe mode with no graphics, which I tried and it had these CPU 4 machine check 0 bank 5 error. Plus some others...
 
Jul 27, 2022
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Unfortunately the CPU is was bought in April 2021 and it was OEM so warranty won't cover it... Wish it wasn't the CPU, but don't know how else to test without buying another Ryzen CPU. Any ideas??
 

Colif

Win 11 Master
Moderator
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