Need troubleshooting help please!

[JimboAK]

Hey I'm new here, I hope I'm posting this in the right place!

 

Anyway I'm having an issue with my gaming PC, that a friend helped me build over Skype a few years ago. I feel from that and over the years I have been on PC I have the understanding to be able to build another one on my own however when it comes to troubleshooting an issue especially software related, it can sometimes be over my head no matter how much research on the fix I do. Which is why my PC has not been working for months now. 

 

I will give as much info as possible. Let me know if i need to provide more.

 

windows 10

i7 4790k (never overclocked)

stock cpu cooler/paste

EVGA gtx 1070

ASUS Z97-A 

16 gb G.SKILL TridentX series 

AMD Radeon 240g ssd 

WD Blue 1tb HDD

650w psu

 

I have used my PC to game/live stream with for a few years. Most of the time encoding my live stream through my graphics card not my cpu. I have never overclocked my cpu and I always had the stock cpu fan/cooler and paste since the beginning. I know thats not the smartest but always figured it was ok since i wasnt overclocking. And my cpu temps always seemed normal at load when I would check, around 70c. I got a cooler master hyper 212 evo cooler a year or so after I built the pc but never got around to installing it. 

 

Fast forward to a few months ago. I was on my pc with one browser page open watching one live stream, with nothing else running. I had just received a new ssd that day in the mail and went to do a normal power down of my PC so that I could install the new ssd. I clicked on shut down like normal and left the room. about 15 sec later I heard my PC make 3 beeps ive never heard before and when i came back in the room I saw the "American Megatrends" screen just like this however this is NOT MY exact error screen just someone else's with the same "CPU over temperature error" message at the bottom. https://linustechtips.com/main/uploads/monthly_2016_03/20160307_221047.jpg.590545beb84ba419ac36137e4f2bad04.jpg

 

I pressed F1 to run SETUP like it says however from there I just got a blue screen when windows tried to restart. It then tries to do the automatic repair which then fails and blue screens again and then leaves me with a list of advanced options from there. I have tried the "startup repair option" however that also fails. My biggest concern and issue is losing the files i have on my ssd and HDD so I havent tried any other options or anything as I am afraid of losing data. I know there is an option to reset my pc but keep my files however I am still worried of losing anything trying that. I also am worried to try the "revert back to older verison" of windows option again worried of losing anything. I also have not tried doing anything with the "command prompt" option but I have seen the walk through for it to fix bsod but just not sure if its what I need to do or should even try.

 

At this point from what Ive been told already I think somehow my windows got corrupted and not that I fried my CPU as the scenario ive explained I dont think points to it being that. I also am able to go into the BIOS on startup before the blue screen. My cpu temp was around 60c in bios which I know is to high. about a week ago I finally installed the hyper 212 evo cooler, cleaned old paste and put new thermal paste on my cpu hoping that would fix my problem. After the installation bios shows cpu temp at 30c so thats good however it still blue screens after leaving the bios. My bios is also recognizing all my ssd and hdd's including the new one I installed months ago after the original shut down error i explained in the beginning. Ive tried to boot from both my original ssd and hdd even though windows was installed on my ssd originally but again just blue screen every time. 

 

So ultimately my ideal scenario would be that theres one of the options or something I havent tried yet that will just get me back to my desktop with all my files, apps, settings, and everything all the same they were before the issue I had. Im aware that may not be possible but I know if it is possible there has to be someone here that knows exactly the issue im having and how to fix it. The other option that Ive been told by a couple of my pc friends is I can try and fresh install windows on the brand new/empty ssd I installed after my original issue, and then from there go in and pull off the files and things i want from my original ssd and hdd. However im still worried i might mess something up with my files/data on original storage by trying this. And also that it could be a ton of work going back and getting the data/files off that storage. However it seems this may be the easiest option atm to at least get back on my pc even if its not my old desktop etc. 

 

So pretty much Im here to ask the help or advice of anyone willing/knowledgable to do so before I take my next step. Really appreciate anyone taking the time to read my post

[Radium_Angel]

13 minutes ago, JimboAK said:

time to read my post

What message is on the BSoD?

 

If you have another computer to work with, this will make troubleshooting much easier...

[AntiTrust]

weird issue that your having, I was going to recommend what your friend said. To reinstall windows on another/new drive and pull files off, because thats what I would do. Its a lot of work but at least your computer will work again. 

 

You could try cloning the drive?  but its probably not going to work. 

[JimboAK]

33 minutes ago, Radium_Angel said:

What message is on the BSoD?

 

If you have another computer to work with, this will make troubleshooting much easier...

I never realized there was a message or anything when it first blue screens because it goes away so fast to try to auto repair. 

 

I just turned my pc on to check and the only thing it says is..

 

"Stop code: 0xc000021a"

 

Not sure if thats the message youre looking for?

 

The only other windows pc i have is an old laptop. I assume that would work? im pretty sure it does not have win 10 on it though if that matters.

[JimboAK]

24 minutes ago, AntiTrust said:

weird issue that your having, I was going to recommend what your friend said. To reinstall windows on another/new drive and pull files off, because thats what I would do. Its a lot of work but at least your computer will work again. 

 

You could try cloning the drive?  but its probably not going to work. 

Yeah I know it is weird. It really just doesnt make sense that after never having any signs of cpu problems after building it and no real signs of problems with my pc at all, I suddenly get this weird cpu over temperature error screen and my pc is broke, all from simply trying to power off my pc as normal. 

 

Yeah the idea of having to later recover all my files from my drives seems terrible but yeah your right my pc will at least work. Thats why atm its probably the best option. Im just hoping theres gotta be another answer/option too. 

 

Hmm i have never cloned a drive before but I assume its basically what it sounds like? And i also assume it would have to be done on a working pc?

[Radium_Angel]

1 hour ago, JimboAK said:

Yeah I know it is weird.

Ok, here's what you do:

 

If files/data is important, pull the drives with said files/data on them, set them aside, do not use them.

Slap a fresh/known good used drive into system, try to re-install Windows and see what's what.

The stop code you posted (thank you for that) is Windows basically saying you installed a bad driver.

 

 

[JimboAK]

17 hours ago, Radium_Angel said:

Ok, here's what you do:

 

If files/data is important, pull the drives with said files/data on them, set them aside, do not use them.

Slap a fresh/known good used drive into system, try to re-install Windows and see what's what.

The stop code you posted (thank you for that) is Windows basically saying you installed a bad driver.

 

 

Ok so I assume just unplugging my original drives wont harm them or the data correct? 

 

Thats really strange that the stop code is related to a bad driver. I wonder how that can happen.  And i guess theres no simple way of reverting that driver or installing new one with my pc in its current state right?

 

Thanks so much for your help so far

[Radium_Angel]

2 hours ago, JimboAK said:

Ok so I assume just unplugging my original drives wont harm them or the data correct? 

 

Thats really strange that the stop code is related to a bad driver. I wonder how that can happen.  And i guess theres no simple way of reverting that driver or installing new one with my pc in its current state right?

 

Thanks so much for your help so far

As long as the system is not powered up, you can pull the drives no sweat.

As far as repairing the existing installation, I assume you've tried using your original boot device (dvd/usb) with the Windows install media in it, and using that to restore or reset your device?

It won't hurt the system (one of the few things Win10 gets right IMO) and you have nothing to lose by trying that, *after* you've pulled out the data drives.

[JimboAK]

1 hour ago, Radium_Angel said:

As long as the system is not powered up, you can pull the drives no sweat.

As far as repairing the existing installation, I assume you've tried using your original boot device (dvd/usb) with the Windows install media in it, and using that to restore or reset your device?

It won't hurt the system (one of the few things Win10 gets right IMO) and you have nothing to lose by trying that, *after* you've pulled out the data drives.

well I did take my original windows usb stick and went through the option to boot from that in the blue screen advanced options. As thats also what a friend told me to try. However I got as far as seeing the "install" button but never clicked it out of fear it was going to erase data on my original drives. And also wasnt sure if I was doing it right to begin with. 

 

So are you saying then to unplug my 2 original drives. Then power up my pc and go to the boot from usb in the blue screen options and try to install or repair it this time but on my brand new empty ssd correct?

[Radium_Angel]

24 minutes ago, JimboAK said:

well I did take my original windows usb stick and went through the option to boot from that in the blue screen advanced options. As thats also what a friend told me to try. However I got as far as seeing the "install" button but never clicked it out of fear it was going to erase data on my original drives. And also wasnt sure if I was doing it right to begin with. 

 

So are you saying then to unplug my 2 original drives. Then power up my pc and go to the boot from usb in the blue screen options and try to install or repair it this time but on my brand new empty ssd correct?

Well you wish to repair the drive with the Windows installed. If that's a data drive as well, then you dont want to do that, you'll just go for a fresh install.

But by all means, unplug your data drives first. You dont want anything happening to them.