HELP PLEASE
Hey guys, my brother is having a problem with his PC.
Whenever it boots up, he gets an error of ""Windows failed to start. A recent hardware or software change might be the cause."
First thing we thought was that it was the memory since he switched it out last week, so we ran memory diagnostics and no errors.
It started after he installed the Diablo 3 Beta, so we figured to do a complete format and then reinstall windows completely. Problem still occurs.
Ran memory diagnostic again and then crystaldiskinfo to see if theres any bad HDD sectors, and no problems.
This occurs every time he starts the computer and all he has to do is click "start windows normally" and it boots up fine.
Any idea? We're at a loss.
Specs:
X4 640 3.0ghz, no overclock
Asus M5A78L-M LX PLUS Socket AM3+ 760G mATX
Evga 460gtx 768mb
500gb Samsung HDD
XMS3 8gb 1600mhz RAM
500w StealthxStream OCZ Power Supply
Temperatures of key components (e.g., CPU, GPU, northbridge) and/or the inside of the case -- also, whether or not you're overclocking and/or using exotic (i.e. water-) cooling
No overclocking. Temps at about 35C idle. 55C under intelburn test load. GPU at 40C idle.
The voltages everything is running at
Everything stock
How long you've had your computer for
A little over over a year.
Whether or not you've tried diagnosing the problem already (e.g., from software, by finding a solution online), and (if so) what the results were
Reinstalled windows after formatting HDD. Ran Windows Memory Diagnostic, IntelBurn Test and returned no errors. There is no error code when booting up. Just a black screen stating the message "Windows Failed to start" with two options of starting Windows Repair or starting windows normally.