Your study PC is frozen with a black screen and spinning dots, please seek assistance right away!
Your study PC is frozen with a black screen and spinning dots, please seek assistance right away!
Hey there, I see you're facing a tough situation with your PC. Let's try to break it down. You mentioned that since the 22nd of February, your system has been acting up—blue screens, slow boot times, and no progress. You tried backing up on a portable HDD, but when you attempt to boot from it, you encounter a blue screen with an error code. This is definitely a stressful situation, especially since you're worried about losing important work. You're considering a full reinstall as a last resort, which can be quite disruptive if you haven't backed up everything properly. It sounds like you're really anxious about recovering your data, and I understand how frustrating this must be. If you can share more details about your system specs or what exactly happens when you try to boot, I might be able to offer more targeted advice. You're not alone in this—help is out there, and we'll get through this together.
I doubt you can easily recover from a portable HDD. Your concern seems puzzling because you mention regular backups and the ability to access files on a laptop. Still, your fear about data loss persists—what makes your backups feel so unhelpful?
I was anxious about my recent backup, thinking it might be lost after 36 hours. Even though nothing changed, I’m worried about reinstalling everything and losing track of files. This anxiety is making my mind feel tense, which is why I kept backups originally. I tried Macrium Reflect to clone the HDD, but it didn’t work well, so I’m now unsure what to do. I’m concerned the portable HDD might not be suitable for bootable backups, and most of my data is safe—about 99%. My PC isn’t working properly either; the login screen doesn’t appear. If you could help, it would be great.
It seems you've already secured all your information as of 36 hours ago with a complete backup. I recommend restarting Windows to restore everything. Be cautious about your hard drive's condition, especially if it's older—modern systems often prefer solid-state drives for performance. Green HDDs are typically reserved for backup purposes rather than primary storage. Did WD discontinue their Green HDDs a few years ago? It's probably time to upgrade your storage.
I can't directly access the BIOS. The spinning dots you mentioned are likely the system attempting to boot into Windows. Spamming the Delete key or F2 before it loads could prevent the boot process. Also, changing SATA ports on the motherboard may affect connectivity and performance.
I can open the BIOS without any issues, it's really frustrating to see those dots repeatedly without any advancement! I changed the SATA ports and also made some updates to the original post if you need more details. Check out the video below showing the black screen (you can see the cursor): fack.mp4
The spinning black dots video doesn’t add new information. Is the drive listed in the BIOS boot priority? It’s mostly just a fun distraction. Regardless, since your data remains secure, consider upgrading Windows by reinstalling it. Even if everything looks normal now, continue regular full backups of important files—both on portable storage and cloud services like Google Drive or Dropbox. Also, explore options for a new SSD to replace the old WD Green drive. Even if you must keep some files online or on a smaller SSD, it would improve performance and prevent the slowdown and possible failure of the outdated drive.
I noticed it in the BIOS and I've turned off all other settings to concentrate on the hard drive. My main concern is that the reinstall might fail, and the old Seagate drive produced the exact same error, which is really alarming for me! Additionally, it seems SAFE MODE isn't functioning properly despite being required to work at least minimally. Also, I attempted repeatedly pressing the Windows + P key, but I still can't proceed or log in.
If the Windows setup is damaged because the disk isn't working, safe mode isn't a fix—it's a minimal environment to check issues linked to a particular program or part.