[SOLVED] Windows not booting, Long Bios Start Up, Black Screen

[eliteassassin]

A couple days ago my computer took a long time to start up. Usually takes a couple of seconds since I have windows on an m.2 ssd. This time it took more than a minute to boot. Next day it no longer boots at all. Brings up a black screen with a cursor, but crtl+alt+dlt does nothing so I can't use command prmt. Have tried using a USB with windows media creator to make a boot ssd to reinstall windows after all attempt to fix the problem failed via the advanced start up options. When using boot ssd I get message that says im missing a critical driver or some crap, says missing

File: \windows\System32\Drivers\Ntfs.sys
Error code: 0x0000221

Also Bios still takes quite a while to load. I made sure all my cable are plugged in tightly. Ran windows memory diagnostics tool from boot USB and it says that hardware problems are detected. I have no clue what the problem could be except maybe some problem with the mobo based on long bios start up which should be independent of windows as far as I know.

Specs:
Mobo: MSI Z370 Gaming Carbon Pro AC
CPU: Core i5 8600k
Ram: Corsair Vengence 16GB (2x8GB) DDR4 3000 M
PSU: Corsair (dont remember exact model) 850w gold rated
Storage: Crucial MX300 M.2 2280 275GB (OS)
Crucial MX300 M.2 2280 512GB
Seagate 2TB Hybrid Drive
Seagate 3TB 7200 rpm HDD

GPU: EVGA 1070ti FTW

Update: Updated my bios and I now get a message saying a critical driver is missing but it is different
File: \windows\System32\Drivers\ReFS.sys

Also at this point after updating my Bios the system monitor says all my disks are detected but none are available in the boot order and it will not boot from them, so from what I can tell the error has to be with the installation media. I downloaded the installation software from microsoft's official site.

 

[Darkbreeze]

Try creating new installation media, and use the latest build version. Try a DIFFERENT flash drive as well.



Windows 10 Clean install tutorial

Also, if you are installing to M.2, make sure CSM is DISABLED in the BIOS, UEFI is ENABLED, and that Windows 8/10 is enabled in the secure boot menu.

You also want to disconnect ALL other drives, BEFORE you begin the installation. So power off, disconnect all drives, power on, install. ONLY the M.2 drive should be connected during the installation. You can reconnect the others later. Except your flash drive with the installer of course.

 

[eliteassassin]

Try creating new installation media, and use the latest build version. Try a DIFFERENT flash drive as well.



Windows 10 Clean install tutorial

Also, if you are installing to M.2, make sure CSM is DISABLED in the BIOS, UEFI is ENABLED, and that Windows 8/10 is enabled in the secure boot menu.

You also want to disconnect ALL other drives, BEFORE you begin the installation. So power off, disconnect all drives, power on, install. ONLY the M.2 drive should be connected during the installation. You can reconnect the others later. Except your flash drive with the installer of course.

So I did all of this and it still didn't work. I discovered that for some reason even when the windows USB is plugged in and selected as the top priority in the boot list it is still booting from the m.2 ssd, which isn't even in the boot order at all. I guess I now know what the exact problem is but I don't have any clue how I would fix this.

 

[Darkbreeze]

Try doing the opposite. Enable CSM. Save settings. Exit BIOS. Then go back into the BIOS and see if your USB drive shows up. Even if the USB drive isn't in the LIST of drives in the boot order, it SHOULD be in the list of possible devices to boot from in the boot override menu.

This might be relevant too.

http://www.tomshardware.com/answers/id-3427803/msi-x370-gaming-pro-carbon-windows-uefi-mode-installation.html

 

[eliteassassin]

Try doing the opposite. Enable CSM. Save settings. Exit BIOS. Then go back into the BIOS and see if your USB drive shows up. Even if the USB drive isn't in the LIST of drives in the boot order, it SHOULD be in the list of possible devices to boot from in the boot override menu.

This might be relevant too.

http://www.tomshardware.com/answers/id-3427803/msi-x370-gaming-pro-carbon-windows-uefi-mode-installation.html

So I started doing a bunch of random crap after the above mentioned stuff didn't work, and I somehow got it booted into safe mode, but it doesn't really work still. My desktop for some reason consists of a bf3 and bf4 shortcut, nothing on the taskbar, and I can't open anything like the windows menu, file explorer, or the search bar. All this happened after I tried removing one of my ram sticks and the boot USB now gives me a purple screen after I launch 64-bit install mode instead of giving me an error screen.

https://imgur.com/a/KVXrW0B

 

[Darkbreeze]

Why would you move your memory? There is ONLY one place those two sticks should be installed and that is the A2 and B2 slots. Ever. Unless of course you have four sticks installed.

 

[eliteassassin]

Why would you move your memory? There is ONLY one place those two sticks should be installed and that is the A2 and B2 slots. Ever. Unless of course you have four sticks installed.

I removed one of the two sticks, so I have one ram stick installed right now. It is still in the correct spot.

 

[Darkbreeze]

I see. Ok. So, to me it sounds as if the Windows installation is borked, which you pretty much knew from the start. I'd focus on getting the installation to go through, rather than trying to continue to boot the current installation that you already know is borked.

There's not much point in booting safe mode. Can't do anything regarding the installation from there. You NEED to get the system to boot from the USB drive so you can begin the install. Anything else is pretty much meaningless.

 

[eliteassassin]

As far as I can tell this has to be some sort of hardware issue. There is no other reason I can think of that 3 different usb sticks would not work. Already tried taking gpu out and using integrated graphics, and I tested each ram stick individually, if psu was screwed up I would be having power issues not windows issues, and even if any of the storage devices weren't working I would still be able to get to the installation part of the windows media. If my cpu wasn't working I think I would be having many more issues than just windows issues. Seems like the mobo has to be the problem, but the mobo seems to be working fine for literally everything except windows installation and the longer than normal bios start up. Hoping its not the mobo tho since it was expensive, its not that old, and I haven't done anything to it that would cause it to stop working.

 

[Darkbreeze]

What are you using to create the installation media? Are you using the Microsoft media creation tool as outlined in my tutorial, or are you trying to use Rufus or some other method of creating the installation media?

 

[Darkbreeze]

What are you using to create the installation media? Are you using the Microsoft media creation tool as outlined in my tutorial, or are you trying to use Rufus or some other method of creating the installation media?

What kind of USB port are you trying to use? 2.0? 3.0? Something else? Front panel or back of the motherboard?

 

[eliteassassin]

What are you using to create the installation media? Are you using the Microsoft media creation tool as outlined in my tutorial, or are you trying to use Rufus or some other method of creating the installation media?

What kind of USB port are you trying to use? 2.0? 3.0? Something else? Front panel or back of the motherboard?

I tried rufus and windows media installation on 3.0 and 3.1 usb sticks, in both back and front usb ports, the usb ports are 3.1 and 3.0

 

[Darkbreeze]

Assuming you've already disconnected every other drive except the USB stick and the target drive, I think you need to breadboard it with just the basics. There could be something else going on that you wouldn't think could be causing this, but you never know with things like a standoff in the wrong place under the motherboard or a bent pin on the CPU, since those things can affect every other system and can also "work" for a period of time with no apparent issues and then suddenly just start causing issues.

If you have a spare drive you might try removing the M.2 drive and try to see if Windows will install to a different type of drive. It may be that there is a problem with your M.2 drive. If you've had the M.2 drive out you might also want to make sure that if you have multiple M.2 slots that you put it back in the primary M.2 slot. I dunno, it seems on the surface like it may be a motherboard issue, but there are certainly a number of other things that can act like anything other than what they are.

How to properly bench test your motherboard​