Computer freezes on windows loading screen? HELP!

[Bradley]

Hey, So I was playing Counter Strike when my PC started to lag hard and everything was crashing. So I restarted my PC and it took longer to boot and it was on the windows screen for  minutes when I realised that it had froze. I tried several restarts and it kept freezing. I tried windows startup repair. I tried system restore but It said I did not have any restore point even though I made on the other week. The only thing I did not try was CHKDSK because that takes ages and I wanted to see what you guys things first. I am good with PCs and I think this may be a windows or Hard drive issue. I did just get a new GPU but that had been working fine with no problems for 1 week now. This happened a week ago but instead of freezing my PC blue screened on boot. That was because I OC'd my CPU to much. Resetting the CMOS fixed that. Anyway  help guys. My PC was fine before this.

[Benjio]

Is your CPU still overclocked? Will your computer start in safe mode?

[Bradley]

Is your CPU still overclocked? Will your computer start in safe mode?

No it is not. And let me check.

[Bradley]

Is your CPU still overclocked? Will your computer start in safe mode?

I cannot get on the boot menu. When I press F12 it just has that flashing line in the top left.

[Benjio]

I cannot get on the boot menu. When I press F12 it just has that flashing line in the top left.

F8 is the key you should be tapping to get into the safe mode menu.

[Bradley]

F8 is the key you should be tapping to get into the safe mode menu.

On my mobo its F12

[Benjio]

On my mobo its F12

I'm pretty sure it's a Windows function, not a BIOS one like boot menu or setup.

[Bradley]

F8 is the key you should be tapping to get into the safe mode menu.

Ok I managed to find the option and yes it boots in safe mode. Now what?

[Benjio]

Ok I managed to find the option and yes it boots in safe mode. Now what?

There are quite a few different options to try. If I were you I would first try deleting (or renaming, to be safe) the FNTCACHE.DAT file in c:\windows\system32. There were some Windows updates recently that have been causing a lot of problems with Windows 7 computers. If it still doesn't boot you could try doing a clean boot, http://support.microsoft.com/kb/929135 and seeing if it will start normally then.

[Bradley]

There are quite a few different options to try. If I were you I would first try deleting (or renaming, to be safe) the FNTCACHE.DAT file in c:\windows\system32. There were some Windows updates recently that have been causing a lot of problems with Windows 7 computers. If it still doesn't boot you could try doing a clean boot, http://support.microsoft.com/kb/929135 and seeing if it will start normally then.

Will deleting that mess anything up?

[Benjio]

Will deleting that mess anything up?

It shouldn't, I believe it will be re-created the next time you start up your computer. That is why I mentioned just renaming it instead, so that Windows won't try to use the file, but you can change the name back to normal if you want to restore it.

[Bradley]

It shouldn't, I believe it will be re-created the next time you start up your computer. That is why I mentioned just renaming it instead, so that Windows won't try to use the file, but you can change the name back to normal if you want to res

It did not work Any other ideas? 

[Bradley]

It shouldn't, I believe it will be re-created the next time you start up your computer. That is why I mentioned just renaming it instead, so that Windows won't try to use the file, but you can change the name back to normal if you want to restore it.

I deleted it and it recreated it, I also renamed it and it made a new one anyway.

[Benjio]

It did not work Any other ideas? 

Like I said earlier, you could try the clean-boot option to see if it's a service or startup item that is causing Windows not to start. Here's the link again for instructions: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/929135

[Bradley]

Like I said earlier, you could try the clean-boot option to see if it's a service or startup item that is causing Windows not to start. Here's the link again for instructions: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/929135

Tried that and still nothing...

[Benjio]

Tried that and still nothing...

It's hard to say what it could be, especially without even a bluescreen error or anything like that. Your best option may be to just re-install Windows, it could end up taking much more time trying to diagnose this than it would to just re-install.

[Bradley]

It's hard to say what it could be, especially without even a bluescreen error or anything like that. Your best option may be to just re-install Windows, it could end up taking much more time trying to diagnose this than it would to just re-install.

My copy is OEM so I will have to buy a new copy.

[Benjio]

My copy is OEM so I will have to buy a new copy.

You shouldn't have to. Does your computer have a recovery partition or did it come with recovery discs when you bought it? That would be the easiest way to re-install and make sure the key works.

[Bradley]

You shouldn't have to. Does your computer have a recovery partition or did it come with recovery discs when you bought it? That would be the easiest way to re-install and make sure the key works.

It did but they are long gone.

[Bradley]

Bluescreen at startup? check your RAM sticks

no bluescreen

[Benjio]

It did but they are long gone.

Does it have a recovery partition do you know?

[Bradley]

UPDATE: I fixed the issue. I tried my old GPU and that worked so turns out it was my new GPU. I have ordered a replacement and my old one is being picked up to so its all good! Thanks for the supports.