Windows Not Booting After Reverting Overclock

TONPumper · 30 Dec 2017

A few months ago, I performed a light overclock with Easytune on my CPU to increase the speed to 4.5 GHz. I wasn't noticing much of a difference in the performance over the few months, so I attempted to restore it back to the default 4.4 GHz using Easytune. I clicked on the 4.4 option and the computer rebooted, but the computer was unable to get past the Windows logo. I did a forced shutdown and was able to get into safe mode, where I uninstalled APP Center, Easytune, @bios, and SIV. I also used Revo Uninstaller to cleanup leftover files in the registry and in the AppData folder; however, when I rebooted, I got the same result. I tried going back into safe mode and disabling all of the non-microsoft programs and services at startup, which allowed me to get past the Windows logo, but the computer immediately froze as it was signing into the user account. I went into the BIOS settings to see how they looked and all of the voltage and frequency settings were set to auto. I also restored the settings to optimized default, but my computer was still freezing. I also tried to do a power drain on the system (switch off the power supply and hold the power button for 30 seconds) but it did not help. The only option I had was to reformat the drive and reinstall a fresh copy of Windows. My question is, why did this happen? It seems like it was caused by a piece of software--possibly a driver--installed on the OS, but I thought that Easytune just made adjustments to the BIOS settings and nothing else.

Mellon Head · 31 Dec 2017

Easytune most probably included a driver or two in order to function. AMD's Overdrive overclocking software does, so I would suspect that this sort of thing is pretty common.

I can't really tell you specifically what caused your system to hang, other than it's possibly a driver problem as above, or else the install was somehow corrupted by the OC or the revert from it.

I can, however, give you a little bit of advice. If you are going to overclock your PC, it's best to do it by making adjustments in the BIOS yourself, and not relying on overclocking software or utilities (the exception to this is OCing a graphics card, as there is no way to get at the GPU through BIOS.) Make the adjustments in baby steps, and make sure you have adequate cooling (something better than the stock cooler, as an example).

Overclocking utilities are often responsible for damaging hardware as they find their optimal settings. I have found this out from reading posts and overclocking articles on overclock forums. I suggest that if you plan to OC again, that you find an OC forum on the web and read, read, read until you know a lot about the subject.

Best of luck.

TONPumper · 31 Dec 2017

One site suggested turning off secure boot in the BIOS as well, which I can try tomorrow. I just find it weird that the flash drive with Windows on it freezes while loading. I've tried reloading the Windows ISO on the flash drive but got the same result with it freezing.

TONPumper · 04 Jan 2018

All I had to do is manually set the frequency to 4.5 instead of it being on auto.