Windows Windows Loading Screen Problem

Black_Hawk

Black_Hawk

Skilled
Hello folks,

I need some problem regarding one of my rigs at home. The specification of the PC is as follows:

CPU: Ryzen 1600X
CPU Cooler: CM Hyper 212 Turbo '
Motherboard: Asus ROG Strix B350-F
Memory: 32GB G.Skill Ripjaws V (8GB X 4)
GPU: Asus ROG Strix RX 480
PSU: Seasonic X-750
HDDs: 1TB X WD Blue + 2 TB x WD Blue
SSDs: 120GB (OS) + 250GB Samsung 850 EVO (For Games)
External USB Devices: Mouse, Keyboard, XBOX One Controller
OS: Windows 10 (Pro, x64)

Now to the problem I have been encountering:

When I start the PC there is usually 1 beep from the mobo and then within a few seconds the display comes on my monitor. I log in with my password and it's all good. HOWEVER, most of the times (ie 80% of the times) this does not happen. When I start the PC and after it POST's it stays on the "Asus Republic of Gamers" Logo screen for a long time. There is usually the loading wheel right below the Asus ROG logo that continues spinning endlessly. This can last anywhere from 20 minutes to hours at length.

This is the screen it stays on:

Asus ROG.jpg



If I disable the Asus ROG Splash Screen from the motherboard's BIOS then the Asus ROG logo is replaced by the following Windows logo instead:

IMG_20211110_200445.jpg


This above Windows loading wheel goes on spinning. It can take 20 minutes to hours at a length for the log-in screen of Windows 10 to come up so I can finally use the PC. There is usually no fixed time limit!

Things I have tried so far:

- Disconnected all my HDD's except my SSD which has the OS and booted up the PC.

- Tried booting PC with a single stick of RAM.

- Disconnected Mouse, KB, external USB devices prior to Boot up.

- Enabled FAST BOOT from BIOS

- Checked through BIOS that the first Boot device is correctly selected to my Samsung SSD which has Windows 10 on it.

- Tried to change to a different SSD and did a fresh installation of Windows 10 - This solved the problem for a few months but it eventually came back to plague me.

All of the above steps have so far failed to solve the issue completely.

Also, a few things that I have noticed:

1. This delay in loading Windows is usually not present if I format my PC with a fresh installation of Windows 10 (Pro, x64). It happens after 2-3 months of using my PC after the fresh installation of Windows 10.


2. When there is a delay on the Asus ROG logo / Windows Loading Logo screen and finally right after it loads Windows after the long wait and I log into my PC there is a sound of a USB device connecting to the PC and immediately disconnecting within 3-5 seconds. This happens although I haven't connected any other external USB device to the PC except my Mouse, KB and XBOX Controller which always remains connected. I get this sound through my speakers.

3. When I start my PC (power it ON) my KB lights up then immediately goes off. After that the Asus ROG logo/ Windows logo wheel starts to spin and there is no power to the KB. After a long wait the power to the KB comes and the keys light up but there is still no display on the monitor and the loading wheel continues spinning. After a long wait finally Windows loads and I can log-in.

I really can't understand the cause of this issue so thus thought of asking for help here. If anyone can shed more light as to why this problem is happening I would be really grateful. Also, if you want any further information about this PC please ask and I will try to provide.

P.S. I haven't updated the BIOS of the motherboard so it's still running on the BIOS version with which it came with.

Thanks and looking forward to much needed insight on this issue.
 
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If you check for the updated bios files on asus site, you might find they have resolved this issue in future bios updates. did you try google to see if other people had similar issue on your MB and bios number. try updating the bios.
You might want to check event viewer closely if any info on boot is seen.
Do you have another GPU to test ?
Other than that, try resetting your cpu again if you havent already done this. Long shot but no harm in trying.
 
You have obviously tried many things and please try @puns advice. If the issue still persists, it indicates potentially either software/hardware problem

1) Currently we suspect both hardware and software issues, if possible can you try to find the culprit by installing Win 7/Ubuntu for few days and testing it to rule out hardware issues
2) If we rule our hardware issue from previous test, you can try fresh install of Win 10 only this time disable win 10 telemetry with highly rated below options and only enable security related updates which will minimize your OS changes

My anecdotal experience from few days back, I was testing Win 10 fresh install on VM and it would not install with < 50GB virtual drive. I had to bump it to something 80GB to even install.
As you said fresh install is fine but overtime with windows updates, pagefil.sys and hiberfi.sys taking up more space might creates issues. Also, with every logon Win 10/11 try to update their machine learning models (which you can't disable), maybe after 2-3 months there is not enough space for these model udpates at log on (pure conjecture)

This would be easy to test, try installing the Win 10 OS on 250GB instead of 120GB. Also you have 32GB RAM so maybe try disabling pagefil.sys and hiberfil.sys to save more space in C: drive.


1) https://github.com/farag2/Sophia-Script-for-Windows/
2)https://www.oo-software.com/en/shutup10

 
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Adding another thing to the upper post.

As you said these things get fixed after a fresh reinstall, you can try running these two commands to verify and fix corrupted Windows files.

DISM.exe /Online /Cleanup-image /Restorehealth

sfc /scannow

Run them in admin cmd.
Also do a memtest.
 
puns said:
If you check for the updated bios files on asus site, you might find they have resolved this issue in future bios updates. did you try google to see if other people had similar issue on your MB and bios number. try updating the bios.
You might want to check event viewer closely if any info on boot is seen.
Do you have another GPU to test ?
Other than that, try resetting your cpu again if you havent already done this. Long shot but no harm in trying.
Click to expand...

I was thinking about updating the BIOS through the Asus EZ Flash. However I was reading about BIOS updates for the last few days and saw some replies on Reddit about the BIOS update causing memory issues on this motherboard which made me think if I should go ahead with the update or not.

Guess I'll just take the plunge.

I don't know if re-setting the CPU will work or not because when I re-install Windows everything works fine. It's only after 2-3 months of using the PC does this problem kick in.
 
Black_Hawk said:
I was thinking about updating the BIOS through the Asus EZ Flash. However I was reading about BIOS updates for the last few days and saw some replies on Reddit about the BIOS update causing memory issues on this motherboard which made me think if I should go ahead with the update or not.

Guess I'll just take the plunge.

I don't know if re-setting the CPU will work or not because when I re-install Windows everything works fine. It's only after 2-3 months of using the PC does this problem kick in.
Click to expand...

Im sure there are various bios updates for your motherboard. if you dont want to update to latest, an earlier one will also be fine.

Before that, you can try event viewer and software solutions first before moving on to bios flash or another gpu
 
Did you checked the OS disks health?
Did the bios got reset? May be earlier you have played with few settings and after a bios reset may be the settings are back to defaults.
No harm updating the bios.
 
puns said:
Im sure there are various bios updates for your motherboard. if you dont want to update to latest, an earlier one will also be fine.

Before that, you can try event viewer and software solutions first before moving on to bios flash or another gpu
Click to expand...

Thank-you so much for your help regarding this, really appreciate it. :)

There are several BIOS updates released for the B350-F motherboard. These are the 2 latest ones:

Capture.JPG


I think I'll get Version 5603 and update to that. Here is the link if you want to check all the versions: ASUS ROG STRIX B350-F GAMING - BIOS & FIRMWARE

Will follow the following guide posted by Asus for updating BIOS through Asus EZ Flash 3: ASUS EZ Flash 3 Guide
 
If windows reinstall temporarily solves the problem, my paranoid brain thinks of the worst - malware. How are your software security practices ? Adblock, visiting questionable sites, installing software from various places, opening email attachments from strangers ?
 
Another possibility is bad RAM which results in gradual file system corruption...
I should clarify not necessarily bad ram but even ram incompatibility or instability with the motherboard or cpu memory controller too.

But I also agree that first step before trying to test or swap ram should be to update to latest bios since they usually address ram stability to some extent.
 
Black_Hawk said:
Thank-you so much for your help regarding this, really appreciate it. :)

There are several BIOS updates released for the B350-F motherboard. These are the 2 latest ones:

View attachment 119891

I think I'll get Version 5603 and update to that. Here is the link if you want to check all the versions: ASUS ROG STRIX B350-F GAMING - BIOS & FIRMWARE

Will follow the following guide posted by Asus for updating BIOS through Asus EZ Flash 3: ASUS EZ Flash 3 Guide
Click to expand...
I've used this motherboard for 4 years, till BIOS version 5603 it was working flawlessly without any memory issues.
are you using SATA 120 GB SSD for OS ? if so you can try switching to some other sata port on motherboard or a different sata cable.
As other members also mentioned check SSD health or a short scan is preferred.
If you're booting from m.2 SSD, try installing OS and booting from other SATA SSD.
 
Synth-Pop said:
I've used this motherboard for 4 years, till BIOS version 5603 it was working flawlessly without any memory issues.
are you using SATA 120 GB SSD for OS ? if so you can try switching to some other sata port on motherboard or a different sata cable.
As other members also mentioned check SSD health or a short scan is preferred.
If you're booting from m.2 SSD, try installing OS and booting from other SATA SSD.
Click to expand...

Thank-you for this input. Now I'm feeling more confident with going ahead with the BIOS update (v5603).

Yes, I'm using a Samsung SATA 120GB SSD for Windows 10.

Here is a screenshot from Hard Disk Sentinel 5 for the same Samsung SSD which is my OS drive:

Capture.JPG



And this one is from CrystalDiskInfo:

Capture.JPG
 
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