Error code BSOD indicates a processor start timeout.
Error code BSOD indicates a processor start timeout.
So for the past few years I been reviving my old build from 2014 to keep it alive as long as possible untill current prices drop. My current specs are listed below. So I've always seemed to have this issue over the years that I never could wrap my head around. Almost every time I take my PC somewhere like a friend's house, moving, ect. I always start it up and have an issue of some sort. Well cut to this week I took my PC to work to test out our new racing simulator. As soon as I got there and fired it up it didn't want to post. I checked all the connections in and out of the PC to make sure nothing came loose during transportation. Tried again and nothing. Kept on resetting and eventually got it to come on. Once it was on everything worked as normal. Used it for the day at work and then packed up at the end of the day to bring it back home. Came home and connected it back to my permanent setup and again had a black screen when powered up. Power cycles the PSU a few times and got it to power up and post. It started loading windows 10 then came BSOD with the message: Processor Start Timeout. Tried every troubleshooting technique in the book besides replacing parts. Could not get it to boot up. Finally I removed all but 1 ram stick and it booted into windows. Turned PC back off and placed all ram sticks back in. Started it up and got into windows like normal. Used my PC for the night and everything worked like it should. Before going to bed I restarted to see if the issue was gone and as soon as windows 10 started loading I got BSOD again with the same message. Tried researching this message but there's not much info on it. Any input is greatly appreciated as I'd like to stretch one more year out of this thing. CPU: I7 4770k RAM: Corsair DDR3 16GB GPU: EVGA GTX 970SC PSU: EVGA Supernova 750 Gold MOBO: MSI Z87-G55
To fix the software problem, start by launching in safe mode (press f8 at boot) or install a new Windows version on another drive or partition. If the issue stems from hardware, it might cause a blue screen during installation. The problem likely relates to the board, CPU, or memory. Extra components could help, but running a memory test is recommended in either case.
I attempted to start in safe mode by pressing F8, but the PC kept looping. Then I removed all my drives and connected an SSD from another Windows 10 PC, which started up correctly. Now I'm reconnecting the drives to check for recovery or repair options. Another update: I used a Windows 10 USB to perform a system restore, but it failed and the PC restarted. It now boots into Windows 10 and is functioning properly so far. I'll monitor how long this continues.
I used my PC briefly before suddenly the screen went dark and no signal appeared. The computer kept running but the monitor was blank. After restarting, I returned to Windows normally. Something strange seems to be happening, and I’m not sure how to fix it without making a full backup.
Today's update: My PC functioned for a few days but suddenly stopped unexpectedly during use, forcing a restart. Now when I power it on, it displays "Recovery - A required device isn't connected or can't be accessed. Error code: 0xc000000f."
maybe delayed, experienced the same problem. unplug all USB devices except the mouse and keyboard. if it functions, restart after plugging in another USB device to identify the culprit. tried safe mode boot loop as well. initially, I couldn't boot the USB stick for repair; the Windows logo restarted infinitely, but no error page showed up again. I rebuilt the whole PC yesterday and it worked. After that, I reconnected everything, played via controller, and tested boot cycles—after disconnecting and restarting, I discovered the issue was just the connected PS4 controller. Removing it resolved the problem completely.