Windows is all kinds of f*cked up; unable to load now

[katjaneway]

Okay this is going to be a long post...

System:

i3 8350K (overclocked to 4.2ghz)

Gigabyte z370 gaming 5 motherboard

16x2 Trident Z 3200mhz RAM (XMP enabled)

Sapphire Nitro+ 580 video card

Cooler Master single rad AIO

1x Samsung NVME m.2 250gb (with OS)

1x Samsung SSD 500gb

2x HDD

1x DVD ROM

 

It started shortly after installing my Cooler Master AIO a couple weeks ago (and possibly after a minor Windows update), I got a couple of BSOD's that I am unsure of the exact error but i think one was a nls.sys or something - both errors were of sys files. I kind of ignored them until I got a kernel error BSOD. I managed to get back into Windows to back up some files and decided to wipe the drive and reinstall windows. I used an ISO disc to format the nvme and after the initial install the system reboots - and I got a black DOS screen of Boot errors. (sorry I don't have pictures of these) the gist is that I was unable to load windows off of a fresh install. I tried again with the same result. So, I went back into CMD and tried my hand at some DOS script, I had to use DISKPART to even assign a letter to the drive as it had somehow disappeared and was unable to cd to it in CMD. After that, I used the /fixboot options (I'm no expert in any of this, I'm just guessing at this point) and it says that it worked, so I tried to install windows again. It still didn't work (same error) So, I resigned myself to buying another nvme because maybe the boot sectors got corrupted somehow (it is only a year old but I suppose it can happen). After getting another Samsung nvme m.2, after the reboot, I was able to set everything up and get into Windows.

Kind of. This is where it gets weird (as if it isn't already).

There was no icons on the right side of the bar besides the time and date. No volume, no internet, nothing. I had no recycle bin on my desktop. I tried to open settings and it wouldn't let me. I decided to reboot, and that was the last time I was able to get into Windows (I did get into Safemode once, but I wasn't sure how to proceed as I have no idea what the problem is). Every time I try to get into windows it either gives me a blue screen of Recovery options or just a black screen of nothing at all. My hardware seems none the wiser - my mobo is giving me an A0 (IDE initialization is started), and everything seems fine - all cables are connected. I could sit there and let my PC hum with nothing on my screen all day. (FYI: I have tested the temps with the AIO and run stress tests on the CPU and everything is stable there. They never get higher than 65c under full load). I also tried putting the nvme in a different m.2 slot with no success.

I have tried to use a Recovery USB, and it cycles the options (asks me what media I want to use. I say USB, it reboots, asks me what media I want to use etc), and I said F it and tried my ISO disc, and suddenly my mobo is not even recognizing that I have a DVD ROM in my boot up options anymore. I did try resetting the cmos by removing the battery for 5 minutes. It showed that my BIOS is reset but that didn't help; my overclocks had been stable for a while anyway. There were a couple of instances - one after the m.2 switch and one after the cmos reset, where my PC booted for like 5 seconds, shut off, and booted again. Unsure if this is a normal thing after changing stuff around like that or not.

I'm not even sure where to go from here. This has gone beyond my ability to self diagnose at this point. It's so confounding. Any help would be appreciated!! Thank you so much