Question PC Won't Boot After "Load Optimized Defaults" in BIOS

[pcnoob12]

Hello,

I recently upgraded from a Ryzen 5 2600 to a 5600X. My motherboard is an MSI B450 Tomahawk. I upgraded the BIOS with my old CPU.

After installing the new CPU, everything was working more or less fine. The only problem is that my RAM was running at 2133 MHz. So I tried to enable XMP in the BIOS.

When XMP was enabled, my computer failed to load into Windows. Disabling XMP meant it would load again.

Someone suggested that I "load optimized defaults" in BIOS. I did this and now my computer won't load into Windows. This is the same problem I had when enabling XMP, except XMP is not enabled now.

So I don't know what to do. I've been stuck with this all day and I can't find an answer. I've tried clearing CMOS and that didn't fix it.

My OS is Windows 10 and it's installed on an M2 NVMe Intel SSD if that makes a difference.

Here are my BIOS settings and the screen I'm stuck at:

https://imgur.com/a/qtDc19t

View: https://imgur.com/a/qtDc19t


I guess loading optimized defaults changed something in the BIOS that's messed everything up. But I don't know what it is or what to even try anymore. Hopefully, someone reading this can help.

 

[DRagor]

Typically this is caused by UEFI/Legacy mismatch between BIOS setting and boot drive. For example if BIOS is set to boot in UEFI mode but system drive is formatted as MBR it will do exactly what you are experiencing. I think relevant settings should be in Advanced>Windows OS Configuration.

Edit: Advanced>Windows OS Configuration>BIOS UEFI/CSM Mode. Should be CSM now, so swap to UEFI and try booting.

 

[pcnoob12]

Typically this is caused by UEFI/Legacy mismatch between BIOS setting and boot drive. For example if BIOS is set to boot in UEFI mode but system drive is formatted as MBR it will do exactly what you are experiencing. I think relevant settings should be in Advanced>Windows OS Configuration.

Edit: Advanced>Windows OS Configuration>BIOS UEFI/CSM Mode. Should be CSM now, so swap to UEFI and try booting.

Thanks for the reply.

The Advanced>Windows OS Configuration allows me to change between BIOS CSM/UEFI Mode. It was already set to UEFI.

I have tried changing it to CSM but that hasn't fixed the problem.

Edit: I have changed it to UEFI it still does not boot.

Here are some additional screenshots of the BIOS after changing the mode to CSM

https://imgur.com/a/PcuCZ8j

View: https://imgur.com/a/PcuCZ8j

 

[DRagor]

What GPU you have? When it fails to boot to Windows what exactly happens - black screen or something else?
I find it strange it was set to UEFI, as manual says CSM is default. Anyway, can you check Secure Boot (picture 3) if it is set to enabled?

 

[pcnoob12]

What GPU you have? When it fails to boot to Windows what exactly happens - black screen or something else?
I find it strange it was set to UEFI, as manual says CSM is default. Anyway, can you check Secure Boot (picture 3) if it is set to enabled?

I have an RTX 3060 Ti. This GPU is very new. I only had it a couple of days ago. But it and everything else was working fine before I optimized defaults in the BIOS. I still have my old GPU. But I'm not sure what difference the GPU makes?

When it fails to boot, I get to the "Arsenal Gaming" splash screen and the little circle thing is turning and then it stops and gets stuck there. You can see the image I'm stuck at in the end picture of the album in the OP.

Secure Boot is disabled. I have tried enabling this but I get the same problem.

 

[pcnoob12]

Update: I just downloaded the latest version of the BIOS and used M-Flash for BIOS. Then my PC loaded into Windows. I couldn't believe it.

Then after like a minute, the screen went black and it went back to the "Arsenal Gaming" splash screen and got stuck again. What the hell?

Edit: Got stuck with the same problem as before. So used M-Flash again. It seems like the first time I use M-Flash it lets me load into Windows. But after that it goes back to the same problem. I have no idea why. I'm very confused and tired. Hopefully someone will have the answer when I wake up.

 

[DRagor]

Yeah, it is weird. It does not look like it is a problem with BIOS settings anymore. Rather something else, like one of the system parts failing. Or maybe new CPU has bigger problem with your RAM then you thought. Do you still have your old CPU? You could install it back and see if Windows works with it.

 

[pcnoob12]

Yeah, it is weird. It does not look like it is a problem with BIOS settings anymore. Rather something else, like one of the system parts failing. Or maybe new CPU has bigger problem with your RAM then you thought. Do you still have your old CPU? You could install it back and see if Windows works with it.

So everything WAS working fine on the first day I installed the new CPU. Then today I optimized defaults in BIOS and that messed everything up.

When I use M-Flash it seems Windows loads for the first time immediately after. I get to the "Preparing Automatic Repair" screen and then make it through to a blue Windows screen that gives me advanced repair options.

I'm on the advanced options right now. Idk how to post images but I have the options as per the image in this article https://pureinfotech.com/access-advanced-startup-options-windows-10-troubleshoot-fix-pc/

Edit: I do have the old CPU. I don't really want to go swap them around again as I don't have thermal paste and it's a bit of hassle.

 

[pcnoob12]

I upgraded CPU from 2600 to 5600X. Motherboard is an MSI B450 Tomahawk that I updated to the latest BIOS. Windows 10 is installed on an M2 NVMe SSD.

After I first installed the new CPU, everything was working more or less fine. Someone suggested that I "load optimized defaults" in BIOS. Doing this resulted in my PC no longer booting into Windows. The PC will still POST and I can get into BIOS. It just gets stuck at the splash screen. I've tried clearing CMOS.

The only thing I've found that kinda works is using M-Flash for BIOS again with the latest version. I've done this a few times and sometimes Windows loads.

Sometimes this lets me log in to my PC and start using it. Sometimes at the splash screen, it tries to repair itself and I'm able to get to the advanced Windows repair options.

But this only works once and restarting my PC means it fails to load into Windows again and I get stuck at the splash screen.

What is going on and how can I solve this issue?

 

[pcnoob12]

I upgraded CPU from 2600 to 5600X. Motherboard is an MSI B450 Tomahawk that I updated to the latest BIOS. Windows 10 is installed on an M2 NVMe SSD.

After I first installed the new CPU, everything was working more or less fine. Someone suggested that I "load optimized defaults" in BIOS. Doing this resulted in my PC no longer booting into Windows. The PC will still POST and I can get into BIOS. It just gets stuck at the splash screen. I've tried clearing CMOS.

The only thing I've found that kinda works is using M-Flash for BIOS again with the latest version. I've done this a few times and sometimes Windows loads.

Sometimes this lets me log in to my PC and start using it. Sometimes at the splash screen, it tries to repair itself and I'm able to get to the advanced Windows repair options.

But this only works once and restarting my PC means it fails to load into Windows again and I get stuck at the splash screen.

What is going on and how can I solve this issue?

 

[KyaraM]

I upgraded CPU from 2600 to 5600X. Motherboard is an MSI B450 Tomahawk that I updated to the latest BIOS. Windows 10 is installed on an M2 NVMe SSD.

After I first installed the new CPU, everything was working more or less fine. Someone suggested that I "load optimized defaults" in BIOS. Doing this resulted in my PC no longer booting into Windows. The PC will still POST and I can get into BIOS. It just gets stuck at the splash screen. I've tried clearing CMOS.

The only thing I've found that kinda works is using M-Flash for BIOS again with the latest version. I've done this a few times and sometimes Windows loads.

Sometimes this lets me log in to my PC and start using it. Sometimes at the splash screen, it tries to repair itself and I'm able to get to the advanced Windows repair options.

But this only works once and restarting my PC means it fails to load into Windows again and I get stuck at the splash screen.

What is going on and how can I solve this issue?

When you are in BIOS after loading optimized defaults, is it set to UEFI or legacy/something else? Iirc, Windows needs UEFI to boot, and a black screen when trying to load into Windows sounds like that might be it. It should normally be set to UEFI on default, but who knows.

Don't flash your BIOS too often, that can brick your mobo if it goes wrong.

 

[pcnoob12]

When you are in BIOS after loading optimized defaults, is it set to UEFI or legacy/something else? Iirc, Windows needs UEFI to boot, and a black screen when trying to load into Windows sounds like that might be it. It should normally be set to UEFI on default, but who knows.

Don't flash your BIOS too often, that can brick your mobo if it goes wrong.

Yes, it's set to UEFI. I've tried changing it to and from CSM and that doesn't work.

Not even flashing the BIOS works to load Windows now.

 

[KyaraM]

Do you have a Windows repair CD or stick? It kinda sounds like your Windows boot manager went poof somehow... oh, and can you see your main drive in the BIOS?
Not 100% sure what to do in that case, I fortunately never had such huge issues with Windows myself. But that would be the first thing I would try, fix Windows.

 

[Colif]

Its likely the boot method has changed as flashing bios resets BIOS settings.


while in windows, can you right click start
choose disk management
expand next window to show all the details in top and bottom area
take a screenshot and upload to an image sharing website. share a link here.

I just want to see what format drive is.


can you go to boot tab in bios and under Boot Mode Select, see what is chosen. I think default is UEFI + legacy which means that on some starts it loads as legacy and if that doesn't work, it swaps to UEFI (it shouldn't swap every startup though)
Another choice in that menu is UEFI only.

shows on page 55. = https://download.msi.com/archive/mnu_exe/mb/E7C02v1.4-GSE-LITE.pdf

Since windows sometimes works, it makes me think this is case.

I could guess that the drive is formatted as GPT and you could swap boot method to UEFI only, but I will wait first

 

[pcnoob12]

Its likely the boot method has changed as flashing bios resets BIOS settings.


while in windows, can you right click start
choose disk management
expand next window to show all the details in top and bottom area
take a screenshot and upload to an image sharing website. share a link here.

I just want to see what format drive is.


can you go to boot tab in bios and under Boot Mode Select, see what is chosen. I think default is UEFI + legacy which means that on some starts it loads as legacy and if that doesn't work, it swaps to UEFI (it shouldn't swap every startup though)
Another choice in that menu is UEFI only.

shows on page 55. = https://download.msi.com/archive/mnu_exe/mb/E7C02v1.4-GSE-LITE.pdf

Since windows sometimes works, it makes me think this is case.

I could guess that the drive is formatted as GPT and you could swap boot method to UEFI only, but I will wait first

Thanks for the reply.

I can't get into Windows on this PC now even after using M-Flash for BIOS. So I can't do your first step. I'm a bit worried about flashing the BIOS too often as a user said this can brick the motherboard.

Here are the settings in the boot tab of BIOS:

https://imgur.com/N86QUZ3

View: https://i.imgur.com/N86QUZ3.jpeg


The boot mode is set to UEFI. I have changede the mood mode to CSM and ths changes the boot mode to UEFI+Legacy. But either way I set it I get the same problem in that Windows doesn't load.

 

[SkyNetRising]

The boot mode is set to UEFI. I have changede the mood mode to CSM and ths changes the boot mode to UEFI+Legacy.

You can't change boot mode after installation of windows.
It has to remain the same as it was before.

Boot windows installation media into command prompt mode (pres Shift+F10),
execute following commands and show photo of the output:

diskpart​

list disk​

select disk 0​

list partition​

list volume​

 

[pcnoob12]

You can't change boot mode after installation of windows.
It has to remain the same as it was before.

Boot windows installation media into command prompt mode (pres Shift+F10),
execute following commands and show photo of the output:

diskpart​

list disk​

select disk 0​

list partition​

list volume​

How can I do this if I can't even load Windows?

I get stuck at the splash screen. I'm trying to boot Windows from a USB and the same thing happens

https://imgur.com/LumLGNu

View: https://i.imgur.com/LumLGNu.jpeg

 

[SkyNetRising]

Disable secure boot in bios.

 

[pcnoob12]

Disable secure boot in bios.

Secure boot is disabled in BIOS.

 

[DRagor]

This is surely confusing as hell. It looks like a compatibility problem between new CPU and RAM causing Windows to lock - except the fact that it works first time after BIOS flash does not make much sense. I mean the only thing flashing same version of BIOS does is resetting BIOS values to default, but since you do not change them between first and second boot it effectively does nothing - and yet something changes.
The only suggestion I have now is try old CPU. If it works then it would mean new CPU is not working well with some of your components (RAM? maybe M.2 drive?). If it does not work then one of the parts stopped working and it is probably just an accident that it happened right after you swapped CPU.

 

[Colif]

Only one thread needs to be going at a time, not 3. People will answer, you just have to wait.
Hopefully its not too confusing above.

 

[pcnoob12]

This is surely confusing as hell. It looks like a compatibility problem between new CPU and RAM causing Windows to lock - except the fact that it works first time after BIOS flash does not make much sense. I mean the only thing flashing same version of BIOS does is resetting BIOS values to default, but since you do not change them between first and second boot it effectively does nothing - and yet something changes.
The only suggestion I have now is try old CPU. If it works then it would mean new CPU is not working well with some of your components (RAM? maybe M.2 drive?). If it does not work then one of the parts stopped working and it is probably just an accident that it happened right after you swapped CPU.

I have just put the old CPU in (2600) and I'm having the exact same problem as with the 5600X in that Windows doesn't load.

Trying with the old CPU is the last thing I could think of trying. Now I'm completely out of ideas and I don't know what to do or how to proceed.

 

[DRagor]

I have just put the old CPU in (2600) and I'm having the exact same problem as with the 5600X in that Windows doesn't load.

Trying with the old CPU is the last thing I could think of trying. Now I'm completely out of ideas and I don't know what to do or how to proceed.

So looks like something is broken. Since BIOS works fine the top of the list is drive and RAM. Does your motherboard has more M.2 slots you could move your drive into to rule out failed M.2 slot? Do you have another drive to try installing Windows on it?

 

[pcnoob12]

So looks like something is broken. Since BIOS works fine the top of the list is drive and RAM. Does your motherboard has more M.2 slots you could move your drive into to rule out failed M.2 slot? Do you have another drive to try installing Windows on it?

The motherboard has only one M.2 slot.

I have tried booting Windows from a USB and that fails as well.

I just don't understand why:

a) things were working fine before loading optimized defaults in BIOS
b) flashing the BIOS has previously enabled me to get into Windows (this hasn't worked the last few times but I can still bypass the splash screen)

 

[DRagor]

I have tried booting Windows from a USB and that fails as well.

Bad drive could prevent booting even from USB

things were working fine before loading optimized defaults in BIOS

Maybe just coincidence with when failure happened.

flashing the BIOS has previously enabled me to get into Windows (this hasn't worked the last few times but I can still bypass the splash screen)

Frankly I do not understand that either. How far you were able to get then?