Hey everyone! I've been using my custom-built PC for about four years without major issues, but recently, it's been getting stuck on the motherboard startup screen during boot. It starts up but hangs there for a long time. I did manage to log in once, but it was super slow, and everything froze when I tried to open apps or use the taskbar. I initially thought it was a RAM issue, so I've tried different configurations with both one and two sticks in the recommended slots, but nothing seems to help. Now I'm wondering if my SSD might be failing. I attempted to boot from a USB to reinstall the OS on another drive, but it still freezes at the loading screen. I checked the BIOS to adjust the boot sequence, and it's still sluggish when getting to the blue Windows logo. My specs are: RTX 3080 TI, X570 Unify motherboard, Antec Katana RAM (4x8GB), Ryzen 7 5800X CPU, Samsung 980 Pro SSD, and Samsung 870 SSD. Any advice on what to try next?
3 Answers
Update: I actually got it to boot! I'm not sure what I did differently, but after reseating everything and tweaking some settings in BIOS — specifically resetting the RAM speeds to default and switching the memory setting to RAID mode — it finally went past the startup screen. It might just need some TLC!
First things first, try unplugging all your USB devices to see if that helps. Sometimes USB drives can cause the boot to hang, especially if there's something wonky with them.
It's good you checked the SSD! Sometimes these issues just pop up out of nowhere. Let's keep trying to figure this out.
Second update: It turned out the second SSD was the problem. I didn't realize that a failing secondary drive could cause boot issues. After enabling RAID in BIOS and disconnecting the faulty SSD, the system booted normally again! I'll be backing up family photos from the dead SSD soon, but at least the PC is running great now.
That's a good point! If you had both SSDs connected during the Windows install, Windows might have put the BootManager on the drive that you weren't booting from. If that secondary drive fails, it might prevent booting altogether. Best to only connect the drive you're installing Windows on during the setup!
I've done that a couple of times, but it didn't help. I found a self-test option in the BIOS for my 980 SSD and it checked out fine. I thought it might be the RAM, but I'm starting to think it might be something else since everything else I've tried hasn't worked. I was gaming before this happened, so maybe something went wrong then?