Question [Windows 10 clean install] Booting from USB freezes on black screen w/dots

[sgt_quagmire]

I recently built a computer (see parts list below) and I am attempting to install Windows 10 via a USB on a new SSD (NOTE: This is a brand new install, I don't have an existing harddrive with Windows on it). I have downloaded the Windows Media tool and formatted the USB correctly with an active Windows 10 key. Plugged in USB and booted into the BIOS to boot from USB. I get the whole install process and once the PC restarts after install, it attempts to finish the process but freezes on a black screen with the Window's dots frozen. I can still move the mouse around. I've attempted the following:
- Clean install and unplugging all USB devices

- Booting via the GPU

- Booting via the BIOS

- Booting from a different USB

-Booting w/only one stick of RAM

-Booting w/NTFS

-Booting w/FAT32

- Clearing CMOS and doing a clean install all over again

I don't know what else to do, any help would be great!

Computer Parts List:

+ ASUS TUF Z390 Plus Motherboard

+ Intel Core i7-9700K

+ CORSAIR Vengeance RGB PRO 16GB (2x8GB) DDR4 3200MHz

+ Crucial P1 1TB 3D NAND NVMe PCIe M.2 SSD

+ MSI GEFORCE GTX1080 TI GAMING X 11G

 

[howtobeironic]

Check all connections of hardware and try installing something else (like Ubuntu) so we can see if it's Windows-specific.

 

[onespeedbiker]

Did you format GPT or MBR? Does your BIOS show the ssd as a boot drive? Is the BIOS/configured for UEFI /NVMe? How does one boot via a GPU?

 

[sgt_quagmire]

Check all connections of hardware and try installing something else (like Ubuntu) so we can see if it's Windows-specific.

I installed ubuntu just fine.

 

[howtobeironic]

Yup, this is a Windows-specific problem. Main suspect (as far as I could tell) might be UEFI/BIOS trouble. Your Windows installation might be on the wrong match of UEFI-MBR-GPT thing for example your BIOS might be on the CSM-BIOS compatibility mode and your Windows 10 would try to install as a GPT partition, that'd make one big mess. Ubuntu adapts to this just fine so, yeah, here's what I want from you:

First off get into your BIOS and get to Advanced Settings. There should be something named Launch CSM. Since your equipment is brand-new I don't think you'll need this one on so disable it (fyi, it emulates a BIOS for older parts and enables you to install MBR installs, since it'd be better to go fully GPT so we can see what's popping) then after the options below become usable get Boot Devices control and make all the settings (Storage, Network and PCI-E cards) UEFI-only. Save, exit and shut down (Ubuntu will most likely not boot now if you had it in MBR) Also check your manual for similar settings for this.

Now, the fun part where we'll make sure everything goes as GPT:
While the PC is shut down plug your USB with win10 install on it, remove everything unnecessary (all the other harddrives than the one you'll install to, and wireless stuff like wi-fi receivers etc, and if you have use a wired keyboard and mouse)
Start the computer then enter BIOS once more. Get to Boot Override which should give you the list of connected devices. There should be two entries of your USB: one with no tag, just model and one with "UEFI:" tag. Use the tagged one and hit enter, where the system should boot to the UEFI mode on the Windows 10 disk (I hope you are using x64 though) where you should continue the installation until you come to the place where it asks where to install, hit Shift+F10 there to get yourself a command prompt.

Now type these with exact names on the command console, (enter) is where you should hit enter key:

diskpart(enter) list disk(enter) (You should see the list of disks connected to the PC, so find your drive by the size and model and nothe the disk number next to it, it's most likely 0 but I'll call it x, change x with it) select disk x(enter) clean(enter) (note that this'll destroy ALL DATA on the drive) convert gpt(enter) exit(enter)
Then close the console and continue installation, select the newly-cleaned drive for installation. This ensures the install to be on %100 GPT-UEFI style and will likely solve it.

 

[Mitrafrz]

I recently built a computer (see parts list below) and I am attempting to install Windows 10 via a USB on a new SSD (NOTE: This is a brand new install, I don't have an existing harddrive with Windows on it). I have downloaded the Windows Media tool and formatted the USB correctly with an active Windows 10 key. Plugged in USB and booted into the BIOS to boot from USB. I get the whole install process and once the PC restarts after install, it attempts to finish the process but freezes on a black screen with the Window's dots frozen. I can still move the mouse around. I've attempted the following:
- Clean install and unplugging all USB devices

- Booting via the GPU

- Booting via the BIOS

- Booting from a different USB

-Booting w/only one stick of RAM

-Booting w/NTFS

-Booting w/FAT32

- Clearing CMOS and doing a clean install all over again

I don't know what else to do, any help would be great!

Computer Parts List:

+ ASUS TUF Z390 Plus Motherboard

+ Intel Core i7-9700K

+ CORSAIR Vengeance RGB PRO 16GB (2x8GB) DDR4 3200MHz

+ Crucial P1 1TB 3D NAND NVMe PCIe M.2 SSD

+ MSI GEFORCE GTX1080 TI GAMING X 11G

Maybe you shouldn't have made your usb flash bootable via GPT.
On windows 10, right click on start menu at the bottom left corner of the screen (or press Win + X buttons on your keyboard together), then open Disk Management (if for any reason you can't right click on your start menu or the win + x combination doesn't work, just open Run, which you can search for through the start menu or just press Win + R together, and then type disk.mgmt.msc , it'll open Disk Management window right away). At the bottom of the Disk Management window, you might see different disks named Disk 0 , Disk 1, ... . Right click on the disk on which your system is installed (you should see the drive on which your system is installed; as for me, my system is installed on drive C, and drive C is shown in front of Disk 0. So I right click on "Disk 0") , and then go to Properties. In the window opened above, go to the Volumes tab and check what's written next to Partition Style (it's either GPT or MBR) . If it's MBR, it means you should make your usb flash bootable via MBR and not GPT (as for me, I use Rufus to make my usb flash bootable, and there you can easily choose between GPT/UEFI or MBR/BIOS. Here in Rufus, you've got to set it to MBR , and the other one will automatically be set to BIOS, and then click on Start to start making your usb flash bootable.)
Hope this works!
And by the way, you can download Rufus from here:
https://href.li/?https://github.com/pbatard/rufus/releases/download/v3.11/rufus-3.11.exe