Windows 10 Freezing On Load Screen

[4ndromeda]

So I changed my cpu cooler today (from water cooling to the Noctua NH-D15) and due to clearance issues I had to move my GPU (GTX1080) down from the 16x slot to the 8x slot on my Maximus VIII Gene board. Now when I boot the PC up, it gets as far as the rotating circle of dots, then after a while the dots will freeze and nothing else happens. First time I booted the pc since installing the new cooler it loaded windows & had to install some updates (on that green screen) then after it installed them, the screen went black but I could see the curser & nothing else. It stayed like that for a few minutes then froze. So I did a hard restart by holding the power button on the pc until it shut down then I turned it on again now it won't load past the rotating circle of dots like I stated previously.

 

System Specs:

 

i5 6500k

16GB DDR4 Ram @2666mHz

GTX1080

Asus Maximus VIII Gene

 

Anyone got any ideas?

[paddy-stone]

30 minutes ago, 4ndromeda said:

So I changed my cpu cooler today (from water cooling to the Noctua NH-D15) and due to clearance issues I had to move my GPU (GTX1080) down from the 16x slot to the 8x slot on my Maximus VIII Gene board. Now when I boot the PC up, it gets as far as the rotating circle of dots, then after a while the dots will freeze and nothing else happens. First time I booted the pc since installing the new cooler it loaded windows & had to install some updates (on that green screen) then after it installed them, the screen went black but I could see the curser & nothing else. It stayed like that for a few minutes then froze. So I did a hard restart by holding the power button on the pc until it shut down then I turned it on again now it won't load past the rotating circle of dots like I stated previously.

 

System Specs:

 

i5 6500k

16GB DDR4 Ram @2666mHz

GTX1080

Asus Maximus VIII Gene

 

Anyone got any ideas?

When you changed the cooler, did you re-do the OC if you had one?

[4ndromeda]

6 minutes ago, paddy-stone said:

When you changed the cooler, did you re-do the OC if you had one?

No, I hadn't applied an OC previously. It was all on auto.

[paddy-stone]

2 minutes ago, 4ndromeda said:

No, I hadn't applied an OC previously. It was all on auto.

So you had an auto OC, or you didn't have an OC at all?

 

Anyway, try resetting CMOS and running on defaults.

[4ndromeda]

1 minute ago, paddy-stone said:

So you had an auto OC, or you didn't have an OC at all?

 

Anyway, try resetting CMOS and running on defaults.

Had an Auto OC. By resetting CMOS do you mean pressing the Car CMOS button above the rear I/O panel & if so, do I press it when in the BIOS or what?

[paddy-stone]

2 minutes ago, 4ndromeda said:

Had an Auto OC. By resetting CMOS do you mean pressing the Car CMOS button above the rear I/O panel & if so, do I press it when in the BIOS or what?

Yes, you can use the CLR CMOS button in the IO panel... no you press it when the system is off, same as you would clear it by using the jumper or removing battery... although you don't need to turn off the PSU etc if using the CLR CMOS button.

[4ndromeda]

1 minute ago, paddy-stone said:

Yes, you can use the CLR CMOS button in the IO panel... no you press it when the system is off, same as you would clear it by using the jumper or removing battery... although you don't need to turn off the PSU etc if using the CLR CMOS button.

Okay, thanks, I'll try that now. I'll let you know how I get on...

[4ndromeda]

@paddy-stone still no luck. I did the Clear CMOS thing and loaded default settings from the BIOS, restarted the system and after a long wait watching the rotating circle of dots, it's frozen again.

 

PC was fine a week ago, then the water pump died, so couldn't use it until today. Changed the cooler over to the NH-D15, moved the GPU down a slot due to the cooler being too big (I could try rotating the cooler 90 degrees though?) and connected everything back up, power on & no luck

[paddy-stone]

Just now, 4ndromeda said:

@paddy-stone still no luck. I did the Clear CMOS thing and loaded default settings from the BIOS, restarted the system and after a long wait watching the rotating circle of dots, it's frozen again.

 

PC was fine a week ago, then the water pump died, so couldn't use it until today. Changed the cooler over to the NH-D15, moved the GPU down a slot due to the cooler being too big (I could try rotating the cooler 90 degrees though?) and connected everything back up, power on & no luck

Damn, sorry that didn't work, it was worth a shot. TBH at this point you might be better off using a spare drive if you have one. Unplug the current boot drive, plug in the other, doesn't matter what SATA port you choose... load windows onto that and try it out, this should at least give us an idea of whether the problem is HDD/driver related or other hardware.

[4ndromeda]

1 minute ago, paddy-stone said:

Damn, sorry that didn't work, it was worth a shot. TBH at this point you might be better off using a spare drive if you have one. Unplug the current boot drive, plug in the other, doesn't matter what SATA port you choose... load windows onto that and try it out, this should at least give us an idea of whether the problem is HDD/driver related or other hardware.

Unfortunately I don't have a spare drive  Even if I did, I wouldn't be able to load windows onto because I used windows 7 ages ago, then used the free windows 10 upgrade so I lost the activation code a long time ago & since upgrading motherboards I've been stuck with the ugly activation watermark in the corner of the screen -.- Idk what's gone wrong in a week of no using it. I'm absolutely baffled. Thanks for trying to help anyway bud, I appreciate it.

[paddy-stone]

3 minutes ago, 4ndromeda said:

Unfortunately I don't have a spare drive  Even if I did, I wouldn't be able to load windows onto because I used windows 7 ages ago, then used the free windows 10 upgrade so I lost the activation code a long time ago & since upgrading motherboards I've been stuck with the ugly activation watermark in the corner of the screen -.- Idk what's gone wrong in a week of no using it. I'm absolutely baffled. Thanks for trying to help anyway bud, I appreciate it.

No worries, I'll have a fresh look tomorrow and see if I can come up with another plan that doesn't involve a re-install if possible.

Have to help you out as you're my neighbour, I live to your north

 

[4ndromeda]

8 minutes ago, paddy-stone said:

No worries, I'll have a fresh look tomorrow and see if I can come up with another plan that doesn't involve a re-install if possible.

Have to help you out as you're my neighbour, I live to your north

 

WE HAVE PART SUCCESS!!! I took the GPU out and started it up. After hanging on the little dot circle for 10 years, I'm loaded into windows with the HDMI plugged into the Motherboard. So, could this mean an issue with the GPU? or just it being plugged into an 8x slot (I don't see why that would be an issue though...?)