Motherboard Problems

essenbe said:

Hi wvman man I am sorry you are having such problems with your computer. If you would like to continue trying to fix it, I have some questions and some observations.

If you can boot into your Linux OS, I find it highly unlikely you have a motherboard problem. Perhaps a bad setting in bios, but the board is apparently working.

Do you have Windows and Linux on the same hard drive or are they on separate drives? And are you dual booting or do the drives boot independently of each other? Will your Linux boot if you remove the Windows drive? I am assuming from your above post (yes I know what happens when You assume things) they are on separate drives.

Have you tried to boot into safe mode? If you could try that it could be helpful. If you try please select the option of safe mode with networking. If you are successful, try to let it run for a little while.
Boot into Safe Mode on Windows 10 | Tutorials

Boot to Advanced Startup Options in Windows 10 | Tutorials

Could you give us some detailed system specs? I looked up your model computer and the info I found said you are running a Core 2 Quad CPU. Would that be close?

What happened immediately before this problem started? Did you change some hardware, install some new/different software or drivers?

What sata mode are you using (IDE/AHCI or Raid)? Have you tried to set optimized defaults in your bios? It is usually F5 on most boards. If you try that make sure afterwards you set it to the same sata mode you are using right now.

I have tried everything I can and all I get is "windows encountered a problem and needs to restart or you need to use windows repair". Round and round I go. I am dual booting on a 1tb HD.
Can't get past "windows encountered a problem". Can't get into safe mode or anything else. I used my W10 flash drive to install W10 on another drive on another computer. Installed HD in problem computer and immediately got "Windows encountered a problem.
I am junking this computer. I have spent more time and money than it is worth. I have wiped the two 1TB HD's to use on another computer. Computer is going into the dumpster.

Thanks to all who replied.

Did you put your profiles and user files on a separate drive? If so, how is that drive formatted and which OS did you use to format it? Are you using GPT partitions? I had a similar problem and it turned out to be UEFI related. You have to make sure both OS are in UEFI mode or you'll have troubles.

I just want to let everyone, who offered help, that I have solved my problem. I carried this computer out the door to throw in the dumpster 3 times & changed my mind each time. Yesterday I was setting here with no Dr's or Dentist appointments & no family matters to handle & nothing to do. So I decided to check this computer again after several weeks. I was finally able to get the Dell hardware diagnostics to open. Don't know why I could not get it to open before. But I let it run & after a long while it said I had a bad memory module or slot. I pulled one memory stick and let the diagnostics continue to run. After it finished I could install w10. After finding the code I was able to activate w10. I have also installed another stick & it still opens fine. I did try a third stick but got a long beep & several short ones so I am staying with the two for now. Will check it out later after i have this running right. I have been able to install Ubuntu 18.04 & have been installing Bookmarks & Passwords & other things to get it back to where I had it. I am in the process of cloning it to another drive now.

Thanks to everyone who offered help.

Thank you for responding with the fix. This will probably help someone else down the line.