New build has issues booting

Hi guys, just found this place, hopefully you can help with my annoying issues!

Built a new PC in the week. Specs are:
MSI Z77A-G43, Intel Z77 Motherboard
Intel Core i5 3570K,1155, Ivy Bridge CPU
8GB (2x4GB) Corsair DDR3 RAM
60GB OCZ Technology Vertex (used for Windows 7)
1TB Seagate Barracuda (used for data, music, games etc)
500W Silverstone SST-ST50F-ES Power Supply
1GB XFX Radeon HD 7850

Got Windows installed the other night, no problems. Went through and installed all the drivers etc, and everything was fine. Tested Steam, iTunes, all good. Shut it down for the night.

The next day, it wouldnt boot to Windows. It would get (at most) as far as the Windows Loading splash screen, then reset itself. It would get to a different point in booting every time, but always rebooted itself. Eventually got it to Windows. Installed updates, checked drivers etc. It would reboot on command and load back up, 100% fine. Thought i had solved it.

The next day, same thing. Tried taking USB keyboard and mouse out, and this didnt help. Well, it would reboot three more times, then would boot into Windows again fine without them plugged in. Again, changed drivers, updated things. PC would reboot when i told it to and load up again with no problems. Turning it on an hour later was also fine.

This morning. Reboot loop again. Sometimes getting as far as desktop for a split second, then rebooting. So i formatted the SSD, reinstalled Windows, reinstalled all the drivers and again, everything was up to date and would reboot on command. Even boot up an hour later.
I went out 4 hours ago, just got in and it wouldnt turn on again. Rebooted 6 or 7 times, and then finally let me in. Im typing this post on the PC now.
The annoying thing is, i can make changes, but wouldnt know if it made any difference unless i turned the machine off for a good few hours.

Does anyone have any ideas?
Many thanks!

Troubleshooting Windows 7 Failure to Boot

Hope this helps,

Harry

Sounds like a faulty PSU. It just isn't supplying enough power until it warms up, which takes several reboots, works fine after it is warm and for some period of time after it gets warmed up.

Test by replacing it with another. I know who has multiple PSUs sitting around.

I've been through a lot of the things in that list already, with no joy.

The PSU answer sounds like it could be a possibility. As i say, its fine an hour or so after shutting down, but any longer and it takes a few boots, which would match what you say about needing to get more power.

I'll need to find another PSU from somewhere to test it!

Make sure you also followed the Best Practices for Win7 install as given in Clean Reinstall - Factory OEM Windows 7 which are same for retail. If you are handling drivers the same as for XP then it is not correct.

Try wiping the HD with Diskpart Clean Command before next reinstall to clear any bad boot code.

gregrocker said:

Make sure you also followed the Best Practices for Win7 install as given in Clean Reinstall - Factory OEM Windows 7 which are same for retail. If you are handling drivers the same as for XP then it is not correct.

Try wiping the HD with Diskpart Clean Command before next reinstall to clear any bad boot code.

Thats useful, thankyou. I have found a spare (smaller) PSU which i will try in the next day or two - if there are enough connectors! But if that doesnt work, i will follow this to the letter.
I wasnt far off doing this anyway, with the only drivers i manually installed being the ATI GPU drivers and one from the MOBO disc.

Did you wait to see which GPU and mobo drivers Win7 wanted you to use via optional Updates after enabling Automatically get recommended drivers and updates for your hardware ?

If you have the full chipset installed by the installer and subsequent Updates then I'd run with that for awhile to see if using the drivers Win7 wants helps.

Of course you want to supply a GPU driver if you're left with only Standard VGA, but otherwise I'd also run with what Win7 gives first.

gregrocker said:

Did you wait to see which GPU and mobo drivers Win7 wanted you to use via optional Updates after enabling Automatically get recommended drivers and updates for your hardware ?

If you have the full chipset installed by the installer and subsequent Updates then I'd run with that for awhile to see if using the drivers Win7 wants helps.

Of course you want to supply a GPU driver if you're left with only Standard VGA, but otherwise I'd also run with what Win7 gives first.

I didn't, to be honest, no. There were a number of exclamation marks in device manager which the mobo driver disc sorted. And it was Standard VGA to start with, but I correctly installed the ATI drivers.

Would it even boot at all though if there were problems with these drivers? When it does finally fully boot, it works flawlessly. And i can restart the machine with no issues.

Apologies if this is all basic stuff, its been a good 5+ years since my last PC build.

Layback Bear said:

You power supply is at the bare minimum watts and amps for you video care.
Your card is 500W and 34 amps and the video card requires 30 amps minimum.
You would be working a Silverstone way to hard. I doubt it can handle the job.
I would recommend a Corsair or Seasonic 750 W or higher.

Interesting. Yeah, a bigger PSU might be the solution.