Huge problems, can't even clean install because of BSOD

hi there

i had a running desktop gaming pc running with Win11.
It run well, but because a game started to crash a lot i decided to make a clean install of win11.

First of all i decided to upgrade the ME firmware and the BIOS firmware (Asus ROG Strix Z790-E Gaming). I did so according to the Asus website and there were no errors, the new versions also are now displayed in the BIOS.
But after upgrading the BIOS the PC didn’t start and just resulted in blue screens (Page_Fault_in_nonpaged_area, Kmode Exception not handled, System Thread Exception not handled, NTFS_File_System, …and many other different errors).
So I decided to do a clean install with USB-stick using the media creation tool.
Also there where some errors in the setup process, but when pressing OK they sometime disappeared and it continued. But as soon as it starts to copy files (step 2 in the installation process) the BSOD come back with the exact same error as when trying to boot from the SSD.

In all this process i never opened the PC or did something on the hardware side. Meanwhile I also pressed the clear cmos button on the mainboard, that had no impact as far as i can tell.
Then i decided to downgrade the BIOS to an older version, that also worked but suddenly the Win11 setup says that my PC ist not compatible with Win11, but this is a high-end PC who already run with Win11.
So I decided to erase the SSD within the BIOS and made an USB-stick with the media tool with Win10, just to be sure. But still the same Kmode and other exceptions are happening.

I’m stuck and I just want a clean install that my kid can play again. Right now, I can’t even boot or anything, the SSD is probably empty and no installation works and I also have no running OS to do something there.

I would really love if someone can give me a hint what I can do. I have no clue what to do next.
thank you so very much

Hello,

It would be helpful to find out what errors are generated by the Clean Install.
Perhaps you could run the Clean Install again, and find out.
Erase the SSD like before, and clean install Windows 11 using the USB stick.

sometimes the setup process doesn't even start, it stops before the first screen appears (last time it was the Kmode_exception_not_handled), sometimes it starts, i can selected the language, the version and the SSD where to install and then BSOD appears in the second step where it copies data (also with different error messages).
Is there a way to downgrade the ME firmware on the mainboard without an working Windows installation. That is one thing i could do, because i updated that (but it actually went well and gave no errors)

Well, your Original Post says there were no errors after Updating the ME firmware. SO I would just leave it as it is. Intel say that downgrading the ME is only possible if the Motherboard manufacturer allows it. You would have to contact your motherboard support, to find out.

correct there were no errors while or after upgrading the ME firmware. But just to be sure i wanted to set it as it was before

You could downgrade the BIOS, as you said that also had no errors. Then Clean Install Windows, if it lets you.

psinferno said:

So I decided to erase the SSD within the BIOS

Click to expand...

What does this mean, you erased ssd in bios. The partitions on the drive are deleted during the install process. During the install process is a step where you remove all partitions and clean install windows on unallocated space. Step 11 here.
Clean Install Windows 11 Clean Install Windows 11 Tutorial

The first thing I would do is test the ram. Download free version of Memtest86 and make a bootable usb drive. Boot from the drive and run 4 passes. It takes hours for 32 gb so you can start it before you go to bed.
download here MemTest86 - Download now!
how to make bootable drive here MemTest86 - Creating a MemTest86 boot disk in Windows

If nothing shows up there, the next thing to consider would be your graphics card.
Question: Did you build this rig yourself? If so did you stress test it and monitor temps when you built it?

+ How did you create the install USB? Where did you get the Windows 11 ISO from?
Are you running XMP profile on the memory?

It sounds like a hardware problem not related to the BIOS upgrade at all. I would start by disassembling and cleaning the computer (blow all dust out with compressed air), fresh heat sink compound on the cpu, and reassembling.

ok i try to answer all the questions:

- i didn't build it myself. i chose the parts and a store assembled it for me. I bought it in November 2022, and it run smooth until yesterday.

- I used to run XMP Profile 1, but since it did not work with that i set the reset the bios to default, so no XMP as for now

- I used this memory checker already that is included in the bios (i believe it's the one mentioned above) and all tests were fine

- Yes, the setup process probably already formatted or deleted the ssd but I gave it another try in the bios to clean it from there

- i created the usb from the microsoft website using the media creation tool (Download Windows 11)

i really would love to to a clean install, but not even that works.

i uploaded two video, this is how it looks (but it's not always the same effect) when trying to clean install from usb stick

One video points towards incompatible UEFI, while the other video points towards hardware failure. You can make sure your UEFI is compatible with Windows 11 yourself. Otherwise, you are looking at a hardware failure.
Problem is, you get a different BSOD code every time, meaning pin-pointing the exact cause is going to be difficult. The only thing that appears consistent is WHEN the BSODs occur - like, when it goes to actually install the OS.
If it is a hardware failure, you might want to check your shop warranty, as you bought the machine ready built.

today i took out the GPU and tired with only onboard gpu and then i took out each RAM but the result is still the same.
So my guess would be that there is something wrong with the mainboard.
I will take it to the pc dealer tomorrow, there should be warranty for it

When I built a Asus Rog Strix Z790-F Gaming for a friend recently... I could not get the DDR5 5600 to run at any XMP profile setting, only what the motherboard auto set!
Any other setting would cause Windows 11 to crash straight away on startup.
Have you tried lowering the DDR5 mem to 4400 speed? which should be default for CPU memory controller?

psinferno said:

today i took out the GPU and tired with only onboard gpu and then i took out each RAM but the result is still the same.
So my guess would be that there is something wrong with the mainboard.
I will take it to the pc dealer tomorrow, there should be warranty for it

Click to expand...

It doesn't happen often but it could be that the new drive has failed. Still, better to take it back under warranty.

very strange right now.
It was not the GPU since I took that out. The same for the RAM.
At the store where i bought it they changed the SSD (just took a new one from the same model), the same happend. Still bluesscreen.
Then I went home and they tried different things. apparently they tried with a new mainboard as well and still the same bluescreens (I'm not sure if I can believe that). They also checked the cpu and this worked fine as well...so it's not the gpu, not the ram, not the mainboard, not the ssd, not the cpu...what else can it be? the power supply?
but i just learned that in this store they are not real pc specialists. they are more like salesman who can assembly a pc and do basic stuff like changing RAM, install new SSD and stuff like that, but when it gets more complicated they're not as good as i thought.

psinferno said:

apparently they tried with a new mainboard as well

Click to expand...

I'll bet a dollar to a donut they either didn't change it or they flashed the new one with the same uefi bios that possibly bricked yours. More than likely the former.

Not sure what you said to the store but if they managed to replicate the fault after replacing the ssd, they should have admitted there is a problem with your purchase. Surprised if they hadn't checked the power supply. It has got to be either the mainboard or the power supply, given there is such a large system instability (you get different BSOD every time, which is a clue that the system is basically unstable.) I would go back to them and challenge their service and say that you are not happy that they hadn't managed to find the fault with what is essentially their own system build. Surely now the fault is not your responsibility?

yes i was there in the store for two hours.
first the guy said it's pretty obvious that it has to be the SSD after I explained to him what I already did and tried.
So he changed the SSD to a brand new one for free (because of the warranty) and tried to clean install windows with his own usb-stick. that didn't work (same bluescreens i saw) then he thought that his usb-stick is bad. then he tried another usb-stick...same problem. then his manager said to run diskpart and clean the new ssd completely (which it already should be since it is new, right?). still same problem. After that i had to go home.
then he apparently took the SSD and installed Win11 on it on a different PC and put it back into mine. It worked for five minutes, then again the bluescreen. after that he apparently changed the mainboard, still the same bluescreen and after that he apparently took out the CPU and tested it in another PC and there were no problems with the CPU.
Now he doesn't know what to do anymore.

psinferno said:

Now he doesn't know what to do anymore.

Click to expand...

First of all, the guy at the store should have begun by doing his own troubleshooting, rather than going only on what you told him you had already tried. In reality, IMO the only component you 100% proved is not causing the issue is your GPU since it happens using integrated graphics. At this point all further troubleshooting should have been done with the GPU out of the machine and all overclocking turned off.

The problem started with the bios flash. To verify that the bios flash was not the root of the problem, per the motherboard manual, the bios could have been re-flashed with the previous bios using Asus EZ flash 3 utility. As far as reversing the ME firmware, I do not think there is any way to do that within the bios. It's an Intel chip on the motherboard.

It is common practice to see if a machine will boot by installing only one ram stick in the slot closest to the CPU which is normally the controlling slot ( I can not say if that is 100% true on the Asus Rog though) If it won't boot replace the stick with one of the others. But to know all the ram is 100% good the only way to know is using a long run of Memtest. The test in the bios does not run all the extensive algorithms and test patterns that Memtest does and proves little.

From there, the issue can be only one of 3 things. Motherboard, CPU, PSU.

If it's a big box store, and the guy can't figure it out and really wants to, he can reverse trouble shoot the problem as he has shelf access to every replacement component in the PC. After testing and replacing components as described above, as a last resort, he can replace all the components at once if he's not a good enough tech to pinpoint the problem. If all is well, he can then begin to swap each component with your components ONE AT A TIME.

I would have doubts as to what he actually did. You can go only by what he tells you unless you were watching him do it.

That's one of the drawbacks when you deal with custom builds. Outside of any store warranty period, the responsibility for the hardware after the sale falls back on the buyer, not the builder, to work out any warrantied replacement parts with the manufacturer. This would be especially true since everything worked for 9 months and chances are the store warranty has run out. I've read threads here where owners have ended up returning multiple parts to the various manufacturers to get them replaced before the culprit of the problem was actually found. It takes tons of time, work and downtime when one has to deal with it this way, but it is what it is.

The way I see it, you have 2 options. Pay whatever the store charges for such an endeavor or change the parts out yourself, keeping meticulous notes along the way. If you do it without dealing with replacements direct from the manufacturer, you could well end up with un-needed parts on your hands if you buy the parts from the store unless they agree to take back any parts that don't fix the problem. I would think that would be rare since they could no longer sell the parts you return as new.
I don't envy you either way.

You might contact Asus technical support to see if they can offer any assistance in directing you. Official Support | ASUS USA

Hopefully someone else can offer further insights.

Best of luck.