[SOLVED] Windows won't boot after power failure

Exploding PSU

Honorable
Jul 17, 2018
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147
10,870
Hello everyone,

So I have quite a head-scratcher here, and I'd be very glad if you can help me. I was working on my PC last night when a power outage hit the neighborhood (it's not new, power fails around once a week at the least here). When the power returns, I tried to boot my PC and it won't boot.

The PC is stuck in the boot logo with the swirly dots stuff indefinitely. Manually restarting the PC will eventually bring up the "Automatic Repair", but after awhile it'll fail and asks me to try Advanced Options. I've tried System Restore (which failed, it couldn't "find the backup file"), Startup Repair, sfc /scannow, DISM, bootrec /fixmbr, and just shutting it down for awhile. None of them worked.

Any help is gladly appreciated. Thank you.

System specs :

CPU : Ryzen 5 2600
Mobo : MSI X370 SLI Plus
RAM : T-Force Delta R DDR4 3000 8 GB RGB
GPU : Sapphire Pulse RX Vega 56 8GB
SSD : Lexar NM600
HDD : An old 500 GB Seagate Momentus Thin
PSU : Seasonic Gold
Cooler : Cryorig H7 QL
Case : some random chinese $20 case

OS is a Windows 10, not sure which build exactly, but I've always let it auto-update to whatever the newest version is
 
Last edited:
Solution
Seasonic Gold PSU: wattage, age, condition (was it new, used, refurbished)? Heavy gaming use?

In Safe Mode check Reliability History and Event Viewer for error codes, warnings, and even informational log entries that you can associate with the boot failures.

If you are able to access BIOS configure POST to be as verbose as possible.

What that means is that during the POST process the computer displays what it is doing and reports what happens thereafter. Slows Post but you can change back later on. Objective is to discover the problem(s).

= = = =

My thought is that the PSU may be starting to falter and fail and generally unable to provide the power needed for the system to normally boot.

Note: Be sure that you have...

Exploding PSU

Honorable
Jul 17, 2018
461
147
10,870
Update your post to include full system hardware specs and OS information.

Will the system boot into Safe Mode?

Sorry about that, updated initial post with full system spec

Yes, I just tried it, and it could boot to Safe Mode, I've tried the Safe Mode with Networking and Command Prompt, it could boot to all of them. A glimmer of hope I suppose.
 

Ralston18

Titan
Moderator
Seasonic Gold PSU: wattage, age, condition (was it new, used, refurbished)? Heavy gaming use?

In Safe Mode check Reliability History and Event Viewer for error codes, warnings, and even informational log entries that you can associate with the boot failures.

If you are able to access BIOS configure POST to be as verbose as possible.

What that means is that during the POST process the computer displays what it is doing and reports what happens thereafter. Slows Post but you can change back later on. Objective is to discover the problem(s).

= = = =

My thought is that the PSU may be starting to falter and fail and generally unable to provide the power needed for the system to normally boot.

Note: Be sure that you have backed up all important data at least 2 X to other locations off of the PC. Verify that the backups are recoverable and readable.
 
Solution

Exploding PSU

Honorable
Jul 17, 2018
461
147
10,870
Seasonic Gold PSU: wattage, age, condition (was it new, used, refurbished)? Heavy gaming use?

In Safe Mode check Reliability History and Event Viewer for error codes, warnings, and even informational log entries that you can associate with the boot failures.

If you are able to access BIOS configure POST to be as verbose as possible.

What that means is that during the POST process the computer displays what it is doing and reports what happens thereafter. Slows Post but you can change back later on. Objective is to discover the problem(s).

= = = =

My thought is that the PSU may be starting to falter and fail and generally unable to provide the power needed for the system to normally boot.

Note: Be sure that you have backed up all important data at least 2 X to other locations off of the PC. Verify that the backups are recoverable and readable.

Sorry for the extremely late reply, I thought I've replied to your post, but turns out I (for some reason) didn't post the reply.

Yes, I have to admit the PSU is quite old, it's a Haswell era PSU. It never had any problems, it just kept chugging along.

Checked the Event Viewer but there isn't anything useful. I saw some warning and info, and a lot of "Failed to upgrade printer settings" (the PC has no printer attached).

However, I managed to get it to boot by going to safe mode, going to msconfig, and choosing "Diagnostic Startup". It booted into "normal" Windows, and it boots normally afterwards like nothing ever happened. I set it back to "Normal Startup" after the PC could boot normally, and it was smooth as butter. This is after countless failed System Restores and sfc /scannow stuff.

I'll put it here in case someone ran across similar problems.
Anyway, thank you very much, really appreciate your help.

Also, for the backups, yes I've backed up all my important data regularly. 3 different hard drives, 2 in my house, 1 in offsite backup, and a Google Drive backup. My house can literally got struck by a meteor (god forbid) and my data would still be intact. Was inspired by someone here whose sig is an image of a car with the caption that sounds like "This is where your data lives, when was the last time you backed your data". Sorry, can't remember the name, but that user saved me from several potentially catastrophic disasters.