[SOLVED] Windows won't boot after massive power outage

[zwjna]

Hello! Around 5 pm today, about 50% of Argentina suffered a power outage due to fires in important electrical centers. In my case, my room's lights and fan were turning down and slowing down respectively, until it fully cut off. My computer showed no symptoms until it of course shut off. After that, the cooler's lights turned on for a fraction of a second. About 20 seconds later, electricity went back, and the PC started itself automatically. It booted normally - slowly, but that's usual after a power outage. I immefiately turned it off, it took a while. Then, the same happened: my room's electrical things were weakening again, so I ran and I immediately flipped the switch on my computer's PSU.

So, after hours, electricity is back. I turned on the PC, and it said that the CMOS dettings were wrong. I did a few things I read in there, like reseting BIOS settings, restarted, and it said to me "Reboot and select proper boot device." In the BIOS I can see my hard drive with Windows on it; it's selected as the 1 boot device, but doesn't work.

It's been a rough 2023 with my PC. Recently I had to buy a brand new PSU, and just a few days ago I realised my hard drive had one reallocated sector. You can read my questions on my profile if you suspect it may be related.

Any idead?

 

[Lutfij]

Recently I had to buy a brand new PSU
Make and model of the PSU? What was the PSU powering in your build?

If your system doesn't revive with a borrowed replacement PSU then it's possible that the power flux knocked out more than just the PSU. A bad PSU can also result in other components failing over time.

 

[Aeacus]

Until you buy yourself a good UPS (line-interactive, true/pure sine wave) you will keep spending your money on the blown hardware caused by electrical grid issues.

UPS is to keep your PC running, once there is blackout, brownout and also feeds good electricity to your PC, eliminating surges. So, when any issue should come, UPS will catch that and will keep your hardware safe, for at least 5mins, so that you have time to properly shut down your PC.

But as far as the current issue goes, it looks like OS corruption, which is very common when power goes out suddenly.
What you're looking towards right now, is new Win installation. Meaning formatting OS drive and installing Win again.

Make and model of the PSU?

It's been an odyssey! I've bought a Corsair CV450 80 PLUS Bronze. It turned out the PSU was way bigger than I thought, and it didn't fit in the case. So I grabbed a very old one, went to the technician, and told him to change the components from one case to the other. Finally, I have the PSU installed and everything working nice so far.

Source: https://forums.tomshardware.com/thr...es-and-computer-resets.3792666/#post-22913237

Doesn't look good.

 

[zwjna]

When I say that "I grabbed a very old one", I mean an old case in which the new PSU fits nice! That's to say, I am using the new PSU since I bought it. Me still using the old and faulty PSU is what sounded bad to you?

 

[Aeacus]

Me still using the old and faulty PSU is what sounded bad to you?

No. You using Corsair CV-series is what doesn't look good. You have a cheap, low quality PSU. It's not even worth the money you payed for it.

For 2nd opinion, your PSU sits in Tier D,
link: https://forums.tomshardware.com/thr...er-list-rev-14-8-final-update-jul-21.3624094/

While i don't suggest nor use anything below Tier A in a PC.

Since PSU powers everything, it is the most important component inside the PC. Thus, you'd never want to cheap out on a PSU. Because when low quality PSU blows up, it has the magical ability to fry everything it is connected to. Aka your whole PC.

Or tell me this: Is saving 50 bucks on a PSU worth it, when you have to replace your entire PC afterwards? Since cheap PSU killed your PC.

 

[zwjna]

I really have no idea about these things. As you can see in that other thread, a user recommended me that PSU, and it looked OK to me, so I bought it. My PC is extremely simple, it has no GPU either.

Now, as I said, the PC turned on and then Windows booted properly AFTER the first power outage. Then I turned it off after it turned itself on. AFTER that, when the computer was already off, I flipped the PSU switch because the lihhts were weakening. Can the PSU damage the rest of the hardware even if the PC is off?

 

[zwjna]

But as far as the current issue goes, it looks like OS corruption, which is very common when power goes out suddenly.
What you're looking towards right now, is new Win installation. Meaning formatting OS drive and installing Win again.

I went to my cousin's house that's right next to us, and downloaded Xubuntu and created a bootable USB stick. I started the live OS, and went to see if my drives are working properly. And they are! My data is there! Oh my god. The PC looks to work just nicely overall. I'm now gonna install Windows. Anything to keep in mind?

 

[Aeacus]

I really have no idea about these things. As you can see in that other thread, a user recommended me that PSU, and it looked OK to me, so I bought it. My PC is extremely simple, it has no GPU either.

Different persons have different standards (some have higher standards while others have lower standards) and it's up to every person to decide how good of a build quality components are safe to use in their PC. But keep in mind that PSU is the most important component inside the PC since it powers everything.

Since i care a lot about all my PCs, i won't put a Tier B or below quality unit into my PC. In fact, i've gone above and beyond regarding PSUs in my PCs.
Some may call me nuts that i payed €206.80 for a PSU that sits in my Skylake build (Seasonic SSR-650TD) and my latest PSU purchase for Haswell build costed €205.50 (Seasonic SSR-650TR), while i would've been safe with a PSU that costs €80.50 (Seasonic GX-550). While that can be true and i could've saved a lot of money, i feel safe and comfortable that my two main PCs are powered by the best offered by Seasonic. Only for my 3rd PC, old AMD build, i slightly reduced my PSU quality standard and bought a PSU that costed €101.50 (Seasonic PX-550). Still, all 3 of my PSUs are Tier A quality.

Since you have no GPU in your PC, bare minimum what i'd put in there, would be Tier B PSU. E.g Seasonic Core or Corsair CX series.

Btw, EVGA BR is Tier C, low priority unit, while Corsair CV is Tier D. So, in build quality wise, EVGA unit is slightly better. But neither of the two are nowhere near to my standard regarding the most important component inside the PC.

Can the PSU damage the rest of the hardware even if the PC is off?

Yes.

Heck, PSU can even kill you, months after it has been powered off and when you take it apart.
Inside the PSU, there are several capacitors that keep the charge for months, even years. So, it is very bad idea to disassemble PSU.

Regarding damaging the hardware when PC is shut off. IF the PSU is cheaply made, with little (if any) protections in it, it can feed it's stored charge (inside capacitors) into the PC. This creates a nice power surge that can kill the hardware.

Bottom line is: never cheap out on a PSU.

Anything to keep in mind?

While you got lucky, this time, and your hardware works, to keep in mind is the reliability aspect. There is no telling how much of an impact your hardware took, reliability wise. But you can expect your hardware dying sooner than average.