[SOLVED] PC Won't boot, boot drives aren't booting either

[nrodd]

Giving as much detail as possible, I'll try to showcase what I'll believe to be the most important information

Intro (2nd paragraph gets straight to the error code):

As of a few hours ago, I had trouble installing a classic WoW beta update on the battle.net launcher. To fix this error I began restarting my computer, after 2 or 3 restarts, my computer got stuck on "restarting..." and I had to hard shut down my PC, then when booting up again, my desktop wasn't responding, and I had to hard shut down again. This time, on boot, my motherboard (MSI) had a "repairing hard drive 'x'%" and restarted once it completed. This time on boot, my PC would get to the motherboard loading screen, but would just keep spinning, until after further hard restarts, I finally encountered the diagnoses of my issue via a blue screen.

Possible culprit(s) to the issue:

1. Windows 10 OS problem
2. My SSD, which is what the OS is installed on, was running very low on storage >10GB, I'm wondering if trying to install the Classic WoW beta update caused something to happen to it? Not super knowledgable with blue screens and their causes, just spitballing.

error code: 0xc000000f

PC Specs:

CPU: i7-8700k @ 3.7GHz (OC'd to 4.7GHz, I do have sufficient cooling my temps are all below 60*C)
GPU: Asus GTX 1080
RAM: 16GB DDR4 (2x8GB)
MOBO: MSI z270-a pro
PSU: EVGA 750w
SSD: Crucial MX100 2.5" 256GB
HDD: Seagate 2-TB 7.2K 3.5
CD/DVD: LG something
OS: Windows 10 64-bit

What I've tried so far:

1. Brought my CPU GHz back down to 3.7GHz just to see if it changed anything
2. Turned off Fast Boot in my BIOS
3. Tried to boot via Safe Boot, Safe Boot w/ internet, Safe boot w/ cmd prompt
4. Tried to access Advanced boot menu to system restore - couldn't access advanced boot menu
5. I've tried all the options in the blue screen:

• The first option would just restart my computer and get me no where
• The second option just refreshed this blue screen (screen would go black for a second then come back to this screen)
• The third option took my to the startup menu which is where I selected to safe boot
• The fourth option just took me to a black screen

What I've tried with boot drives so far:

Note: I 100% had the boot priority listed correctly, saved and rebooted my bios

USB details:

8GB, FAT32 format

1. Had a friend give me his boot drive with Windows media creation tool on it, would just give me a black screen
2. Wiped friend's USB and created a boot drive with Windows 10 Disc Image from my Macbook Air using unetbootin (ISO), would just give me a black screen

Additional Information:

1. I do have my original Windows 8.1 64-bit CD and Code
2. I'm not 100% positive if my pictures are on my HDD or SSD, but I have a lot of files I would really like to avoid erasing. I know my pictures shouldn't be on my SSD if they are, but I've been really lazy with properly formatting my drives. - That's the first thing on my to-do list assuming this issue is resolved.
3. 2 weeks ago I replaced my PSU, and I haven't had any issues until today, but this might be relevant information..
4. My bios is MSI click bios 5

I'll answer any questions to the best of my ability and as in much detail as possible. Thank you all for your time reading this.

 

[onespeedbiker]

In all likelyhood, the MBR of your OS disk has become corrupted and needs to be rebuilt. This can be done, but you are going to need to get to the Windows Recovery Environment (WinPE) to do the repairs, which is usually done with an install disc. However, if you can get back to the blue screen, choosing F1 should also get you there (what did you mean it got you no where?) I'm not sure what "Had a friend give me his boot drive with Windows media creation tool on it" means, as the Windows media creation tool creates bootable windows install discs, but the tool itself needs to run in a Windows environment. Either enter through the F1 at the blue screen, or have your friend make you a Windows 10 boot/ install USB, and then boot it up and when it gets to the install page chose repair itself. Once you are in the WinPE follow the instruction from this link. http://www.errorlive.com/0xc000000f

 

[nrodd]

Thanks for your response!

I have a windows 8.1 disc, and I managed to be able to properly select my which device to boot from, and successfully boot to it, however when I used the windows 8.1 install disc, I just got a windows logo and a black screen background which would have a loading circle then go to a black screen. That's the only install disc I have.

To answer your questions:

- My friend gave me a USB windows 10 boot drive. I'm not sure what was on it exactly, but whatever it was worked for him a few years ago and he never changed any of the files on it.

- What I meant by F1 got me no where, was that it would just restart my computer and take me to a long boot startup (not getting past where your motherboard logo loads) then to a black screen.

 

[onespeedbiker]

When you say "you have a windows 8.1 disc, and I managed to be able to properly select my which device to boot from, and successfully boot to it" are you taling about a hard drive (or ssd) that boots to windows? How long did you wait at the blank screen. These boot discs can take 20-30 minutes to boot to the recovery environment and some go blank for 5 minutes or more, but still booting. Turn on your computer with a boot drive and leave it alone for 30 minutes or so.

 

[nrodd]

Update:

Let the boot drive on my PC run for about 30 minutes and no startup.

I tried my boot drive on a dinosaur PC, and it worked fine and went straight to the windows install menu.
Then I went back to my PC and disconnected the SSD, but the boot drive still wouldn't boot to the HDD.
Then I went back and plugged my SSD into the dino and the boot drive went to the windows install menu with and without the dino's HDD connected.

So I suppose its a problem with my motherboard? However I was able to boot drive linux on my PC fine earlier when I wanted to save my files on my SSD.

Also I replaced my PSU 2 weeks ago because my old PSU started to restart my pc (like when the power flickers) whenever I'd launch any game more intense than TF2 (PUBG, WoW, GTA V, etc). Is it possible that my PSU damaged my mobo or other components?

 

[onespeedbiker]

So I suppose its a problem with my motherboard? However I was able to boot drive linux on my PC fine earlier when I wanted to save my files on my SSD.

Also I replaced my PSU 2 weeks ago because my old PSU started to restart my pc (like when the power flickers) whenever I'd launch any game more intense than TF2 (PUBG, WoW, GTA V, etc). Is it possible that my PSU damaged my mobo or other components?

Your bad PSU could have also damaged your RAM and linux does not use as much RAM as windows. Assuming you have two RAM sticks, I would try booting with one and then try the other. You can also test your memory from the WinPE (Windows recovery). Once in WinPE (3 unsuccessful boots will get you there or use an install media), there is an option to test your memory or type mdsched at a command prompt

 

[nrodd]

I tried taking out 1 ram stick at a time and testing all slots with each of my 2 8gb sticks, but nothing has changed

 

[Sgt_Sykes]

What happens when you disconnect all your drives and boot from either CD or USB?

 

[nrodd]

I've also recently found out that my mobo isn't compatible with my CPU, though I've been running the two together since I bought them 10 months ago, with no problems (unless that caused the PSU issue and now this..).

But there is a thread claiming that my mobo does support it, so I'm not really understanding if this is a big issue or not.

I obviously bought the motherboard with the false assumption that i7 chipsets and ddr4 come together, so if my mobo I bought supports ddr4 RAM, then it will be compatible with an i7

Thread: (View: https://www.reddit.com/r/intel/comments/828tmu/coffee_lake_i78700k_on_z270/)

When I disconnect both the SSD and the HDD, the boot works and it takes me to the windows installation menu.

Edit:
Booted my PC up without the HDD or boot drive connected, just the SSD, and it gave me one blue screen from before, then on the 2nd it did a disk check and repair and then it took me into my desktop no problems. Restarted again for good measure and took me into my desktop again without any issue. HDD still disconnected. If my HDD is the faulty component then that would make sense (given my limited knowledge) as to why my HDD wasn't popping up in my file explorer when on Linux when I used linux to access my SSD files.

 

[onespeedbiker]

According to the MSI website, your MB supports 6 and 7 generation i7, not the 8th generation you have installed. I checked your MB Bios dates and there is nothing to show added compatibility. Further your RAM (2133) is compatible with your MB with a 7th generation CPU, and checking another MSI motherboard with an 8th generation CPU, the DDR4 2133 is also supported, so it shouldn't be an issue.

 

[onespeedbiker]

Edit:
Booted my PC up without the HDD or boot drive connected, just the SSD, and it gave me one blue screen from before, then on the 2nd it did a disk check and repair and then it took me into my desktop no problems. Restarted again for good measure and took me into my desktop again without any issue. HDD still disconnected. If my HDD is the faulty component then that would make sense (given my limited knowledge) as to why my HDD wasn't popping up in my file explorer when on Linux when I used linux to access my SSD files.

Yes, sounds like the HDD is the culprit. I thought you had already tried to boot with only the SSD drive installed as it is one of the first things that is usually suggested. Still, it looks like you solved your problem which is great!.

 

[nrodd]

Yeah, I really appreciate your guys' help! Saved me a massive headache and a bunch of money of installing new hardware until I found what the problem was. I wonder why the HDD is the problem, though, since windows is installed on my SSD?