PC Freezes trying to install windows. Will post.

[MaKo82]

My PC boots into the BIOS just fine. All my drives, cpu and memory seem to be running fine. Currently running memtest and so far no errors. I have a boot disk (USB) to install windows and the farthest i've gotten is inputting the Key. then the PC locks up and is frozen.

BIOS has not been updated, its a brand new out of box MB Strix Z790E, i9 13900K, Corsair 7200 Vengence.

This is the second USB That i have tried and I'm getting the same result. Any ideas?

[Murph_9000]

Have you tried it on just "load optimised defaults", XMP disabled?

[MaKo82]

XMP is not enabled, and this trying to install without making any changes to the bios.

[Murph_9000]

Is your installer up to date? There's a new Win 11 22H2 version of the installer. I'm thinking that there's maybe something missing in older Windows that's needed for Z790.

Also, if the board is new, did you do a clear CMOS then load optimised defaults? My board (different platform, not specific to Z790) failed to initially POST due to something odd about the CMOS out of the box. A quick clear followed by load optimised brought it to life. Just in case there's some weird setting lurking in there.

[MaKo82]

Murph_9000 wrote:
Is your installer up to date? There's a new Win 11 22H2 version of the installer. I'm thinking that there's maybe something missing in older Windows that's needed for Z790.

Also, if the board is new, did you do a clear CMOS then load optimised defaults? My board (different platform, not specific to Z790) failed to initially POST due to something odd about the CMOS out of the box. A quick clear followed by load optimised brought it to life. Just in case there's some weird setting lurking in there.

I'll try and redownload the win 11 installer.

I've cleared CMOS a few times. I made slight progress in that I made it past the inputting the WIN key, but as soon as it starts to install, it freezes again. temps are normal in BIOS as well.

The memtest passed, so I doubt its the mem. the only thing i can think of is maybe the CPU, but why would it post and run normally in BIOS if the CPU was bad?

I also dont want to flash the BIOS to the most updates version because I need to update the ME drivers first. the current BIOS the MB has is 0403. the newest BIOS is 0703, so quite the update.

So, i tried with a new usb and win 11 installer. It immediately froze on the ASUS splash screen. I made more progress with the win 10 installer. same result with both.

Im so lost...

[Murph_9000]

Here's a thought, CPU / cooler mounting pressure, particularly for LGA1700 boards. I'll let Jay explain:



See also Gamers Nexus videos about LGA1700 contact frames that replace the Intel clamping mechanism.

[MaKo82]

That didnt do it either. Is it possible the CPU is bad? The only problem I have with that is its running fine in the BIOS. Even when I ran the MemTest, the temps rose a bit but nothing higher than 50c.

Also wondering if it's necessary to update ME before BIOS. Just to see if it can install Windows

[JohnAb]

I was just thinking that you might be able to install Linux - maybe Ubuntu or similar. From there, you might be able to run some diagnostics and get some more information as to why Windows isn't happy...

You could also just boot to a live Linux USB - you wouldn't even need to install it.

[MaKo82]

JohnAb wrote:
I was just thinking that you might be able to install Linux - maybe Ubuntu or similar. From there, you might be able to run some diagnostics and get some more information as to why Windows isn't happy...

You could also just boot to a live Linux USB - you wouldn't even need to install it.

I wouldn't even know where to begin doing that, and know what to look for.

[Saltgrass]

MaKo82 wrote:
I wouldn't even know where to begin doing that, and know what to look for.

I have a different motherboard version, but if it is freezing, do you have the LED number lights, and if so what number does it stop on.

Yesterday, my system decided to freeze during just booting and it showed the number 54, which was a reference to not being able to initialize memory.

I set my Bios back to memory auto settings and it started booting. I had been running it with XMP.