My self-built PC worked normally until yesterday, but now it hangs on the Gigabyte splash screen with a spinning circle. After several minutes, it eventually shows another screen, and attempting to boot a Windows installation USB results in a dark blue screen that never progresses.
The system has a Gigabyte Z470 Vision D motherboard, an Intel i9-10850K, 48 GB of RAM, a 2 TB SSD containing Windows, and four additional hard drives. Nothing is overclocked, and I have not updated the motherboard drivers recently. Before shutting down, Windows Explorer was freezing occasionally and Plex playback was stuttering.
The BIOS detects all of the drives, and the boot option correctly lists Windows Boot Manager on the Windows SSD. I restored optimized BIOS defaults, enabled Secure Boot and TPM, and disabled XMP and CSM. I also disconnected the boot SSD, recreated the Windows installer USB, tried different USB ports, and unplugged unnecessary devices. The SSD appeared to work normally when connected to another computer for file backup.
What should I test next? Could this be faulty RAM, the SSD, or the motherboard rather than a Windows problem?
3 Answers
Check the health of both the SSD and the memory. Since the SSD can be connected to another computer, use that system to inspect its SMART status and run appropriate drive diagnostics. You can also test the connected Windows installation with system-repair tools, but a failure in the installer points more toward hardware than corrupted Windows files.
Recreate the installation USB with Microsoft's Media Creation Tool and make sure it is being booted in UEFI mode. Also verify in the firmware that the SSD is consistently detected and run any available memory or storage diagnostics. If the installer continues to freeze with one RAM stick and all other drives disconnected, try another known-good SSD or RAM kit to isolate the failing component.
Because the Windows installer also freezes, the problem is probably occurring below the operating-system level. Disconnect the four extra hard drives and leave only the suspected boot SSD, the installer USB, keyboard, and display connected. Reseat the RAM and test one stick at a time in the motherboard's recommended slot. If it still hangs, clear the CMOS and investigate the RAM, SSD, and motherboard rather than repeatedly reinstalling Windows.
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