Sick PC, Need Suggestions

[SonofEil]

My PC is not well and has been getting worse for over a year. It seems to correlate to major Windows 10 updates. With the most recent update Windows no longer auto-detects my Samsung Odyssey, I have to unplug the USB and plug it back in to get Windows MR and the Odyssey to start up. But this is just the most recent in a long list of worsening symptoms that I've been unable to successfully troubleshoot and mitigate.

 

I guess my question is this: How do I get competent service for my PC, preferably someone to come to my home and go hands-on with my rig? Is there a widely trusted (US-based) organization that performs such a service?

 

Drivers are updated semi-regularly and this computer is used only by myself almost exclusively for DCS. It has no exposure to questionable websites (other than this forum :smilewink:), scans come back clean and none of the problems point to infection that I can tell.

[Pilotasso]

Sounds like your PC is shutting down devices to save power. Try changing your power plan by disabling power saving freatures like USB or PCI devices.

 

[SonofEil]

Thanks for the suggestion Pilotasso. My USB selective suspend was in fact enabled. Unfortunately disabling it (and restarting computer) had no effect.

Other symptoms that have been worsening: Hover info and right-click menus are clear or take a very long time to populate. The contents of files loads very slowly, "Working on it..." displayed sometimes for minutes. And most concerning, I can no longer access my BIOS (or whatever it's called now). During startup the mobo logo doesn't show up anymore and repeatedly pressing DEL or ESC keys has no effect, computer boots straight to Windows login.

The good news is that none of this really affects my DCS performance. If I can get the Odyssey up and running then it's everything is normal within the sim.

Again, any ideas on who I can contact to have a look at my system?

[Pilotasso]

what power supply you have?

[SonofEil]

EVGA SuperNOVA 850W.

ASUS Maximus IX Hero mobo.

Built the system July/Aug 2017. Started noticing some of the above issues summer 2018 and just haven't had any luck at all troubleshooting. I've always monitored loads and temps closely and there's no indication of a hardware or cooling issue either.

Edited August 24, 2019 by SonofEil

[acid1216]

Thanks for the suggestion Pilotasso. My USB selective suspend was in fact enabled. Unfortunately disabling it (and restarting computer) had no effect.

Other symptoms that have been worsening: Hover info and right-click menus are clear or take a very long time to populate. The contents of files loads very slowly, "Working on it..." displayed sometimes for minutes. And most concerning, I can no longer access my BIOS (or whatever it's called now). During startup the mobo logo doesn't show up anymore and repeatedly pressing DEL or ESC keys has no effect, computer boots straight to Windows login.

The good news is that none of this really affects my DCS performance. If I can get the Odyssey up and running then it's everything is normal within the sim.

Again, any ideas on who I can contact to have a look at my system?

 

It sounds to me like you may have a dying hard drive. Weird stuff like USB devices acting up and slow access to file explorer or other menus are usually pretty tale tale. I would back up any documents or saved games you might have on it and then replace the hard drive. You can get a Samsung SSD 500Gb for about $60 right now. Of course then you have to reinstall Windows, but your licensing should carry over.

[Demon_]

Set your CPU at default speed, set your RAM at lower speed.

[BitMaster]

Your BIOS is set to FAST BOOT ( default ) thus you will not be able to enter BIOS unless you power it down and UNPLUG it from the wall/pull the plug on the PSU for 10 seconds. Once reconnected to the wall it will allow you to enter BIOS on the 1st Boot after that procedure, once only.

 

I suggest to deactivate FAST BOOT if you have a troubleshooting phase ahead.

 

 

Load Bios defaults with pressing F5 and then F10 to save & exit ( will again enable Fast Boot btw. ). Make your necessary changes, put your PC in HighPerformance powerplan in 10 and see if that helps.

 

If you havent done any maintenance on your 7700k / Hero combo, you have a few drivers to update along with the latest Bios. Running an Asus Z270 as well ( Prime series ) and the Bios' and drivers are very alike among them Asus boards.

 

If you dont dare to do it...yeah, you will need a service guy to stop by and do it for you.

You can do most of that stuff also via Teamviewer or any remote software, just Bios will be tricky. So "in house service" is to be preferred.

[SonofEil]

It sounds to me like you may have a dying hard drive. Weird stuff like USB devices acting up and slow access to file explorer or other menus are usually pretty tale tale.

I hope not but you may be correct. I have Samsung SSD’s currently installed, would be pretty disappointing if they're failing already.

Set your CPU at default speed, set your RAM at lower speed.

Excellent suggestion. It bizarrely hadn’t occurred to me to undo my overclock. Elementary troubleshooting right there.:doh:

Your BIOS is set to FAST BOOT...

Haha, well that explains a lot.

I did mobo and cpu driver updates late 2018 with no trouble. I’ll see what’s available.