Hardware damage after Windows update?

[Signor65]

So I have an incredibly strange issue with my machine at the moment, if anyone has any thoughts or pointers it would be greatly appreciated!

TL,DR: WIndows Update failed installation, now I can't stay in Windows for more than a few minutes even after a fresh OS install - it just locks up.

Specs:

MOBO: ASUS P8Z77-M
CPU: i5 3570k with Phanteks PH-TC12DX cooler
RAM: 8GB random el-cheapo RAM
GPU: AMD R9 290
Storage: Samsung 850 Evo 250GB + 1TB HDD + 2TB HDD
OS: Windows 10 Pro build 1607

Sorry for the essay, thought I'd be thorough.

Over the weekend I decided to run some long overdue Windows updates - I've had updates disabled on the service level for over a year so as to not eat into my limited data cap. I was running an ancient Windows 10 build, 1607 - not sure if that's relevant but I thought I'd throw it out there.

Updates downloaded fine, it then moved on to the next phase of "preparing to install updates". It got to 30% and became totally unresponsive - CTRL-ALT-DEL got no response, but I could still move the mouse around the screen - although it as incredibly laggy doing so. I left it for about an hour, came back and it was in the exact same state, so I rebooted and hoped for the best.

My machine would successfully POST, but as soon as the login/password entry screen was supposed to appear, I would just get a black screen instead, and the lights on my keyboard and mouse would turn off.

I tried to roll back to an older system restore point, but this was unsuccessful. Eventually I settled for a full format of the SSD, but wanted to at least back up some docs on my desktop. Via the command prompt on the windows install flashdrive I have, I tried to xcopy the users folder on my SSD to one of my harddrives, but, using the dir command,the entire SSD showed up as blank - no dirs, no files

Could this have been because the partitions on the SSD were set up as MBR, whereas I was attempting to use a Windows Installer set up for GPT? Either way, I kissed the docs goodbye and deleted my partitions and set them up for GPT so that Windows could install. The build I ended up installing is 1909.

In the process of finalizing the setup process - specifying the password for my new Windows install - it froze again! I could still move the mouse cursor around but everything else locked up. After a few minutes, the UI disappeared and I was left with a mouse cursor on a black screen. After forcing a reboot, it would lock up as it was loading Windows - totally freeze, the keyboard and mouse lights both would turn off.

So I started over again, deleted partitions, created new ones, and installed Windows a second time. This time setup completed and I could get into Windows. However, after about a few minutes of doing the basic first-time WIndows things (getting chipset drivers, chrome, .net framework etc) the system froze AGAIN with the exact same symptoms - all windows lock up, yet I can still move the mouse cursor around. Eventually everything on screen except the mouse cursor would disappear. Upon reboot, the system would freeze while loading Windows.

If I do a system restore, or use the Windows Startup repair process, then I can boot into Windows no problem - but only for a few minutes, at some point it will always lock up and die on me - and I will always have to use a restore point/startup repair in order to get into Windows.

So what should I do here? Everything was perfect up until I decided to update Windows... and how could an update cause issues like this, anyway?

I perfomed a chkdsk on my SSD, everything comes back perfect. Perhaps something with the RAM? Maybe an ancient curse? Help!

 

[Nemo415]

Remove your wireless card or any pci peripherals.

Use an Ethernet cable.

Install build 1909

 

[Signor65]

Remove your wireless card or any pci peripherals.

Use an Ethernet cable.

Install build 1909

Does that include removing the GPU? 1909 is the one I'm trying to install.

 

[iamgigglz]

Disconnect the other hard drives - if there's any kind of corruption there it could be locking up Windows when it tries to index the contents.

 

[Signor65]

You guys are quick! I'll give it a shot when I get home from work.

 

[iamgigglz]

Does that include removing the GPU? 1909 is the one I'm trying to install.

Not a bad idea - Nemo and I are on the same track. By stripping the PC down to the bare minimum you're removing possible suspects.
If your PC works with everything removed you can start putting components back one at a time.

 

[Nemo415]

Not a bad idea - Nemo and I are on the same track. By stripping the PC down to the bare minimum you're removing possible suspects.
If your PC works with everything removed you can start putting components back one at a time.

Yebo

@Signor65 See this thread.. Who's got some balls for this one? Old school LGA 1366 issues - help? | Smack talk

Removing the GPU is not a bad idea.

check your bios. If you are using some GPU acceleration settings, disable them for now,

 

[Signor65]

So I've done some googling, and apparently the latest batch of Windows updates have caused issues for a lot of people - all the way from programs not working, to random BSODs, to the PC not even being able to go to the bios. I'm still going to try with a barebones setup, but if that is the issue, what am I supposed to do? Sounds like there might have been a CPU microcode update or something of the sorts that went haywire.

 

[Nemo415]

CPU microcode update

BIOS update should resolve this.

in my 3 cases where the wifi card was giving issues, i just got a cheap +- 120 TP link nano adapter from takealot.

 

[Signor65]

BIOS update should resolve this.

in my 3 cases where the wifi card was giving issues, i just got a cheap +- 120 TP link nano adapter from takealot.

Yikes, I was hoping I could stay away from messing with BIOS updates, but I guess it's inevitable.

 

[iamgigglz]

So I've done some googling, and apparently the latest batch of Windows updates have caused issues for a lot of people - all the way from programs not working, to random BSODs, to the PC not even being able to go to the bios. I'm still going to try with a barebones setup, but if that is the issue, what am I supposed to do? Sounds like there might have been a CPU microcode update or something of the sorts that went haywire.

With something like half a billion Windows 10 installations out there you'll find seemingly big numbers on anything you google. Windows updates are generally rock solid if you leave them alone and stay off the "Insider" rings.
Limited bandwidth is a thing though.

 

[Nikrogrit]

I had a similar issue a while back, and it turned out to be a failing hard drive. If you have a spare drive around, you could try swapping that in. Install the OS, and see if its still freezes.

 

[Juggy]

With something like half a billion Windows 10 installations out there you'll find seemingly big numbers on anything you google. Windows updates are generally rock solid if you leave them alone and stay off the "Insider" rings.
Limited bandwidth is a thing though.

I believe they hit a billion the other day

Windows 10 now on over a billion active devices

It took Microsoft twice as long as it originally estimated to reach this milestone.

hexus.net

 

[Signor65]

So I've got something good going, had Windows running stable for about 10 minutes so far, will see how it goes.

Even with nothing but my ssd, cpu and ram plugged in and I was still getting constant crashes. As a last ditch effort I ended up plugging the ssd into a different sata port on the motherboard... And it just started working. Got all the drives and gpu back in, so far so good! Now for the dreaded Windows updates that started this mess

 

[Signor65]

So, uh, nevermind. Still borked, crashed again and now I can't get in at all. I reseated the cmos battery to reset the bios, and now if I try boot up, my MemOK light stays lit on the motherboard. No matter what configuration of ram sticks I have set up, MemOK is not happy.

Any thoughts? Dying mobo maybe?

 

[Juggy]

So, uh, nevermind. Still borked, crashed again and now I can't get in at all. I reseated the cmos battery to reset the bios, and now if I try boot up, my MemOK light stays lit on the motherboard. No matter what configuration of ram sticks I have set up, MemOK is not happy.

Any thoughts? Dying mobo maybe?

Yeah, I would go with dying motherboard. The board is roughly 8 years old. Electronics are perishable over time.

 

[Signor65]

And now it has decided to work again. Fiddling with the RAM got it back to life, but it looks as though one of the sticks is dead for good. Good thing DDR3 isn't too hard to come by on Carbonite!

 

[Signor65]

Was getting a BAD_SYSTEM_CONFIG_INFO on restarts, so I updated the bios to the latest, formatted again with a fresh Windows, and this time it looks properly sorted - even my "dead" stick of RAM was resurrected