My custom-built PC was working normally until yesterday, when it began freezing on the Gigabyte splash screen with a spinning loading icon. Restarting produces the same result, and after several minutes it eventually shows an error screen. Windows had also been freezing in File Explorer and during Plex playback before the boot problem started.
The system has a Gigabyte Z470 Vision D motherboard, an Intel Core i9-10850K, 48 GB of DDR3 memory, a 2 TB SSD containing Windows, and four additional hard drives. Nothing is overclocked, and I have not recently updated the motherboard drivers beyond normal Windows updates.
The BIOS detects all of the drives, and the only boot option is Windows Boot Manager pointing to the correct SSD. I restored optimized BIOS defaults, enabled Secure Boot and TPM, and disabled XMP and CSM. The Windows SSD appears readable when connected to my laptop, so I backed up important files.
I also created a Windows installation USB, but the installer itself freezes on a dark blue screen. I tried different USB ports, reformatted the installer drive, disconnected unnecessary devices, and even tried booting without the Windows SSD, but the behavior did not change. Could this be a hardware problem with the RAM, SSD, motherboard, or another component? What should I test next?
3 Answers
Since the SSD is readable when attached to another computer, check its SMART or manufacturer health information rather than assuming it is fine. You can also run standard system-file checks against the Windows installation from the other computer, but freezing during the installer makes memory and motherboard testing more important.
If it still hangs with one memory module and only the essential hardware connected, clear the CMOS and try again. At that point, the likely suspects are the RAM, SSD, or motherboard. Repeatedly reinstalling Windows probably won’t help until the hardware issue is identified.
Because the Windows installer also freezes, the problem is probably happening below the operating-system level rather than being a damaged Windows installation. Disconnect the four secondary drives and leave only the installer USB, display, keyboard, and main SSD connected. Then reseat the memory and test one stick at a time in the motherboard’s recommended slot. Also check the SSD’s health from the laptop and confirm it is detected properly in BIOS. If possible, recreate the installer with Microsoft’s official Media Creation Tool and boot it explicitly in UEFI mode.
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