I recently built my own PC for Christmas and went through the initial BIOS setup where I enabled EXPO 2. Afterward, I used a 24 GB USB stick to install Windows 11. I got through the initial setup steps until I encountered a blue screen with the message 'Why did my PC restart?'. I've been stuck on this screen for over an hour now, and I can't access the BIOS; it keeps booting to that same screen regardless of what keys I press (like -, F12, or F10). Can anyone help me troubleshoot this?
3 Answers
Have you tried booting your PC without the USB stick plugged in? Sometimes, the installation can hang due to issues with the USB drive or the files on it. Just make sure that's not contributing to the problem.
If you can manage to get back into BIOS, consider resetting the CMOS settings. Power down your system and remove the battery on the motherboard for a few minutes. Also, avoid messing with EXPO settings until Windows is fully installed since you want a stable environment for the OS setup.
How do I do a CMOS reset without power? I’m quite new to this whole PC building thing.
To pinpoint the issue with the blue screen, you might want to check for dump files, which are crash logs that provide more details. If you can access Windows later, look for files in C:WindowsMinidump. Compress any dump files you find and upload them to a file-sharing site for better analysis.
I have, but it still takes me to that annoying 'Why did my PC restart?' screen even without the USB.