New Windows 10 setup is frozen on the Gigabyte logo display?
New Windows 10 setup is frozen on the Gigabyte logo display?
Hi,
I recently assembled a new PC with the latest CPU, motherboard, and memory as listed below.
GIGABYTE B760 DS3H AC DDR4 (new)
Intel Core i5-12400 (new)
TEAMGROUP T-Force Vulcan Z DDR4 32GB Kit (2x16GB) 3200MHz (PC4-25600) CL16 Desktop Memory Module Ram (Gray) - TLZGD432G3200HC16FDC01 (new)
Wester digital hard drive 1TB, SATA (moved from my previous PC)
I installed Windows 10 from a USB flash drive. It worked without issues, so I turned off the system and removed the USB drive. After rebooting, it kept displaying the Gigabyte logo screen and couldn’t boot into Windows. I searched online for possible solutions.
1. Enabled CSM, set to UEFI then legacy – both attempts failed to boot.
2. Tried converting the hard drive to MBR during installation – still no success.
3. Removed the CMOS battery (tried in steps 1 and 2) – boot remained stuck.
4. Believing the problem was the hard drive, I replaced it with a known good Sandisk SSD 500GB. All three attempts ended in failure.
Please note that as long as the USB boot drive stays connected, the system boots into Windows without problems. However, once the USB is removed, Windows no longer starts. I’m not sure what this means.
I don’t have other options right now, so if anyone has any advice, let me know. Thanks for your time.
Are you getting back to the desktop after setting up Windows? Are you just removing the USB after the first restart and assuming it's done? Have you updated your BIOS to the latest version? During installation, I usually have only one drive available, and Windows tends to share space and place files in empty areas if possible. Would it be better to reset the BIOS to default settings instead of using the legacy mode moving forward?
Open BIOS, disable CSM, enable UEFI, ensure no legacy settings.
Power off the PC and disconnect each HDD/SSD except the one you wish to install Windows on.
Restart the installation process again.
During setup, you’ll be instructed to restart the PC; remove the USB drive beforehand.
Setup will finish shortly—your PC might restart several times.
The main reason for issues is that setup saved boot data across multiple drives. Removing the USB changes the drive configuration and boot sequence, preventing the OS from launching.
Please keep only one active drive in your system.
I advise using an affordable Crucial P3 or Teampgroup MP44L 1Tb NVMe. They offer excellent speed. Running the OS on NVMe will significantly improve performance, and even if you add apps or games to the HDD, they can leverage caching or other benefits.
Avoid purchasing low-cost NVMe drives that may fail and lose your data.
Yes, it shows the login screen, and goes into Window's desktop, runs like normal Windows.
I haven't flashed the latest Bios version yet, current version was released Dec 2023.
I have only one drive in there. When I switched to the SSD, the HD was disconnected and removed.
Thanks.
No, don't remove the USB during the first restart... the installer remains active on it at this point, only after a later restart does it use the drive when Windows installation begins. The initial restart just copies files onto the drive; it isn't running off it yet. You still need to create users at that stage, as it uses one that gets deleted once the real ones are set up. That was my assumption. It getting into the desktop once and then failing is unusual.
I found the instructions confusing. The files are moved from the USB installer to the target HDD/SSD drive, and after the first reboot the process resumes there, not from the USB drive. The old CD/DVD installations were identical.
The need to remove the media before the computer restarts comes from the BIOS prioritizing this drive as the boot device. Since it is bootable, it can create a loop where setup restarts repeatedly, rather than progressing smoothly after the initial copy.
If the BIOS chooses the target drive for booting, the setup should continue normally. This inconsistency can cause confusion.
For clarity, it’s best to delete the installation media once the target drive is formatted and all setup files are copied there.
Setup often advises removal beforehand, but sometimes it doesn’t.
I'm not a PC expert, but thank you for clarifying. The installation process has been quite challenging. I restarted the computer multiple times today; web browsing worked fine, and the Windows update completed successfully. During one reboot, it froze on the Gigabyte logo screen for 20 seconds before showing the login screen, which is more than expected. Could this indicate ongoing hardware issues?
the drive isn't configured to boot yet, the first restart could launch windows but it's still operating via the USB. I've experienced this issue before—removing the USB at that stage often causes problems. After accounts are set up, it's safe to detach the USB device. Is the Windows version installed? Did you download all the required drivers from the motherboard website?