Windows 10: Desktop stuck and won't boot freeze at spinning dots

My pc shut down in sleep mode and I have not been able to get it to boot up again after trying literally 100s of things.What happens is most of the time I can't get any display when I turn it on and the keyboard lights don't come on. Then some time I can get it to boot to the BIOS screen. When I select anything to boot I get as far as the first windows screen and after about 3 dots (of the spinning dots) appears it just freezes and I have to power it off. At the point where it freezes the lights on the keyboard also go out which I think might be significant (but I don't know what it means!) I just can't get it past that point!!!The same thing happens with Windows 7 CD, WIndows 10 media creation tool, blank HDD to install fresh. Literally everything I have tried does the same thing. I have replaced the motherboard for a brand new one so it's not that.I have tested with another graphics card, another power supply, other cables/adaptors etc.If I plug the HDDs in to my laptop all the files are visible and normal. HDD health software says disks are in good health.The only thing I haven't been able to test is the cpu. Would a failing cpu cause these problems? If you can help I would be eternally grateful because I'm looking at the possibility of having to bin a £1000+ computer because I can't fix it.

Andy

[Can't get zip file of computer data because I can't boot the computer]

:)

 

Windows 10 boot stuck at logo and spinning dots circle

I am using an Asus K53SM laptop. I had installed Windows 8, 8.1 and after that 10 on it. 1 week back I did a clean re-install of windows 10 on it using in-built options in Windows 10 settings app. The re-install completed successfully and the laptop worked
fine since then without any issues. I was running most recent stable build, the 1511.

Yesterday, I tried to start my laptop and it is now stuck on boot. It shows Windows Logo and white dots spinning below it. The hard disk light turns on for 10 second on this screen, however after that there is no hard disk usage light ON and the white dots
keeps on spinning.

I do not have a Windows 10 bootable disk, hence I tried with Windows 8. I went to troubleshooting menu and opt-in for Automatic Startup recovery. It failed, I believe because of Compatibility issue.

Also, I went in for Command Prompt from the same options and did a chkdsk on C drive. It gave me some message related to 'reparse records'.

Now the situation is whenever I start my laptop it is stuck on Booting screen and does not proceed. I can't get into Safe Mode as it is disabled by default (conclusion drawn from Google Search). Can anybody help me out here? Thanks in advance.

 

Windows 10 boot stuck at logo and spinning dots circle

Hello Kshitij,

Answer the below question for better clarity on the issue.

When you say ‘Automatic Startup recovery failed’ did you get any error message or error code?

What is the exact message you received when you ran ‘chkdisk’ via command prompt?

Method 1: Disconnect all your External devices connected to your Computer and try booting your laptop and check if it helps.

Method 2: I suggest you to download Windows 10 ISO file, create an installation media from other working computer to perform automatic repair of the computer that you are unable
to boot.

Step 1: Download
Windows 10 from the below link and create media creation tool:

Download Windows 10

Step 2: After creating the tool perform a Start up Repair.

I would like to inform that, if your Windows 10 is not able to boot or startup, Startup Repair will come into action and try to diagnose and fix the issue. It will scan system files, registry settings, configuration settings and
more and try to fix the problem on its own, automatically.

Perform the Startup Repair:

• When your computer starts, wait for the manufacturer logo to check the option for boot menu, it will usually be
  F12.
• The boot menu key might differ with each manufacturer. If you are unable to find the boot menu key, you may refer the user manual.
• Restart the computer, when the manufacturer's logo is displayed, keep pressing the
  Boot menu option key to enter the boot menu and change the boot option to
  CD\DVD ROM.
• After you boot your computer using Windows 10 DVD, a black screen appears with gray text "Press any key to boot from CD or DVD". Press any key.
• Select the correct time and
  Keyboard type.
• Click
  Repair your computer in the lower left corner
• Click on
  Troubleshooting, advanced option and then click
  Startup repair.

Hope it helps. Kindly update the status of the issue, we will be happy to help you further.

 

Sounds like a hardware issue. Open it up. Start it. See if the fans are working. If they are: Check power supply. Sometimes flaky behavior ( more often than not), is caused by the PS taking a dump. Either way, FIRST thing I'd do, is replace the PS, they're cheap enough to buy on a whim.

If the PS checks out ok:

Pull ram, and re-seat. Pull any bus cards, re-seat. Unplug the power from the board, re-plug (ONLY with power OFF). If you have a spare video card, or can acquire one (an old, compatible, working one for testing purposes will do, it would be a good idea to see if it'll work. If it does, replace your old video card).

If that don't work:

Pull Heat sink/CPU, re-seat, and re-gel the CPU, and clean the fan and heat sink (Wouldn't hurt to clean the entire computer for that matter).

If that doesn't work, you may need to replace the board (or try and reflow the southbridge chip, but that's best left to idiots, like myself to attempt).

If the fan doesn't work:

Pull CPU, re-seat, re-gel. Replace with a new fan.

Either way, I'd start thinking about getting a new PS.

I've also seen bad SATA drives cause this.

Anyone who owns a PC, and doesn't want to pay to have it fixed, should have at a minimum on hand:

Spare PS (200watt PS is cheap!)
Two, spare, 2gb sticks of ram (compatible with your machine), to use to boot into BIOS, and test your ram sockets ($12).
Spare video card ($15-20).
Spare hard disk (120gb SATA can be had for as little as $5).
Thermal gel. It's not quantum physics to re-gel a CPU ($15).

ANY old, known working test equipment that's known compatible with your system will work

 

Thanks for the answer.

I should have put in the original post that the first thing I tried was using my old PSU and graphics card to test the machine. The same thing happened so I kind of ruled those out (but I might try the old PSU again just to be sure). I took the PC to a shop after that and had them have a look at it and they said they thought it was the board. So on that advice I bought a new one of exactly the same type. The new one produces the exact same issues.

The only things I don't have old ones of to test are the RAM and CPU. In the case of the CPU if you think this might be a cause then I might RMA it because the warranty runs out in 5 days time and I'd rather get it checked than find out after the warranty expires that that was the cause!

Any other suggestions?

 

I recommend you get it back under warranty IMMEDIATELY! Whatever was taken from the old board, and placed in the new one is the culprit (Ram, CPU).

Good luck, keep us updated.

 

I have just submitted an RMA request!

The problems started under the old board and have continued to the new one. I am using all the same components as before but with a new motherboard.

I think whatever is causing it the major clue is that it is ALWAYS at the point where the windows spinning dots first appear that it freezes. No matter what I do (normal boot, recovery, safe mode, trying to use windows 10 ISO/USB to fresh install) it always does the same thing at the exact same point.

I just don't know enough about computers to know what this clue is indicating!

 

It is indicating that your SATA drive, CPU, or Ram is failing. I would say change all this, one at a time to test, but you're cutting it close on warranty, and are better off taking it back. After thinking about it, I think your hard disk has failed, however, I'm not hands on your system to know for sure, but I have seen it a few times. SATA drives do WEIRD stuff to your system, when they fail.

I would like to recommend acquiring these items from Ebay, for future use:

Spare compatible CPU, if you can afford it.
Two, spare 2gb sticks of compatible ram. Dirt cheap.
A 160, or so gb compatible SATA drive. Also dirt cheap.
For testing purposes.

Also, I would like to recommend getting an inexpensive 2.5" external USB2.0 case ($3-15 on Ebay), and a small capacity 2.5" SATA hard drive to put into it from Ebay ($10-20), download Macrium Reflect (It's free), and image your computer to that external drive with it. No sense in the stress of losing your data, settings, drivers, and O/S needlessly.*Wink
NEVER trust, or rely on a "Recovery partition". I've seen many a tear shed because a hard disk failed, and the owner failed to image the disk, and failed to make a system repair disk. I've been building computers, writing code, and doing computer repair since 1978, and this has ALWAYS been an issue!

Good Luck!
Regards.

 

I think you should keep the new board, and little by little, build another system with it. Do it on your own. Use YouTube, and Google-Fu to help you along. Someone on this board will always be willing to help you. Just need to ask.*Smile

It would be good to do this, and you may even have a good time doing it. If you like to learn, you'll love this project. There are few things more satisfying, than scavenging Ebay for parts (or the local rubbish heap, I've done this too!), building a system from scratch, learning how to do a perfect software setup, and enjoy using your new "Frankenstein". After a bit, you'll build another, and sell your old one. Just keep track of the parts cost, so you can make a few Ducketts!*Cool*Biggrin Don't worry about adding your labor cost into it for awhile, you're being payed the wages of knowledge. Be content with that for awhile. People will be amazed when your "Franken'Puter" smokes their new "Ferrari's" *Tongue

Just a few pieces of advice:

Be patient, and be careful! Static electricity is a computer killer, as is anything strongly magnetic. Get yourself an ESD strap to wear on your wrist.

Maintenance, maintenance, MAINTENANCE! Weekly. Daily if you surf a lot. NOTHING slogs your computer like lack of maintenance.

Get, CCleaner (free), Avast free antivirus, malwarebytes (free), and manually clean out your temporary internet files. This goes a LOOONG ways in keeping your computer healthy, and trouble free. It doesn't cost anything but 3 to 5 minutes of your time daily, or weekly.

DO NOT use "Memory optimizers", Registry cleaners", registry "defraggers", tweaking programs, or exotic "tweaks". These will be either of no effect, or can even wreck your system. There ARE some tweaks that do work, and will nominally "speed up" your system, BUT.... Whatever you enhance in one area, you're going to give something up in others.

Stay away from pirated software! Most of It has cooties!

If you can't afford a new copy of windows, download a Linux Mint 17.3, or 18.xx .ISO (Linux is FREE!), and build a really nice Linux box. Linux Mint is fantastic for internet, video, and imaging applications (Gimp is pretty decent, and LibreOffice is excellent), unless you're a gamer, then it's pretty useless.

You can get really good at it if you want to.

I rebuild laptops, and I'm confident enough in the systems I build, and my software setup routine, that my local customers get a limited lifetime warranty with their computers!

I have yet to replace a computer that I have sold.

If you choose to do this, Good luck!

Regards!

 

Looks like a fairly new system to me, two defective z170 Pro motherboards would be extremely unlikely, was this a ready built system or home built?

Indications would possibly point to a faulty HDD or possibly the SATA cable, just had that on an AMD setup, intermittently stuck at spinning dots on booting, replaced the cable and problem fixed.
Tried just connecting the boot drive and resetting the Bios to default the trying to boot?
Tried booting with a bootable Linux DVD or USB stick? Quick way of checking if the hardware excluding the HDD is OK.
Tried Booting with only one stick of ram at a time, try each stick.
Removing the Graphics card and using the inbuilt Graphics port?

 

It's home built. I've done two other builds but never had the problems I have on this one.

I agree with the faulty HDD being a cause but what is strange is that I wiped a spare HDD and tried installing windows via the media creation tool on a USB and DVD and the same thing happened when it got to the spinning dots. Now I might not have wiped it properly and it might "remember" something from the computer (if was installed in the computer before the problems started)?

I have tried taking ALL of the components and cables out and reinstalling everything when I got the replacement motherboard but no joy.

I have updated the bios to the latest via a bootable usb. I have also tried resetting to default as well as trying turning off fast boot.

I have tried with 1 stick of ram at a time.

I tried the onboard graphics port.

All come up with the same errors.

I haven't tried testing the hardware with a Linux CD. I don't know how to do this can you help? At least if I could isolate the faulty components it would be a big help.

 

Personally I'd use Linux Mint and burn the ISO to dvd then boot from it and run the Live CD option, not install. Download - Linux Mint

Another option you can use to check the disk would be the MiniTool bootable Partition Wizard which you can check the HDD with. MiniTool Free Bootable Partition Manager | Partition Wizard Bootable CD

One Popular method on here is kyhi's Bootable Rescue Disk, see this thread Windows 10 Recovery Tools - Bootable Rescue Disk - - Windows 10 Forums

 

I've just noticed something that may or may not be significant. Disc 3 (the one that is my primary drive on the faulty computer) seems to be split into F and G. [ignore all other discs, this is one my laptop with the troublesome disc hooked up via a sata-usb connection).

 

That's the EFI System Partition, which has to be fat32, minimum size of 100MB so I would say that's normal, have you checked the drive for errors using MiniTool, that's check File System and Surface Test which might take some time.

 

I might give the error checking things a go when I've got time to let it run for a while.

How do I add a FAT32 partition to the end of that drive so I can add the recovery tool as per the instructions here Windows 10 Recovery Tools - Bootable Rescue Disk - - Windows 10 Forums

Thanks guys you are being really helpful.