I recently opened up my PC to give it a good cleaning. I removed the GPU, RAM, and CMOS battery just to be safe, along with my SSD drives. Now, whenever I try to log into Windows or reboot, the PC freezes up. I've attempted several troubleshooting steps: using just one stick of RAM, trying a clean install of Windows multiple times, and booting with each of my three SSDs separately, but nothing has worked so far. I've also taken out and reinserted the CMOS battery repeatedly. I even tried swapping in two other RAM sticks, but I'm still stuck and feeling hopeless about this situation.
4 Answers
When you reassembled everything, did you apply new thermal paste on the CPU? Just curious because I usually don't detach the CPU when cleaning. It might help to check that!
It sounds like you’ve already done a lot of troubleshooting. I know you said you’ve tried a clean install three times, but maybe give it another shot? Even if it feels hopeless, sometimes persistence pays off!
If all else fails, have you considered testing your components on another PC? It might help isolate if something's faulty.
Have you tried booting into safe mode? And just to clarify, are you connecting everything back in the same slots as before? Sometimes shuffling things around can cause issues.
I can boot in safe mode, but it still freezes or reboots on me. It's been a frustrating experience.
I actually didn't remove the CPU at all. Just focused on other components.