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Recurring boot problems on new build


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echet

echet

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Back in May/June I built a new computer. It ran very well, without any major problems until a few weeks ago. I had booted my computer and found that there was no text being displayed at all. Not under the desktop icons, not in the right-click menus, not the task manager. The start menu wouldn't work and I couldn't get a command window open. The same things happened in safe mode as well. I didn't have the patience to deal with it at the time so I just re-installed the OS. I have a separate SSD for the OS so I didn't lose any data, making the decision to re-install easier.

After a few weeks of working well again, the other day my computer wouldn't boot into Windows. I use Win 7 Ultimate 64-bit. Safe mode wouldn't work either. For lack of troubleshooting options, I just re-installed again.

Now, the first time having to start over can be dismissed as a fluke, but after a second time, I'm starting to think something is wrong. How can I determine if my problem is related to the install of the OS iteself, or if there is some hardware failure causing this? Like I said, I have a SSD dedicated to the OS and maybe that contains errors. Also, every now and then, the display driver would crash. Most of the time it recovered but a few times it resulted in a blue screen, even though I had the most updated drivers.

So, I'm torn between thinking the problem is Windows, the SSD or the graphics card. I wanted to check the GPU by removing it and then booting, since I know my motherboard has onboard video. But I couldn't find a port for a monitor plug.

Is there some kind of software that will let me run a diagnostic on my hardware? CHKDSK says there are no errors on the SSD, but I'm not sure I'd trust that. Any help or advice is appreciated.
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