As the title states, I've been having a particularly odd set of problems with my PC lately. It began approximately 2 weeks ago, with random and infrequent BSODs (usually "CRITICAL PROCESS FAILED" errors). Then, I noticed that any new files I downloaded from the internet or programs I installed would be completely gone after rebooting the system: it's as if my computer kept reverting to an earlier state without saying anything every time it got rebooted. Then, it progressed to the point that the computer was literally unusable: programs would not open (error message would pop up saying said program isn't compatible with my version of Windows), it would stutter horrifically, and it would BSOD after a few minutes. Finally, it had a crash I have never seen and it was not able to recover from: quick flash of a BSOD, followed by an unresponsive black screen with a blinking cursor in the upper left corner (like a command line interface).
My specs are as follows:
OS - Windows 10 Pro
CPU - Ryzen 5 3600
Motherboard - Gigabyte Aorus B450 Pro WiFi (rev. 1.0), UEFI version F50
Video Card - MSI Mech OC RX 5700XT
Memory - Corsair Vengeance RGB Pro DDR4-3200 non-buffered non-EEC, 2x16GB
C Drive - TCSunbow 480GB SSD
D Drive - Sandisk Ultra 512GB SSD
Things I have tried:
- Swapping RAM DIMMs to other pair of slots
- Swapping in known good RAM
- Reinstalling previous CPU (Ryzen 3 2200G)
- Reinstalling previous video card (RX 570)
- Disconnecting D Drive
- Switching SATA jack C Drive is connected to
- Disconnecting power supply and removing CMOS battery for 15 minutes
- Replacing CMOS battery
- Reflashing UEFI
- Doing a total fresh reinstall of Windows on the C drive
The fresh reinstall (using USB boot device created using Microsoft's tool on another computer) worked, kinda. The install process goes completely smoothly, and I can get in and actually use Windows for about 2 minutes. It defaults to a resolution of 1024x768, and changing it to 1920x1080 (my monitor's resolution) or anything else will cause the computer to freeze – after ~2 minutes, it will switch the resolution on its own and freeze. I will hear the system sound that plays when you disconnect something repeat every 5-10 seconds, and the screen will just show the desktop (no mouse cursor, either). After a short period, the screen will go black and the sound will continue to repeat. If I hard restart, I get the Windows logo for a few seconds until it cuts to a black screen (no sound this time).
I've searched for days but I cannot find a fix. Is it the SSD I'm using for my C drive bad? Is my motherboard bad? Power supply? I just don't know at this point.
sfc /scannow. If it does not fix then try using dism:dism /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth. Update device drivers and uninstall any recent windows 10 updates.