Windows 10: BSoD has Incapacitated Computer - Cannot Reboot

**Writer** · 05 Jan 2018

I'm sending the Rufus Screen Capture as an Attachment. This is the only way I was able to do it. (At bottom of Post)

The underlined sentence below is from zbook:
Power on the computer > as soon as you see the Microsoft icon > power off, etc.
The situation here is that I don't get the Microsoft icon; all I get is the Dell Logo Splash Screen; I then get a dash in the upper left-hand corner.

I tried this method with the Dell Logo page, but it didn't work.

I replaced the CMOS Battery with a brand-new one (CR2032 3v), then I got the message:
Performing automatic IDE Configuration....

But that's as far as it got -- I waited for 15 minutes. Nothing happened after this point.

3 Ways to Reset Your BIOS - wikiHow

Following instructions on the above website, I reset the Jumper Switch on the Motherboard after removing the CMOS Battery. I tried booting after this operation, but nothing happened.

Now, when I press the F-12 Key on start-up, sometimes I get nothing, sometimes I get the Boot Device Menu, sometimes I get the following page:

Phoenix ROM BIOS PLUS Version 1.10.2.6.6
Copyright 1985-1988 Phoenix Technologies, Ltd.
Copyright 1990-2007 Dell Inc.
All Rights Reserved

Dell System OptiPlex 745 Series
BIOS version 2.6.6
http://www.Dell.com

Performing automatic IDE Configuration....

And this is where it freezes up.

I often do not get anything when I press the F-12 key or the F-2 key.

**Ztruker** · 05 Jan 2018

The Rufus menu looks good so the flash drive should be okay.

Try rebooting or powering up and going into BIOS Setup (F2) then Load Defaults. Also set the date and time.
Does your hard drive show correctly in the BIOS display?
DOes it show in the Boot tab of the BIOS setup?

**Writer** · 05 Jan 2018

In Setup, Load Defaults is found under Maintenance. One has the option of resetting the system to the factory default settings. I chose this option, and a message came up that read: Factory Default Acknowledgement OK. So, it appears that the system has the factory default settings.

I set the date and the time.

Regarding where the Hard Drive shows: This is what I see:

Under the Boot Sequence in Setup "Onboard SATA Hard Disk" is listed.

When pressing F-2 and the Boot Device Menu comes up "Onboard SATA Hard Drive" is listed.

I don't know if these are the locations you are referring to.

There is no ON/OFF switch on the computer; there is only a button to press that starts it.
When I power-down, I pull the plug. It's the only way I know how to turn it off.

**Ztruker** · 05 Jan 2018

The Dell web site says that Service Code (4T97CD1) is for a OptiPlex 745 Desktop. #3 is the power button.

Click image for larger version.

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Is there anything else connected to your computer other than the display, mouse and keyboard. If yes, disconnect it. Unplug your Ethernet cable as well. Really not needed until after the install completes.

**Writer** · 06 Jan 2018

I bought another Lexar 16 GB 2.0 Flash Drive. I am now downloading Windows 10 ISO again. A Techie at Malwarebytes wrote in an email that I should try another Download because the first one might be corrupted.

It won't finish downloading until after midnight, so I'll try to boot with it tomorrow. After the attempt, I'll post with the results.

I tried booting with the Flash Drive plugged into one of the Front USB Ports, but it didn't boot.

I don't have any other devices connected to the BSoD computer; the Printer, Speakers, and the Ethernet are all unplugged.

A woman salesclerk at Office Depot told me that I could bring in the BSoD computer and that they would boot it with a Flash Drive free of charge. She seemed confident that they would be successful in booting it.

I asked what software they had on the Flash Drive, and she wouldn't tell me. I asked if it was Windows 10 ISO alone or in combination with Rufus. She told me that there were many types of software that can be used to boot from a Flash Drive. I would bet that she didn't know what kind of software was on the Flash Drive; all she knew was that you plugged it in, and the computer booted.

After booting it, she said they would do a diagnostics check on the computer's software. I'm sure that if they discovered any bad software that they would offer to sell me a replacement.

**Ztruker** · 06 Jan 2018

Lets go over the steps to create the flash drive one more time.

1. Download or copy the Windows 10 ISO to the Windows 7 computer. This is the ISO you get via the Media Creation Tool.
1. Insert the flash drive into a USB port.
2. Start Rufus.
3. Browse to the Windows 10 ISO and select it.
4. Select MBR partition scheme for BIOS or UEFI in the Partition scheme and target system type drop down.
5. Make sure the flash drive is selected in the Device drop down.
6. Click on Start.

**Ztruker** · 06 Jan 2018

I just downloaded the WIndows 10 Home 64 bit:

Win10_1709_English_x64.iso it's sha256 value is 2db4cd9934ee41c25c382a9b7ac361085d1cc0cd45f7651b5c0adfbc418c8ce5

I used Hash Check Shell Extension to generate the sha256 value. It adds a Create Checksum File choice to your right click Context Men. Works from Vista on up. You can check the ISO you downloaded against the value I show and see if they match. I used Option Three: To Directly Download Windows 10 ISO from Microsoft. That should tell you if you have a corrupted ISO or not.

**Writer** · 07 Jan 2018

I just downloaded the WIndows 10 Home 64 bit:

Win10_1709_English_x64.iso it's sha256 value is 2db4cd9934ee41c25c382a9b7ac361085d1cc0cd45f7651b5c0adfbc418c8ce5

I used Hash Check Shell Extension to generate the sha256 value. It adds a Create Checksum File choice to your right click Context Men. Works from Vista on up. You can check the ISO you downloaded against the value I show and see if they match. I used Option Three: To Directly Download Windows 10 ISO from Microsoft. That should tell you if you have a corrupted ISO or not.

I went to Hash Check Shell Extension, but I could not find a starting point. There was no "Step-by-Step" as to how this App is to be used.

There's just an outside chance that the ISO File is corrupted; however, at this point, I am ready to check out everything.

Now, whenever I try to boot the BSoD computer, all I get is the message: Performing automatic IDE Configuration....

And then it freezes up. In can no longer get anything when pressing the F-12 or F-2 Keys. At his point, the situation looks bleak. I don't think the people at Office Depot would be able to boot it using a Flash Drive. They most likely have Windows 10 ISO either alone or in conjunction with Rufus.

With my limited knowledge, I would guess that the Hard Drive needs to be replaced. If that is the case, I think I would be better off just buying a different computer.

Something that puzzles me is why my anti-virus software (Windows Defender & Malwarebytes Antimalware) were not able to detect the BSoD software and delete it. I'll have to find out what one does when one gets one of the BSoD screens; the ones that say that there has been an error and the computer has to be restarted. It cooly states that they'll take care of the restarting for you. Then gradually, more and more BSoD screens appear with various messages until, finally, as in my case, the computer is completely locked up.

In the future, I'll have to address any BSoD screens immediately since they appear to multiply if you don't do anything.

**Ztruker** · 07 Jan 2018

Just install Hash Check Shell Extension. As I said, It adds a Create Checksum File choice to your right click Context Menu. You right click on the ISO you downloaded, select Create Checksum File, specify where you want it to be written then click Save. The program runs and the files is written where you told it to be written. It defaults to the same folder the ISO is in. Mine had a filetype of .sha256 so I had to tell Windows what to open it with. If you tell the program to call it .txt that makes it easier. Otherwise, right click on the sha256 file and select Open with and select Notepad.

A better choice is Ray Lin's MD5 & SHA Checksum Utility . No installation is required. Just download and run it. Use the SoftPedia download link as Cnet basically sucks.

Boot into Setup using F2. On the Maintenance page, Load Defaults which Restores system setup options to their factory defaults.
Under Post behavior, turn off Fast boot for now so you can see all messages during boot. Maybe something will show that helps id the problem.

Set boot Sequence to:

Onboard SATA Hard Drive
USB Device
Onboard or USB CD-ROM Drive

Disable (Press the spacebar to enable or disable a device. (Enabled devices have a checkmark.))
Onboard or USB Floppy Drive
Onboard Network Controller

Press F10 to save and exit. See if it boots now.

**Writer** · 07 Jan 2018

I am now downloading another copy of Windows 10 OSI; this will take to later this evening. So I have to wait for the download to complete before I can switch my cables over to the BSoD computer.

By the way, the last time I attempted to boot the BSoD computer, I was not able to get any response from tapping the F-12 and F-2 Keys. That means that I can't perform any of the changes you suggest in your above post.

I'll give booting another try tomorrow afternoon after I run a few errands.

It appears that whatever kind of bug the BSoD software contains has totally incapacitated my computer. I am now looking into buying another one.

Windows 10: BSoD has Incapacitated Computer - Cannot Reboot

@Ztruker & @zbook

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@Ztruker & @zbook

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