I'm working on fixing a really old computer, but something is stopping me from turning it on right now.
I'm working on fixing a really old computer, but something is stopping me from turning it on right now.
I recently tried to fix an old computer I bought back when it ran Windows 10. It worked great for weeks, so I put it away. Today I tried again and it started working, but when I hit restart it got stuck in repair mode. That happened a few times with no other problems. The first time the PC started perfectly, I even played games for two hours without any issues. But starting the "restart" button caused the repair loop to start. After trying a full reinstall of Windows 10, the same thing still happened: it booted fine initially but then failed when restarting again.
I used my Ryzen 5-3600 CPU, an NVIDIA GTX 1070 Ti GPU, and two sticks of 8GB RAM to test this out. I found that the problem was strange because my graphics card had multiple video ports: one HDMI, three Display Ports, and one DVI. When I unplugged the DVI cable, the PC started normally. I even tested the same screen with a different port (Display Port) but it still worked well. To be absolutely sure, I tried all three screens with every connection type (DVI, HDMI, and Display Port), and the result was always the same: everything works fine until you try to restart from Windows.
The only thing I know is that my GPU connector for the DVI looks like a weird bad part. I had some people worry about restarting computers, but they never mentioned a bad graphics card connection as the cause. So what could cause this where a fresh install starts working on first boot but fails later when using restart? EDIT: It seems I finally figured it out! The GPU has one HDMI port, three Display ports, and one DVI connector. When I unplugged the DVI cable, everything started normally. I even plugged in the Display Port to test the screen again and the PC still worked perfectly. Just to be sure, I tested with a third monitor using the DVI first, then the Display Port, and the result was always the same: everything works fine until you try to restart from Windows. The only thing I know is that my GPU's DVI connector looks like a weird bad part. I had some people worry about restarting computers, but they never mentioned a bad graphics card connection as the cause.
But you need to check your BIOS settings. Make sure that Windows is using your hard drive as the main starting point for booting.
I made a note on the first message I sent. I made a note on the first message I sent. I made a note on the first message I sent.