I built my first PC recently, and it was working normally earlier today. A game launched through Steam refused to open, so I checked Windows for driver updates. After that, the computer stopped booting properly. It hangs on the motherboard manufacturer's splash screen, briefly appears to load, and then freezes. Windows later showed an automatic-repair message saying it couldn't fix the problem, but troubleshooting didn't help. Now I can't even get into the BIOS.
The main components are an MSI MAG Tomahawk Max WiFi AM5 motherboard, Ryzen 5 9600X processor, MSI RTX 5060 graphics card, 32GB of Corsair DDR5-6000 memory, a Crucial P310 1TB NVMe SSD, and Windows 11. What should I check first, and how can I determine whether the SSD or another component is preventing the system from booting?
1 Answer
Since the system is freezing before you can reliably enter BIOS, start by checking whether the NVMe SSD is being detected. Shut the PC down completely, unplug it, remove and reseat the drive, and make sure the M.2 screw is holding it flat. Then try entering BIOS and look for the drive in the storage or boot section. If it still freezes, temporarily disconnect or remove the SSD and see whether you can enter BIOS normally. That would point toward the drive or its boot data rather than Windows itself.
I’ll check whether the SSD appears in BIOS and reseat it if necessary. I hadn’t considered testing the system without the drive installed.