Can't boot Windows - Black screen, blinking underscore.

[dogbot]

So you get a black screen with a flashing cursor. Can you type anything. If so try win (return) or C:\win and see if Windows opens.

 

[mgsolidus]

I will try without a graphics card when I get home from work, no idea where I'd plug an hdmi in without a graphics card though.
Dogbot, no I cannot type anything. Forcing a reboot is the only option.
Regarding the graphics card, the fan spins and the hdmi output works, does that mean it's working 100%? Or could it still be broken somehow?

 

[steaky360]

I will try without a graphics card when I get home from work, no idea where I'd plug an hdmi in without a graphics card though.
Dogbot, no I cannot type anything. Forcing a reboot is the only option.
Regarding the graphics card, the fan spins and the hdmi output works, does that mean it's working 100%? Or could it still be broken somehow?

What motherboard do you have? If it has onboard graphics you will be able to plug something in (maybe not HDMI), you might need an adapter if your monitor only accepts HDMI

Does this mean the PC starts after a hard reboot? Does this problem happen regularly? Sorry I just skimmed through the previous page of posts and didn't see an answer to this, so apologies if you've already said in like post 2 or something

The graphics card might still spin etc. doesn't mean its working 100%

 

[mgsolidus]

MSI 990FX-GD65
no it never boots, black screen every time.
So it's possible the hdmi on the gpu works, but something else on it is damaged and therefore unable to display Windows?

 

[ubuysa]

MSI 990FX-GD65
no it never boots, black screen every time.
So it's possible the hdmi on the gpu works, but something else on it is damaged and therefore unable to display Windows?

When you boot from a CD does the drive look like it's booting? Does the drive light flash a lot for example? When you boot Windows does the drive light flash as though Windows is booting? I'm trying to figure out whether the system is booting and you just can't see it or whether it's not booting at all. The black screen and flashing cursor would tend to suggest the latter.

So what happens with the graphics card out if you boot a CD or Windows? Does it look like it's trying to boot then (drive light flashing)? If so then that might point to the graphics card. If not then it's probably something else.

The symptoms are: Initial splash screen displays ok (because you can get into the BIOS) followed by a black screen with flashing cursor. And this happens whether you boot the HDD, SDD, CD/DVD or USB stick (have you tried that?).

Is this a UEFI system? if so, perhaps that's where the problem lies? It does look as though the BIOS or UEFI platform is not finding an OS to boot. That might suggest the motherboard is the problem?

 

[steaky360]

MSI 990FX-GD65
no it never boots, black screen every time.
So it's possible the hdmi on the gpu works, but something else on it is damaged and therefore unable to display Windows?

It's unlikely you'll be able to plug your monitor into the motherboard (I can't see any slots on it anywhere) in the pics I've seen. However it's still worth following ubuysa's advice and trying to remove the graphics card and boot from disc (if you can get into the boot menu, make sure its set to boot from disc first so you don't need to intervene once the graphics card is out).

 

[moosEh]

If you get the flashing underscore at the top left on a black screen, after the BIOS splash screen.

This is normally caused by hardware holding up the boot (Windows waiting for response off the device). Try removing(Unplug the SATA cable) one of the devices below, do them one at a time and see what is holding it up..
Your second HDD.
Your DVDRW.
Graphics Card.
All USB devices except keyboard.
Do you have a card reader?

 

[mgsolidus]

I've made some progress. I managed to get a Windows 8 DVD to boot by using uefi boot type on boot selection menu.
System restore did not work, so I chose to reinstall Windows. I deleted all partitions and made a new one, installation was successful.
Now when I boot the SSD for the first time, I get a quick glimpse of the Windows logo and then it restarts. After that I see the blue screen error "Windows could not boot", and I have the options of advanced boot modes, safe mode ect. None of these work. Same blue screen error every time. This was all done in ahci mode if that matters.

 

[ubuysa]

I've made some progress. I managed to get a Windows 8 DVD to boot by using uefi boot type on boot selection menu.
System restore did not work, so I chose to reinstall Windows. I deleted all partitions and made a new one, installation was successful.
Now when I boot the SSD for the first time, I get a quick glimpse of the Windows logo and then it restarts. After that I see the blue screen error "Windows could not boot", and I have the options of advanced boot modes, safe mode ect. None of these work. Same blue screen error every time. This was all done in ahci mode if that matters.

I reckon that's a definite hardware error then. I would suggest you follow moosEh's suggestions for isolating the cause of the problem.

 

[mgsolidus]

I already tried SSD without HDD, trying without graphics card isn't possible. I don't have a card reader and the only other things connected are mouse and keyboard. I'll try without the mouse but it seems like the SSD is broken to me. I do remember the disk check error utility built into Advanced Systemcare reported 1 error, that was right before it happened actually.

 

[tom_gr7]

can you connect the ssd to another computer? and as the ssd is visible in the bios, it doesn't sound faulty.

or could you get a really cheap gpu and try that?

 

[ubuysa]

can you connect the ssd to another computer? and as the ssd is visible in the bios, it doesn't sound faulty.

or could you get a really cheap gpu and try that?

Or how about removing the SSD, move the HDD to the primary slot and then (temporarily) install Windows on it (the HDD)? That should confirm it's the SSD.

 

[dogbot]

Here are the motherboard specs

http://uk.msi.com/product/mb/990FXA-GD65.html

An interesting feature is the built in Linux based OS (Winki 3). Can you run that with nearly everything removed. The motherboard does not seem to have integrated graphics unfortunately.

 

[mgsolidus]

Or how about removing the SSD, move the HDD to the primary slot and then (temporarily) install Windows on it (the HDD)? That should confirm it's the SSD.

I have all my files on that hard drive, I think installing Windows on it would remove them.
Maybe I should get a cheap gpu and hard drive, should only be £50 combined.

 

[mitchell65]

I have all my files on that hard drive,

Then I think I would concentrate on backing up all my files to an external hard drive before doing anything else. You can download and burn a copy of Ubuntu to a CD and run Ubuntu from the CD. You can then get into your internal hard drive . If you cant get into the SSD via Ubuntu then you will know it is duff!

 

[ubuysa]

I've made some progress. I managed to get a Windows 8 DVD to boot by using uefi boot type on boot selection menu.
System restore did not work, so I chose to reinstall Windows. I deleted all partitions and made a new one, installation was successful.
Now when I boot the SSD for the first time, I get a quick glimpse of the Windows logo and then it restarts. After that I see the blue screen error "Windows could not boot", and I have the options of advanced boot modes, safe mode ect. None of these work. Same blue screen error every time. This was all done in ahci mode if that matters.

I wondered before whether this was a UEFI problem and I'm wondering it again now. Do you have secure boot enabled in your BIOS? I would imagine you do if you have to UEFI boot a DVD. Perhaps you might try turning secure boot off (you may have to reinstall Windows, I'm not sure about that) and using a regular BIOS boot and see how that gets on.

 

[mgsolidus]

I never even saw an option for secure boot in the BIOS.
After all the problems I've described, what do you guys think is most likely to have failed me, ssd or gpu? I hope it's not something else.

 

[mgsolidus]

Then I think I would concentrate on backing up all my files to an external hard drive before doing anything else. You can download and burn a copy of Ubuntu to a CD and run Ubuntu from the CD. You can then get into your internal hard drive . If you cant get into the SSD via Ubuntu then you will know it is duff!

This is a good idea too, I have 9.04 burned still. Most of my files are synced to Google Drive but there are a few important docs I need to get.

 

[ubuysa]

I never even saw an option for secure boot in the BIOS.
After all the problems I've described, what do you guys think is most likely to have failed me, ssd or gpu? I hope it's not something else.

One way to check the SSD would be to remove it, put the HDD in the primary slot and then try to do a normal (ie. non-UEFI) boot from the Windows install DVD. In your first post you said you couldn't boot from DVD or SSD so if you can boot from DVD with the SSD out it's a fair bet it's the SSD? If you can't boot the Windows DVD in this config then the SSD is probably ok? That perhaps narrows it to the graphics card? It could still be the motherboard though.....

 

[mgsolidus]

I'll try that.
Surely the mobo is the least likely, I only had it 2 weeks.