Hi there. As the title says, I'm running an Asrock P67 Extreme4 Gen3 motherboard. I've had this computer for 4 years now and never had a problem until I tried to do the update. I upgraded to Windows 10 fairly recently and came across the 100% CPU load problem, so I wanted to try to remedy that by updating the BIOS. I downloaded the BIOS update from the Asrock website and followed the directions. What I've learned since is that it's highly discouraged to update a BIOS from within Windows, but the Asrock BIOS update installation guide wants you to do just that. I'm not a novice to tech or various ins-and-outs of computers, but BIOS updates are relatively unfamiliar to me so I followed the directions.
I was aware after the BIOS update that I'd need to change up BIOS settings to have my SSD with OS be the 1st in Boot priority. I was vaguely aware that I'd need to change the drive mode from IDE to AHCI (or whichever mode one originally installed Windows using). This was my first of many problems to come. I've written up a bit of a list of what I've done and dealt with so far:
1: Upon restarting computer after bios update and selecting ssd as first in boot order, I had a black screen with blinking cursor.
2: I tried changing IDE to AHCI to see if that was the problem. No dice.
2a: I changing between IDE to AHCI a few different times trying to figure out what the problem was and, occasionally, when I would save and exit the BIOS, my computer would just immediately shut off and I would have to manually power it on again.
3: Thinking it was perhaps a Windows-specific error, I inserted a flash drive with a Windows 10 ISO on it to use for Windows Recovery options. I tried to do Startup Repair, but after diagnosing, it would fail to repair any issues.
4: i started to experiment with different options in my BIOS Boot Order. I noticed that I had two versions of my SSD: a UEFI and a SATA. I tried booting into the UEFI version once and it took me to a screen that said INACCESSIBLE_BOOT_DEVICE, and would restart. Another time - and more frequently now - I am able to boot into Windows. However, my HDD isn't detected. The drive letter has even been reassigned. And the HDD doesn't show up in Disk Management either, even though I clearly saw the HDD in the BIOS.
5: After booting from the UEFI version of my SSD, it then becomes Windows Boot Manager in my BIOS Boot options.
6: After sleeping and waking up the next day, I tried to turn my computer on, only to find a no display, and no functional peripherals. I assume this is because the power-on was not making it to BIOS post. I'm not sure. Curiously, my external HDD which I still had plugged in at the time was receiving power. I read that resetting the CMOS would fix this and so I turned off my computer, unplugged power, let it rest idle for 15 seconds, then pushed the CMOS CLR button for 5 seconds. I waited a few moments, turned computer back on, and could access the BIOS again. This has happened twice now.
7: Thinking perhaps I needed to reinstall Windows and reformat the partition, I tried to 'Reset This PC' from my Windows Recovery options via a USB, but an error popped up stating 'Unable to reset your PC. A required drive partition is missing.'
8: I then set about doing a chkdsk /r from within the Windows Recovery Disk cmd prompt. This took many hours, but I didn't see any errors in the results displayed in the cmd prompt. I looked for some sort of log file that I could take a gander at but I read in the results that a log failed to save. It didn't state why.
9: I ran sfc /scannow from within the Windows Recovery Disk cmd prompt. The verification portion completed, but couldn't get past that due to a message that I forgot to write down. Will look into that again. However, check #12 for more on sfc.
10: I used DISKPART from within the Windows Recovery Disk cmd prompt to navigate to and select my SSD housing my OS as selected disk and select the windows 10 partition section as 'active', but the error "The selected disk is not a fixed MBR disk." stopped me. Curiously, I could see my HDD when doing DISKPART from within the Windows Recovery environment, but not from within Windows after booting from my UEFI SSD Boot option.
11: I tried to repair mcd, starting with bootrec /RebuildBcd, also from within Windows Recovery cmd prompt, but strangely it didn't find my OS SSD location (it's my C: drive) and instead listed Windows was installed on D:. D: is the drive letter I've used for my HDD for years now. I did have the recovery disk iso on a usb plugged in, so perhaps it was detecting that?
12: I ran sfc /scannow from within windows after booting into it from Windows Boot Manager. was successful: "Windows Resource Protection found corrupt files and successfully repaired them." and also output a log. I can upload that if someone would like, but apparently the log is gigantic and has files from far longer than just this evening when I ran the scan. I also haven't restarted my computer since the sfc /scannow was completed as I want to make sure I use my operating time as efficiently as I can, hence why I am writing all this now, in case my computer is inoperable after turning it off overnight again.
13: I'm now contemplating the idea that perhaps partition flags are messed up with my drives after the BIOS update. Specifically for my SSD that houses my OS. No clue how to deal with this issue though, if it is one.
If you're still with me, I truly thank you. I know this is a lot to read but I just wanted to clearly outline what I've done so far. I've bolded the main issues that I've tried to diagnose. Please help!
My computer:
i5 2500k 3.4 ghz
16gb ddr3 ram
radeon hd 7970 gpu
1x SSD (operating system is here)
1x HDD (storage drive)
1x External HDD (additional storage drive)
Windows 10
I should point out that the whole reason for this debacle, updating the BIOS to fix the Windows 10 CPU issue, worked. My BIOS detects the version as 2.20, and CPU-Z detects the BIOS version from within Windows as 2.20. My CPU usage is back down to normal operating levels.
I was aware after the BIOS update that I'd need to change up BIOS settings to have my SSD with OS be the 1st in Boot priority. I was vaguely aware that I'd need to change the drive mode from IDE to AHCI (or whichever mode one originally installed Windows using). This was my first of many problems to come. I've written up a bit of a list of what I've done and dealt with so far:
1: Upon restarting computer after bios update and selecting ssd as first in boot order, I had a black screen with blinking cursor.
2: I tried changing IDE to AHCI to see if that was the problem. No dice.
2a: I changing between IDE to AHCI a few different times trying to figure out what the problem was and, occasionally, when I would save and exit the BIOS, my computer would just immediately shut off and I would have to manually power it on again.
3: Thinking it was perhaps a Windows-specific error, I inserted a flash drive with a Windows 10 ISO on it to use for Windows Recovery options. I tried to do Startup Repair, but after diagnosing, it would fail to repair any issues.
4: i started to experiment with different options in my BIOS Boot Order. I noticed that I had two versions of my SSD: a UEFI and a SATA. I tried booting into the UEFI version once and it took me to a screen that said INACCESSIBLE_BOOT_DEVICE, and would restart. Another time - and more frequently now - I am able to boot into Windows. However, my HDD isn't detected. The drive letter has even been reassigned. And the HDD doesn't show up in Disk Management either, even though I clearly saw the HDD in the BIOS.
5: After booting from the UEFI version of my SSD, it then becomes Windows Boot Manager in my BIOS Boot options.
6: After sleeping and waking up the next day, I tried to turn my computer on, only to find a no display, and no functional peripherals. I assume this is because the power-on was not making it to BIOS post. I'm not sure. Curiously, my external HDD which I still had plugged in at the time was receiving power. I read that resetting the CMOS would fix this and so I turned off my computer, unplugged power, let it rest idle for 15 seconds, then pushed the CMOS CLR button for 5 seconds. I waited a few moments, turned computer back on, and could access the BIOS again. This has happened twice now.
7: Thinking perhaps I needed to reinstall Windows and reformat the partition, I tried to 'Reset This PC' from my Windows Recovery options via a USB, but an error popped up stating 'Unable to reset your PC. A required drive partition is missing.'
8: I then set about doing a chkdsk /r from within the Windows Recovery Disk cmd prompt. This took many hours, but I didn't see any errors in the results displayed in the cmd prompt. I looked for some sort of log file that I could take a gander at but I read in the results that a log failed to save. It didn't state why.
9: I ran sfc /scannow from within the Windows Recovery Disk cmd prompt. The verification portion completed, but couldn't get past that due to a message that I forgot to write down. Will look into that again. However, check #12 for more on sfc.
10: I used DISKPART from within the Windows Recovery Disk cmd prompt to navigate to and select my SSD housing my OS as selected disk and select the windows 10 partition section as 'active', but the error "The selected disk is not a fixed MBR disk." stopped me. Curiously, I could see my HDD when doing DISKPART from within the Windows Recovery environment, but not from within Windows after booting from my UEFI SSD Boot option.
11: I tried to repair mcd, starting with bootrec /RebuildBcd, also from within Windows Recovery cmd prompt, but strangely it didn't find my OS SSD location (it's my C: drive) and instead listed Windows was installed on D:. D: is the drive letter I've used for my HDD for years now. I did have the recovery disk iso on a usb plugged in, so perhaps it was detecting that?
12: I ran sfc /scannow from within windows after booting into it from Windows Boot Manager. was successful: "Windows Resource Protection found corrupt files and successfully repaired them." and also output a log. I can upload that if someone would like, but apparently the log is gigantic and has files from far longer than just this evening when I ran the scan. I also haven't restarted my computer since the sfc /scannow was completed as I want to make sure I use my operating time as efficiently as I can, hence why I am writing all this now, in case my computer is inoperable after turning it off overnight again.
13: I'm now contemplating the idea that perhaps partition flags are messed up with my drives after the BIOS update. Specifically for my SSD that houses my OS. No clue how to deal with this issue though, if it is one.
If you're still with me, I truly thank you. I know this is a lot to read but I just wanted to clearly outline what I've done so far. I've bolded the main issues that I've tried to diagnose. Please help!
My computer:
i5 2500k 3.4 ghz
16gb ddr3 ram
radeon hd 7970 gpu
1x SSD (operating system is here)
1x HDD (storage drive)
1x External HDD (additional storage drive)
Windows 10
I should point out that the whole reason for this debacle, updating the BIOS to fix the Windows 10 CPU issue, worked. My BIOS detects the version as 2.20, and CPU-Z detects the BIOS version from within Windows as 2.20. My CPU usage is back down to normal operating levels.
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