PC crashes, CMOS reset, boot failure, what's the issue?
PC crashes, CMOS reset, boot failure, what's the issue?
Hello, I need some assistance with... a few concerns... I'm dealing with a few PC issues, not just one. I'll focus on the computer-related problems.
Now I own a PC that supports three functions: entering BIOS, booting into Windows 10 and then experiencing a crash before logging in, or accessing the Windows Recovery Options. I haven't explored these features deeply yet, as they could be helpful.
Here are my details:
- Intel Core i7-9700k
- GIGABYTE Z390 Aorus Pro WiFi
- WD Black SN750 NVMe M.2 SSD
- WD Black 2TB HDD
- MSI Radeon RX Vega 56 Air Boost 8G
- 2× HyperX Predator 8GB (one set of two modules)
- SeaSonic FOCUS Plus 850 Gold
- BIOS ID: 8A1FAG0W
- BIOS version: F12
- BIOS date: 11/05/2021
What happened:
1. This month my PC frequently crashed (around 10 to 12 times) during gaming, so I ordered a new GPU (expected next week) and limited myself from playing demanding games.
2. Yesterday I mainly used the PC for browsing the web and taking notes, played some music, but around 19:00 I started a game that seemed less intense... the PC crashed.
3. Normally, when my PC would crash, it would simply restart. This time it didn't. I manually powered it on and the BIOS displayed a "CMOS reset" warning... I was confused.
4. Then I checked the video output, boot sequence, save options, and exit. The BIOS reappeared.
5. I repeated this process without success.
6. I manually turned off the PC.
7. The BIOS didn't appear, but the GPU failed just after seeing the AORUS logo.
8. I tried again. The GPU stopped working once more.
9. This GPU had already caused me confusion before. My usual fix was changing the CMOS battery. This worked three times this year. Now it doesn't.
10. I powered off the PC and PSU, removed the GPU from the motherboard to use the CPU's integrated graphics.
11. I turned the PC back on; I saw the Windows 10 login screen, entered the password, but then the PC crashed again.
12. I got back into BIOS without pressing any key, and noticed the boot order had changed...
13. After a few more tries, the BIOS no longer recognized the SSD where I installed Windows.
14. There was an option to load BIOS profiles, so I selected the "last known good" one.
15. After that, the PC reached the login screen but crashed once more before I could type anything.
16. I don't recall the exact steps, but I saw the screen with Windows Recovery Options. The buttons there were "See advanced repair options" and "Restart my PC".
17. I also remember a "boot failure" incident, though the timing wasn't clear.
18. To be honest, I'm not sure what to do. I don't have a backup, but there aren't any extremely important files on the SSD.
Sorry for the long explanation, and thank you for your help.
power supply model and age, motherboard BIOS version, and whether RAM comes as a 2x module kit or two separate 8GB kits.
This is one option. However, updating BIOS isn't something you can do on a whim. BIOS update, as such, is only viable when you know for a fact that newer BIOS fixes the specific issue you have with your PC. (E.g if i want to use Kaby Lake CPU with my Z170 chipset MoBo, i need to update my MoBo BIOS.) If there are no issues, there is no reason, what-so-ever, to update BIOS. Just because you "can" update BIOS doesn't mean that you "have to". Or in other words: "If it ain't broke - don't fix it." Most MoBos never get their BIOS updated and work fine until they are obsolete. Also, do note that when BIOS update would be interrupted for whatever reason (e.g power loss), your MoBo will be bricked since PC won't run when MoBo has corrupt BIOS. And only fix is MoBo replacement. If lucky, you can roll back the BIOS update, if your MoBo has that feature. While the SSD may be sound hardware wise, this doesn't mean that the software on it (OS namely) isn't corrupted. What you described, sounds like OS corruption. It may not be caused by SSD failure, but due to other reasons, namely; Since you can boot to BIOS and half-way to OS, CPU, MoBo, RAM, GPU and PSU, for the most part, are fine. What i'd suggest would be formatting OS drive and making new, clean Win installation. Win 10 install guide: https://forums. Win 11 install guide: https://forums. Once you've made a clean Win install, look if things improve. A good quality PSU. Also, not that old either, since it has 10 years of warranty. So, it would be unlikely that the issue would be PSU. Games crashing (without PC itself rebooting) are either due to OS/software corruption or malware. When you'd see BSoD after a crash, it could point towards CPU or RAM issue. If PC would reboot or shut down as well, then it would be hardware; either way too high CPU/GPU temps or PSU issue. But 1st things 1st, make a clean Win install and go from there. Once you can boot back to OS without issues, then you can bench your build to see if hardware also works as it is supposed to or not.
I believe I resolved the issue... unintentionally.
Last week, a technician inspected my SSD and confirmed everything was fine.
Today I reinstalled it into my PC and it operates properly...
However, I briefly used it for a short time since I need to leave soon.
I remain somewhat uneasy. What should I verify next?
if you have actually determined that this disk was the cause of any issue;
run chkdsk and other routines to check disk health.
it's also always possible there was just a loose connection that reinstalling may have corrected.