PC boots but cannot get past Win10/7 install

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StoremedByPizza

Posts: 11   +0
Hi I've had a potato PC for about 6 years, the PC was abused, overclocked and it experienced more power outages than it should have. As the PC started running slowly and getting random blue screens my old gtx460 finally started dying (artifacts and co.), I then replaced it with a gtx950. I later replaced the PSU with a Thermaltake 650 (don't remember reason). The hdd then (finally) died and I replaced it with a Sandisk Ssd.

After replacing both parts the computer ran below average for the most part until it started shutting down on it's own. These episodes increased until one night my male cat unloaded urine in my case, landing on my gpu, mb, case and Cthulhu knows what else. From this point forward my PC would turn on and show no life, I do not remember if the gpu, cpu, PSU would turn on or not but I am certain I had no life on my monitor or peripherals.

After 2 months of letting my PC sit idly, I purchased a Ryzen 1500 cpu, 8gb of HyperX DDr4 Dury ram and a B350M Gaming Pro mb (These three parts were purchased new and installed a couple weeks ago.

After plugging everything in I tried booting the PC with the following installed parts:
-MB: B350 (new)
-CPU: Ryzen 1500 (new w. factory cooler)
-Ram: 8gb Hyperx ddr4 (new)
-PSU: Thermaltake Smart650w (1.5 yrs old)
-GPU: EVGA GTX 950 (1yr old with small but present amounts of oxidations from what I presume is urine)
-SSD: Sandisk (1yr old)
-HDD: Toshiba (1yr old never used)

The following happened when I booted from the SSD (loaded with the previous Win10 I used when my PC ran) and unplugged the HDD:
-PC boots; GPU fans spin; CPU fan spin; PSU fan spins (all of this before MB bios screen).
-Option 1: I hit "Del" key; enter bios; GPU fan stops spinning (efficient fans stop moving unless temp rises?); Pc tries to boot windows; Monitor goes in standby; peripherals (mouse/keyboard) lose power and PC remains idle as is.

Option 2: I format SSD and HDD (was empty anyways); download Win7 and Win10; I create USB bootable drive (using Rufus); I power and boot the PC; I select "booting options" to choose bootable USB; Win7/10 installation page comes up; I choose SSD as drive; Win installation ensues and: 1. Stops and fails installation after 5-20 minutes. 2. Installation requires rebooting only to be rebooted into oblivion once MB Bios screen is surpassed. Pc remains idle (waited 30+ mins) with gpu fans off, no power to peripherals, monitor goes in standby. 3. Randomly peripherals lose power but monitor stays on Win screen.


What's your take? What do you require of me? What other possible symptoms have I ignored/ should report if I see them.

***Side notes
1. I have yet to check the values of the PSU with a W.multimeter. (All PSU cords are black for aesthetic purposes.... So I'm a tad confused when it comes to the MB connector readings).
2. I will upload the oxidized ammonia scented GPU pictures as soon asap.
3. If I allow the PC to boot on it's own and I do NOT choose "del" (for BIOS) or "f11"? (Selecting bootable drive) when prompted by the B350mb/BIOS page the following happens: Monitor flashes once; GPU fans stop; peripherals lose power and monitor freezes on the same exact B350mb/BIOS page; PC remains idle to infinity and beyond...

Sorry for this long @$$ post but I wanted to make sure I included all the info I could. I'm somewhat of a novice PC builder/ troubleshooter as my brother had initially built this PC 5+yrs ago.


Thank you I'm advance.
 
***Side note #4:
I dc'ed all three drives (1. SSD 2. Old, abused and prob deceased HDD 3. Never before used HDD) from the Desktop and plugged them in my laptop. When either drive (1. SSD or 2. Deceased HDD) is plugged in via USB the laptop does not see the drives, I receive this message when clicking on Drive F: "Please insert a disk into Removable Disk "F".

Note that all three drives have been through the attempted installation of Win7/10, after being formatted.

When I connect drive #3. New HDD it recognizes the HDD and creates two new slots, I can then see all Win folders. Unlike #1 and #2. Could it be Bec it's an older sata USB? ( There's no mention of anything aside from SATA on the cable)
 
Take everything out of case.

Run the empty case through dishwasher if possible.

Confirm all components pass the 'sniff' test - suspect components used as a urinal should be discarded.

Consult motherboard manual - locate 'beep codes' for errors. Reassemble basic components on benchtop - start with motherboard, cpu, heatsink, PSU - boot - do you get a "RAM" or "video card" error beep code? If not, then likely one of your basic components is cooked - if error code is appropriate, power down and add the missing component and try again - repeat until you get POST - then start adding storage, OS, etc as instructed in manual.

Draw inspiration from:


and

 
I tried booting with gpu/cpu/psu connected to the motherboard. Pc boot, goes to "Windows installation language selection" and I can't go on because peripherals have no power/light.
 
I removed everything out of the case, booted and now it won't allow me to use either my ssd or new hdd because:
"Windows cannot be installed on this disk. The selected disk has an MBR partition table. On EFI systems, Windows can only be installed to GPT disks".
 
StoremedByPizza said:
I tried booting with gpu/cpu/psu connected to the motherboard. Pc boot, goes to "Windows installation language selection" and I can't go on because peripherals have no power/light.
Click to expand...
That should be very difficult to do since no boot device (hence no Windows) should be connected.

Did you get beeps due to lack of RAM?

StoremedByPizza said:
I removed everything out of the case, booted and now it won't allow me to use either my ssd or new hdd because:
"Windows cannot be installed on this disk. The selected disk has an MBR partition table. On EFI systems, Windows can only be installed to GPT disks".
Click to expand...

Did you get POST before connecting storage/boot device?

Things just seem very out of order.. do watch the first video again. There is a purpose for the slow progression.

Read https://www.howtogeek.com/193669/whats-the-difference-between-gpt-and-mbr-when-partitioning-a-drive/
 
I skipped that process because my PC does boot, unlike the video. I also wanted to see if there was a difference with it being outside the case. I've deleted the partition and I'm doing a clean installation on the formatted ssd via a windows bootable drive, the mbr-gpt problem is no longer. If the installation fails I will try with the HDD instead of SSD. If that fails I will remove the components and try for the beep errors code.
 
I apologise for having skipped the beeping part. However I am happy to announce that I was able to install Windows, create user and pass, and am now staring at a desktop page of Win10. Can't believe it <.<

I am now afraid to place my components back in the case mainly because that might have been the issue?

The motherboard screw holes in my case are divided amongst half being pre elevated and the other half not. When I first installed the motherboard I had used the tiny PC paper washers, as well as the "raised" bolts often used to lift your MB from touching the case. Could those bolts be the cause? Or was it the simple fact that I removed both Ram memories and replugged them in. I'm confused.

Should I not use washers? Is the motherboard okay if it sits on the pre-elevated case holes (the case is painted, not sure if that aids conductivity or not)? Or should I connect the MB screws only in the NON elevated holes and use lifted screws ( gold screws)?


Once again ty
 
Motherboard installation may vary which is why you must refer to the manual. I haven't used washers in 20 years. Manual should identify proper location for case connections. Case connections should all be the same height. Motherboard should fit easily with no force and except for these connections and the backplate fingers it should not touch the case.

I install RAM and CPU/Heatsink before putting motherboard in case. Use a magnetized screwdriver. Be sure you can account for each screw (no 'spares' floating around in the case)

Follow instructions in your manual, including where connections to case should be..There should be a diagram. If you are unsure, read the manual again.
 
The manual shows a very rudimental diagram in which it shows to put in four bolts on the mb, one per corner.
The motherboard itself has 6 holes. All 6 match the case holes. However 3 of those holes (3/4 that match the diagram) are pre lifted from the case itself. The 4th is slightly raised.

The last two bottom holes are flat and require gold screws.
 
The 4th is slightly raised. - there may have been a short 'stand-off' (possibly plastic) especially for that - do not attach, leave empty if is not of the same height.

Use regular sized stand-offs on the last two bottom holes.

Check clearances and smooth fit - force nothing - modest torque (just firm enough to hold). If you want to insert things on motherboard after installing in case, do consider backing the motherboard with something if you need to use any kind of force (motherboards can crack).
 
Although I did half a shorter stand off screw for the shorter stand off from the case, I did not use it. Instead I used the remaining 5 bolt holes (2 golden 3 pre lifted domes from case). All went in smoothly, the GPU and SSD (both present during the urine attack) seem to be working without a sweat, ssd boot up time is about 6-8 seconds so I'm incredibly happy about that.

Windows booted on it's own, I can login without any issues. I can restart without any issues. I just need to purchase an Ethernet and go online.

I would like to download a software or visit a website where I can "benchmark/stress test" my hardware. Any recommendations?

Once again I thank you very much for helping me brainstorm and pull through this, I very much appreciated your help!

:)
 
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