Desktop appears completely inoperable without clear explanation IMMEDIATELY
Desktop appears completely inoperable without clear explanation IMMEDIATELY
My hardware setup (gaming rig): Processor: Ryzen 5 1600, Graphics: MSI GTX 1660 Super, RAM: RAM 2x8GB, Storage: Two SSDs (one 1TB), one 2TB (Samsung 970 EVO), secondary drive via SATA, Motherboard: ASRock Steel Legend, Operating System: Windows 10 64-bit (unactivated), Power Supply: Corsair 850W. I’ve previously overclocked components and used MSI Afterburner. The recent experience: after cleaning the case and powering it up, everything functioned normally for months. When launching Steam, it would crash immediately, requiring uninstallation. Opera was affected too—both crashed upon startup despite troubleshooting. Shutting down caused delays; booting took longer than usual. After entering my password, the desktop faded to white before a black screen appeared, showing the normal desktop. Any program launched took about five seconds, and interacting with it froze the interface. Clicking X took over ten seconds, even including Task Manager. Accessing the D drive was slow, progressing slowly until 95% and then freezing. Restarting caused a blue screen. I checked for errors with CHKDSK but found nothing. The drive complaints about locking on C were unresolved. In safe mode, the same crashes occurred, plus the boot process was erratic. I have important files and no recent backups. What should I do? I suspect both drives might be failing, RAM appears intact, so testing other components is wise. Reinstalling Windows seems like a last resort unless data transfer is feasible. I need my system up quickly—losing data during a Windows reinstall isn’t ideal. I’m open to trying alternative fixes if possible.
I wasn't aware of that before, do you have a resource or instructions for it?
I noticed that Windows struggles to access SSDs. Running a live Linux setup works smoothly, allowing data to be read properly. After the drive failed, I started a live environment, transferred files, and reinstalled everything.
You can start using the system directly from the USB without installing it, often referred to as a "Live Boot Environment." After launching it, verify the disk manager, confirm the drive is attached, and then navigate through the file explorer just like on a regular Windows machine.
Have you verified the USB functionality across different devices? While you can't perform a live boot of Windows the same way as Linux, Windows live boot keys demand extensive setup.
The USB connects to other devices, but setting up Windows 10 becomes stuck at "making sure you're ready to install." When you boot from USB (holding Shift during restart), it freezes on the AsRock logo with spinning dots. I don’t understand why this isn’t working—any suggestions?