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.

 

[ex_bubblehead]

a) things were working fine before loading optimized defaults in BIOS

And this is why you record every single BIOS setting BEFORE taking such an extreme step. It's obvious that resetting BIOS reset one of those settings that made things work. Now you are going to have to go through every single setting to find it.

 

[geofelt]

You should be able to boot windows in safe mode(f8)
That will boot windows with a very minimal set of known good drivers.
If you boot successfully, the problem is with one of the drivers or starting apps.

The first thing to do is to take a system restore user checkpoint so you can revert to the current situation if anything should go wrong.

Did you have system restore enabled before? If so, you could try to restore back to when all was well.

Once there, you might as well download current motherboard and chipset drivers.
This is not likely to fix the problem since the old processor still shows the issue.

I might run memtest to verify thhat the basic functioning of the hardware is ok.
memtest86 or memtest86+ boot from a usb stick and do not use windows.
You can download them here:

MemTest86 - Official Site of the x86 Memory Testing Tool

MemTest86 is the original self booting memory testing software for x86 and ARM computers. Supporting both BIOS and UEFI, with options to boot from USB.

www.memtest86.com

Memtest86+ | The Open-Source Memory Testing Tool

Memtest86+ is an advanced, free, open-source, stand-alone memory tester for 32- and 64-bit computers (UEFI & BIOS supported)

www.memtest.org

If you can run for a few minutes with NO errors, your ram and hardware should be ok.

 

[pcnoob12]

Bad drive could prevent booting even from USB

Maybe just coincidence with when failure happened.

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

I was able to log in to Windows and use my PC as normal last night after flashing the BIOS. It felt like a miracle. There was an important file on there that I really needed so I managed to get that.

I was also able to get to the Advanced Windows Repair screen with some options. I did select to restart my PC and keep my files, but I don't think it worked. I have not been able to get this far by flashing the BIOS since.

I feel like I have exhausted all of my options here. This feels like the first problem I've had that the internet couldn't solve. I was up until 1 am last night and hardly slept because of this problem. I don't think I'm going to be able to find a solution myself so I'm going to take it to a shop and hope they can fix it.

 

[pcnoob12]

A friend suggested that I take one stick of RAM out and leave only one in. I did a CMOS reset as well.

Now Windows loads.

I cannot believe the solution was that simple. I have spent dozens of hours on forums and in Discord chats and no one suggested this.

I will try with the 5600X in.