Computer freezes at splash screen

[Frankie]

Hello
Not sure what this could be, but I seem to have an intermittent fault. Best way to describe it is that my Pc freezes on the splash screen once it has been shut down for a period of time. I then have to press the reset key on the tower and it boots up ok. Seems to only happen when it's been left shutdown for a period of time like all night. I'm doing a mem test at the moment. The computer is slightly overclocked using the XMP profile and a recommended over clock of the cpu by the boards inbuilt setting. Memtest has passed on one pass without errors so far, but I'll run it for a while.

Windows 764 bit
Z170x Gigabytye gaming 7
Skylake i7 6700k
2 x 8 gig Corsair Vengeance ram
1000 watt psu EVGA
Samsung SSD pro 500GB

[camerongray]

For now I'd recommend removing the overclock to eliminate it as a potential cause.  Make sure you note down the settings so you can redo it if desired in the future.

[Frankie]

This is still happening even without the overclock.  I've also tested the memory and that seem fine and I've reseated my cards and the memory sticks. Does anyone have any other  ideas what this might be?  Thanks!

[Calum]

What BIOS version is your board currently on?

[Frankie]

I have the latest Bios installed. I also  tried a windows 7 boot repair but it reported no errors. Do you think a driver could be causing this problem?

[Calum]

To confirm, which splash screen is it getting stuck on - the Windows 7 splash screen, or the BIOS splash screen?
If it's the BIOS splash screen, it's not a software issue and the most likely cause is that it's struggling to detect a drive.  Try unplugging any additional SATA drives like a storage HDD or your DVD drive, or try a different SATA cable, see if that makes any difference.  Also, make sure your SSD is on the latest firmware.
If it's hanging on the Windows 7 splash screen, try starting in safe mode - I know it's a bit awkward because you don't know exactly when this is going to happen, but try it when you think it would usually get stuck.  Alternatively, try enabling "OS Boot Information" in msconfig by going to start - run - type msconfig and press enter - go to the Boot tab - tick "OS Boot Information" and "Make all boot settings permanent".  This will show info about the drivers etc being loaded during startup, if you can see that it's hanging at the same point each time then this would help narrow down where the issue lies.

[Frankie]

This seems to happen when I switch my monitor to another monitor to display the desktop and then reboot. I'm having problems with windows splash screen not the BIOS one.

[patio]

What happens in safemode ? ?

Any Yellow !!'s in Device Manager ? ?

[Frankie]

What happens in safemode ? ?

Any Yellow !!'s in Device Manager ? ?

I am able to boot to desktop but I keep getting this random freeze.

No Yellow marks in Device Manager.

I'm going to keep an eye on my boot after changing that setting in MsConfig.

[patio]

What happens in safemode ? ?

[Frankie]

Alternatively, try enabling "OS Boot Information" in msconfig by going to start - run - type msconfig and press enter - go to the Boot tab - tick "OS Boot Information" and "Make all boot settings permanent".  This will show info about the drivers etc being loaded during startup, if you can see that it's hanging at the same point each time then this would help narrow down where the issue lies.

This is a bit strange. Since starting my PC in this mode I have not had a freeze on startup yet. What is the difference between the normal start up I have been using and this one that might have fixed thee problem?  I will continue testing in the mean time. Thanks!

I haven't really had a great deal of time to keep on testing it in Safe Mode, it started feezing that randomly it's hard to determine if it will always work in Safe Mode. The times I have had chance to test it though it has booted in Safe Mode, but I could say the same for booting it in normal mode where it has worked at times. Thanks!

[patio]

Safemode loads with minimal OS functions and generic Win drivers for all device...
Hence i suggest you have a driver issue...double check Device Manager...and do rollbacks on any device drivers you have recently installed.

[Frankie]

I have not had a freeze after doing what Callum suggested though which was to enable boot information in Ms Config. What is the difference between this type of boot mode and the normal one I was using when my Pc was freezing?

[Frankie]

So is there no difference between the boot mode Callum suggested and the one I was getting when my computer freezes? Does it only display the drivers when loading windows and nothing else?

[Calum]

So is there no difference between the boot mode Callum suggested and the one I was getting when my computer freezes? Does it only display the drivers when loading windows and nothing else?

Correct, there's no other difference.  The idea was to see what driver it was hanging on, so as to hopefully identify the culprit if it hung on the same driver each time.  So, unless you've made any other changes, the lack of freezing since changing that sounds more like a coincidence to me.