PC randomly locking up

Mobius1X · September 23, 2014

Alright, so my PC is randomly locking up on me. I can not think of anything I was doing at each random lock up that is the same every time. One thing I do notice, is when it does, the LED for my mechanical drive is steady on.

I have a Samsung EVO SSD for my OS and a 1TB WD Blue for my storage. I tried disconnecting my mechanical drive, and booting it up just with the SSD with the OS on it, and during boot I get the whole "please restart and select a boot drive". In my BIOS the SSD IS set to boot from.

When I first got this motherboard, a Gigabyte GA-Z87M-D3H, this happened. Then a week later I noticed a hairline scratch on the motherboard, crossing several solder lanes. I RMAd it, and Gigabyte said they could find nothing wrong, and could not reproduce said problem (freezing randomly). So they sent it back, it worked for a month or two, then it began again.

I'm so lost.

vern021 · September 23, 2014

Try to reinstall Windows with only the SSD connected then after installation plug in the HDD.

Internstarz · September 23, 2014

I'd try rotating your RAM into different DIMs and give that a shot. I've had many issues that appeared to be pointing to their graphic drivers or mobo, but it was in fact a bad stick of memory.

mercilesslawyer · September 23, 2014

Could be the RAM modules going bad^. Rotating them is a good idea, or check them one-by-one. But it sounds to me like your SSD is going bad. I had this happen to me with an old Crucial SSD. Make sure your patition maps are correct, and maybe try another drive? (or just try installing the OS on the mech drive, and see if the issue dissapears).

It is HIGHLY unlikely that the scratched lanes are the issue. I know that sometimes the silkscreen on the board is slightly shaved to expose test points during testing, but if the connection was broken, the thing probably wouldn't even start up.