BSOD on bootup - any ideas?

[TAYLOR-MANIA]

Hi.

-MSI P67A-GD53 (B3)
-Intel Core i7 2600k
-MSI GTX 560Ti TWIN FROZR II 1GB GDDR5
-Coolermaster Silent Pro Gold 800W
-Corsair Vengeance 16GB (4x4GB) DDR3 1600Mhz CL9 1.5V
-Corsair 60GB Force 3 SSD
-Noctua NH-C14
-Microsoft Windows 7 Ultimate
-Coolermaster Silencio 550 Case

Spent my savings on all new parts, spent hours putting them together & making it look pretty, hit the power and it appeared to be working properly, for it to then flash a BSOD just a moment later!

I'm sure some of you here can empathise! If you do, please try to help if you can... any ideas will be welcome.
-----------------------
It's a brand-new build. I've installed everything correctly, taking all necessary precautions. The components are compatible.

■I turn it on, POST beeps are 1 long and 2 short, and 98, 99, A2, A3 are shown in sequence in the bottom right.
■It reaches the 'Starting Windows' logo and goes no further. The animation stutters briefly, continues on for a bit and then displays, or rather, flashes, a BSOD before restarting itself.
■The next boot-up shows the 'Windows failed to start. A recent hardware change might be the cause ...' screen.
■Selecting 'Launch Startup Repair' doesn't work (error= Event Name:StartupRepairOffline) and the 'Start Windows normally' option results in the normal thing - a BSOD & a reboot.
■I managed to read the BSOD by recording & pausing it:

"A problem has been encountered and Windows has been shut down to prevent damage to your computer.
If this is the first time you've seen this Stop error screen, restart you computer. If this screen appears again, follow these steps:
Check for viruses on your computer. Remove any newly installed hard drives or hard drive controllers. Check your hard drive to make sure it is properly configured and terminated. Run CHKDSK /F to check for hard drive corruption, and then restart your computer.
Technical information:
STOP: 0x00000007B (0x80780A6B, 0XC0000034, 0x00000000, 0x000000000)"

That's a bit strange, as the only drive connected is labelled C...

My research over the last two days lead me to believe that the POST beep of 1 long & 2 short points to a monitor or display card error and 0x00000007B is a device driver issue, virus, data corruption, or hardware failures. I think I can disregard all but a device driver issue...

I've checked the drive for viruses, checkdisk-ed it, swapped it's cables & ports, prioritised it for boot-up, changed SATA modes.
I've also swapped the DRAM over & changed slots (including DIMM1). Memtested in BIOS. BIOS is the latest official version. Cleared CMOS. Removed peripherals still gave the same BSOD/reboot.

I dismantled it today to bench test it properly. Still no luck.
I then used a different board, CPU, RAM & PSU to check if it was the GPU at fault, but it worked as normal (a successful boot), and that was with using the same drive, too. So it can't be the drive or the GPU. Does this mean the the POST codes & BSOD messages are incorrect/irrellevant? Surely not?

The only thing I didn't (and couldn't) test was the CPU as my alternative board has a different socket. (MSI G41M-P28+E3300 socket 775). What are the chances of it being the problem? I've reseated it & checked the pins - it's all good, nothing visibly wrong with it.

So, I'm out of ideas! What is it that I am overlooking here?
If you have any ideas whatsoever on what to try next, please do leave them here.
Thanks.

 

[shortstuff_mt]

Are you trying to use a hard drive with an existing Windows installation on it? You will have to format the drive and re-install Windows if that's the case.

 

[crewton]

I then used a different board, CPU, RAM & PSU to check if it was the GPU at fault, but it worked as normal (a successful boot), and that was with using the same drive, too.

I'm guessing that you used your old parts that windows is associated with.

Since you didn't mention a harddrive up top I'm going to side with short as well and say you need to reinstall a new windows OS. You can't use an old windows key on a new motherboard, windows won't allow it to prevent you from buying one windows copy and putting it on multiple computers (unless you own a retail copy then you can put it more).

 

[Blade9030]

try and run puppy Linux from a USB stick to make sure it is not a hardware issue

or you can try to remove the RAM and start it up see if its a MOBO issue

 

[TAYLOR-MANIA]

Ahh-ha. I think you've nailed it. No, i didn't format the drive or re-install Windows D'oh! We live to learn...

... You can't use an old windows key on a new motherboard, windows won't allow it to prevent you from buying one windows copy and putting it on multiple computers (unless you own a retail copy then you can put it more).

Oh is that right ? Well, I do own a retail copy - Windows7 Ultimate 32bit and 64bit versions. I'm currently using the 32bit version. Would I not be able to install the 64bit using the same product key? Not even if I reformat the 32bit and do a clean install on the new system?

try and run puppy Linux from a USB stick to make sure it is not a hardware issue

or you can try to remove the RAM and start it up see if its a MOBO issue

Thanks, I will give that a shot if a new Win install fails, though hopefully it won't!
I did try removing the RAM altogether and it just gave the continuous beeps as you'd expect, so hopefully the Mobo is okay...


I've had to order an IDE to SATA adapter, as my disc drive is that old. So I've gotta wait for tomorrow now to do the installation.

Thank you all for the help, it's much appreciated

 

[vitornob]

Man.. If ur HD is that old u will get a huge boost if u exchange for a new HD. Believe it, worth it!

Install windows in ur SSD and buy a new tera HD for massive storage (I exchanged my 5 year old 320GB sata HD for a new 1 Tera 7200rpm HD, gains were expressive)

 

[TAYLOR-MANIA]

Nah, the IDE to SATA adapter is for the optical disk drive, not the hard disk drive.
The 60GB SSD is already used for Windows (which, at the moment, appears to be the cause of the problem) and got 2x WD 2TB external's for storage.

...You can't use an old windows key on a new motherboard, windows won't allow it to prevent you from buying one windows copy and putting it on multiple computers (unless you own a retail copy then you can put it more).

Oh is that right ? Well, I do own a retail copy - Windows7 Ultimate 32bit and 64bit versions. I'm currently using the 32bit version. Would I not be able to install the 64bit using the same product key? Not even if I reformat the 32bit and do a clean install on the new system?

Would like this clarified, can anyone comment on this please?

 

[crewton]

Are you positive you have a retail and not an oem windows? I suppose the easiest way to figure out is did you pay $100 or $280 for your windows cd.

 

[TAYLOR-MANIA]

The latter... It's retail, with both 32 & 64bit discs.

 

[Murfomurf]

Hi
I got this effect when I was first doing my PC Tech training. The problem was merely incorrectly seated card. I had to take them all out, check the contacts and slowly, carefully, put them all back in.
Fixed!

It COULD be as simple as that.

PS. I felt very silly, but the instructor was very pleased with me!

Hi.

-MSI P67A-GD53 (B3)


So, I'm out of ideas! What is it that I am overlooking here?
If you have any ideas whatsoever on what to try next, please do leave them here.
Thanks.