Cannot install windows (any version)

savemejebus

Hey all,

Wondering if any of you have come across something like this and can make any suggestions. Apologies in advance for the long post.

I put together a 6600k build the other day and boots into bios fine, everything is detected, all fans spin etc. but no matter what I try I can't get windows to install.

In windows 10 it hangs at the spinning dots under the blue window logo.
In windows 7 it hangs at the coloured dots spinning it.

I get this same behaviour whether i'm installing from DVD or USB. I've tried changing the bios to legacy boot, disabling fast boot, disabling secure boot, updating to the latest bios and everything else I could think of and google but no joy.

I've also started a Win 7 build in another machine and transferred the hdd in at the first reboot point but then it just hangs on the 'starting windows' page (although it did boot further when I tried safe mode).

I've gone through 5 different usb 2 and usb 3 flash drives and still zilch.

I have also removed the discrete gfx and wifi card to see if they were causing an issue.

I'm not sure what to think now, whether it could be an issue with either the motherboard, memory or cpu. Any of you guys experienced anything like this?

The build has the following components:
6600k
Intel stock heatsink from 2500k (temporary as pump on Liquid freezer 120 was doa)
Asus Z170-a
32 gb Crucial Ballistix Sport DDR4 2400
Zotac 1070 GTX amp edition
TP link pcie wifi card
Samsung 840 evo 240gb
EVGA supernova 850 g2

ReZonator

Have you tried booting the PC with the minimum hardware you need? I would try just one stick of ram, and if that doesn't work swap it to a different slot. Make sure you have AHCI selected in the BIOS.

savemejebus

Tried that alright, no joy.

ReZonator

I suppose the next thing I would try is booting a Linux distro, and if you get that far, try installing it. You could run a RAM test from there to rule out the memory. If the memory is ok I would suspect it's your motherboard.

savemejebus

Tried an old version of linux mint but it didn't boot all the way through although I thought that could be a driver support issue so I'll try a newer one tomorrow. I was able to boot the ultimate boot cd and run some stress tests from that though.

ReZonator

Try using memtest86 on the RAM.

savemejebus

Have gone through one full pass but as you can imagine it took ages with 32gb so will run it overnight and see.

savemejebus

So I think I've found the problem, the cpu.

After Memtest ran successfully all night I started thinking about the cpu and when googling that saw some folks mentioning cpu stability issues that disappeared when cores were disabled.

I decided to see if that would have any effect for me and it turns that if I only enable one core my problem disappears, windows 10 installs without a hitch.

Tried running with 3 cores enabled and two cores enabled but problem reoccurs.

Never had a faulty processor before.

ED E

savemejebus wrote: »

Have gone through one full pass but as you can imagine it took ages with 32gb so will run it overnight and see.

Take our all but one stick and work with it until you get it booting.

Xenoronin

Sounds really odd. RMA the CPU. If you end up with similar problems on a new CPU then I'd think the board is in some way to blame. You could also try reseating the CPU before sending it back. There is a possibility that some pins are damaged.

savemejebus

Xenoronin wrote: »

Sounds really odd. RMA the CPU. If you end up with similar problems on a new CPU then I'd think the board is in some way to blame. You could also try reseating the CPU before sending it back. There is a possibility that some pins are damaged.

Yeah, checked the pins and no visible damage so it's gone back to amazon for a refund..now tempted to replace it with a 7600k as the difference in price is only about 15 quid ... decisions decisions :pac:

justsomebloke

Does the board need a BIOS update for 7600K support and do you need a CPU in the motherboard to do the BIOS upgrade if needed?

savemejebus

justsomebloke wrote: »

Does the board need a BIOS update for 7600K support and do you need a CPU in the motherboard to do the BIOS upgrade if needed?

Luckily I've upgraded to the latest bios while troubleshooting the boot issue. Though afaik the board has a facility to upgrade bios without cpu buried in its feature list.

savemejebus

To follow up on this, turns out it was the CPU. Got a 7600k and it's flying now. Gotta say it's the worst luck i've had on a build ever. DOA Arctic Cooling Liquid Freezer and faulty processor.

My own fault with the processor, I went for a 'very good' condition one on amazon warehouse but fair play to them, they sorted it and I was refunded within a week.