So I woke up to find my computer isn't working at all. Instead of booting up Windows like it usually does, I'm getting a black screen with a blinking cursor. The BIOS still detects my SSD, but Windows just won't start. I've already tried switching out the SATA and power cables, turning off the PSU and holding the power button, and unplugging every USB device, but nothing seems to work. I do have another SSD and a hard drive, but I don't have access to another computer to reinstall Windows, which makes me feel like it's completely bricked. This all started happening right after several power outages, so I'm beginning to wonder if that's the culprit. Any advice?
3 Answers
Have you checked if your surge protector is still functional? If it's not, a power surge could have hit your computer hard enough to cause severe damage.
It’s likely that Windows is just corrupted. You'll definitely need a USB drive with Windows installation files to either repair or do a clean installation. Unfortunately, that's your only option here, unless you can get your hands on another computer.
That sounds really frustrating! This happened to me once, and it turned out to be either a faulty SSD or an issue with the Windows boot loader. I recommend asking a friend to help you create a bootable USB drive with the Windows installation media on it. You can use that to repair your current install. That's what saved my computer last time!
I doubt it would completely power off if that was the case.