BSOD last night - Windows won't boot anymore

Tehterokkar

Honorable
Jun 17, 2012
20
0
10,510
Hey!

Last night I updated my GPU drivers(NVIDIA) and 5 mins later after I had rebooted from the Driver install, I get a Blue screen.

I tried to reboot but it gets stuck at Windows 7 Loading screen(Windows logo and black background), after about 10 mins of being stuck, I get a Blue screen flash on the screen and it reboots itself, repeating the process over and over again.

I try to boot in safe mode, it gets to the screen where it says "Loading Drivers". Then it goes to "Please Wait" and it stays there for about 10 minutes again until Blue screen flash and reboot on its own.

After that I got frustrated and decided to just stick the Win7 installation DVD into the machine and do a full reinstall. However, after it has gotten past the first screen where it "loads the files from disc"(literally the first screen you get when you try to install Win7), it turns black and won't respond anymore.(Serious "wait what?" happened in my mind at this point).

Next day at work I spoke to some IT guys about it, they suggested it was a hardware failure and then other guy suggested it has something to do with the RAM, whether not working or the RAM slots on my MoBo are broken. Also said that Dual channel might not be working either then. I got instructed to try each piece(I got 2 sticks of 4gb ram) of RAM seperately to see if I can get Windows to boot to see if it's faulty RAM.(I got the same suggestion from the place I ordered my PC parts from)

I am by no means expert, I know the basics of computers, but this is just mind boggling. I might have had faulty hardware all along(Browsers are very laggy and slow) and Windows loads really slowly. The computer is only 6 and half months old.

Specs:
ASUS P8P67 WS Revolution MoBO
i5-2500k @ 3.3GHz
Kingston 2x 4GB 1333MHz Ram
ASUS GTX 580 DirectCU II
Western Digital Black Caviar 1.5TB 7200RPM HDD
Kingston 64GB SSD
Corsair 650W PSU

I still have warranty on everything so it shouldn't be much of a problem to me to refund and get new parts(Other than the waiting for the parts lol).

Thanks
 
First off, Why not just check memory for memory errors.
Sounds like you have a corrupt HDD, and yes it could be the fault of the memory.

You should download memtest 86 ISO. Create a Bootable CD.
Insert all memory Modules.
Insert the CD and boot to it.
Let run for at least 4 to 6 Hours, Or untill it says Memory errors.
If NO Memory errors then Ram is not the problem.
If you do get memory errors, then try Ons stick at a time to see if only one stick is bad.
No sticks check Bad, then try the one stick in different slots to see if you have a bad slot.

If You get NO memory errors when you first tried all ram Modules, then:
You have a corrupt Windows OS. This could have been caused by your BSOD, or By bad sectors on the HDD.

You should download HDD Manuf disk utility and test the HDD. If HDD is OK, then Re-install windows. If HDD test Bad, get new HDD and install windows.

Added Link to Memtest86:
http://www.memtest86.com/download.html
Don't for get this is an ISO, you can not just copy to CD like a data File. Need to select ISO in disk writing software.
 

Tehterokkar

Honorable
Jun 17, 2012
20
0
10,510
Hey RetiredChief!

I just got bak from work, I forgot to mention that my Win7 install is on the SSD, HDD is for games and major data storage.

Me and my dad have been testing the ram sticks, putting each stick to all 4 slots and nothing has changed. Could this possibly refer to MoBo failure or RAM sticks broken? Are there any specific lights next to the DIMM slots that I should be aware of?

Thanks.

Ps. I'm not so sure of the memory test program, I don't have access to a memory stick until tomorrow anyway :X.
 
Just subsitute SSD for HDD in my first post.
YOU NEED to run Memtest86 from a bootable CD>

In a system that will not boot and a possible cause is the SSD, then tring One stick at a time and rebooting is NOT telling you anything if infact it is the drive. Even if the Memory is good you will not complete the Boot to windows if it's the drive/windows problem.

It will only tell you that the memory is good If you can BOOT to windows. Test should be independent of SSD/HDD.

As a alternative you could put your Windows Install dvd in and with one stick at a time, try booting to the DVD.
 
This may seem like a stretch(because it may be), Is there any possibility that the new drivers actually damaged your video card to the point where it is failing? The card may work in windows pre installation, but once it tries to actually drive the video any higher, it seems to hang. Is there any way to try another video card to verify this?
 

Tehterokkar

Honorable
Jun 17, 2012
20
0
10,510
Alright!

I managed to figure out what was wrong. It was the SSD.

I fiddled around with the memory for a while and gave up on it(as it showed no progress). Then I just thought that I could maybe unplug the SSD. I did that and booted through Windows 7 CD and it went through with the HDD as the only harddrive.

It seemed like the SSD was doing a "****-block" for the entire system to do anything. I called the PC store and I'm going to send the SSD back for warranty and I get a brand new one :)