Bizarre Windows 11 startup issue that is easily fixed'ish....
Bizarre Windows 11 startup issue that is easily fixed'ish....
So my partner brought his PC because it wasn’t turning on. I replaced the power supply unit and everything worked again. He had both a hard drive and an SSD, but installed Windows on the HDD. I planned to do a clean install on the SSD, but during the installation of Windows 11 I clicked “I don’t have internet,” the screen went blank but didn’t restart, so I pressed the restart button and everything proceeded smoothly—installing drivers, apps, and updating the BIOS without issues.
He mentioned sometimes he would see a blue screen when turning it on, but after pressing enter it would clear immediately. I checked and confirmed it worked instantly.
Since then, I’ve noticed the same pattern: the computer restarts normally after shutdowns, and it works perfectly once started again.
Here’s the current setup:
- i5 14400
- MSI B760 Gaming plus Wi-Fi – latest BIOS
- 1060 3GB GPU
- 2 x 16GB Corsair Vengeance 6000MHz DDR5
- Samsung 860 500GB SATA SSD
- WD 1TB HDD
- Corsair RM750e PSU
It behaves exactly the same.
- Removing the HDD and GPU and using onboard graphics
- Using a new SATA cable
- Performing a clean Windows 11 install on an NVMe SSD
I’ve read it could be related to secure boot, so I disabled that, but it still works.
I also tried an i7-12700 CPU, which caused problems earlier during the Windows installation—failed with a black screen and wouldn’t finish. I think this CPU is fine now, though it performed okay in my last use.
I’m wondering if there might be an issue with the motherboard itself?
Any advice would be appreciated.
Thanks.
Curiously, did you recreate the bootable USB installer just to check for any issues? To add, was the HDD taken out of the system, leaving only the 2.5" SSD during OS installation? When you were setting up the operating system, could you confirm if the CMOS was cleared after ensuring the BIOS had been successfully updated? Remember, what BIOS version was running on the motherboard before the update? This is important because BIOS version 7D98vHC1 (beta) included microcode 0x12F to fix problems with 13th and 14th Gen Intel chips. If the BIOS was older than that, it’s possible the processor could have been affected.
Only sata SSD installed during Windows installation
I questioned the 14th generation problems.
Running Cinebench shows benchmarks are slightly low; max voltage reached was 1.2V, which is lower than the 1.3V+ I've observed with defective CPUs.
Current BIOS version is 7D98vHC.
I'm not certain, but I think older BIOS versions were 7D98vH7.
After installing Windows, I applied a firmware update for the Samsung SSD.
I have a new motherboard, so I'll check how it performs.
Functions properly with new motherboards
Reached out to MSI who advised adjusting certain BIOS settings. The blue screen now shows up only during the first boot after connecting the power cable. Once the power is off, it works fine.
The motherboard also randomly altered half of the language in the BIOS, causing unusual behavior. I’m considering a replacement since it’s still covered under warranty.