I was playing a game when everything suddenly went black and my PC became unresponsive. After trying to fix it, I ended up installing a second copy of Windows, but now my PC is stuck in a boot loop and showing a blue screen with a failed driver error code. It's bizarre because this is a clean install. The first copy of Windows was able to boot into safe mode, but now it won't let me enter my PIN. Any advice on how to resolve this?
2 Answers
If you've installed a second copy of Windows, make sure you know if you created a boot menu with two Windows options or if the new one replaced the old. If it replaced the original, that’s a risky 'repair' install, which can cause issues. It might be best to do a fresh install after erasing everything on the drive. Also, consider that your GPU might be fried based on those symptoms.
You should start by checking for dump files, which are crash logs from those blue screens. If you can manage to boot into Windows or get into Safe Mode, look in C:WindowsMinidump for any dump files. Zipping and uploading those can help others diagnose the issue. You might want to check guides online on how to configure crash dumps to make sure you get the right ones. That could help pinpoint the problem with your system.
I can't get into Windows at all, so I can’t check those files.
I really need to save some data before wiping anything! Any tips?