PC won't restart

[Bagel3000]

Hello. Just found this forum and am really hoping someone can help me out here. I was having a problem with my PC not restarting with an external SSD connected. I’m new to PC (used a Mac most of my life) and had no idea that when I do a clean install of Windows 10, I need to disconnect all USB drives so… I re-re-installed Windows with no devices connected and was advised to make sure my BIOS/UEFI settings were configured correctly so I went into my BIOS and poked around in the ‘boot’ settings and… long story short, now my computer won’t restart at all. I can start it by pressing the button on the front but to install software, it seems like a bad idea to keep doing that.

I’m an old guy and I don’t understand what RAID controllers (if that’s a thing) or even what BIOS are… so if someone could please explain in very simple terms what the ‘start up management’ or boot sequence should look like, I would really appreciate it.

Thank you.

[phillpower2]

Hello Bagel3000,

The good news is that you do not need to concern yourself with RAID unless you actually installed RAID drivers when you installed Windows.

If the below does not help we are going to need the brand and model name or number of the motherboard as a starting point.

[COLOR=rgb(226, 80, 65)]Disconnect any external storage devices from the computer until this is sorted.

Try restoring the MBs default factory settings in the BIOS, they are sometimes listed as one of the following " factory defaults" “most stable” or on newer boards “optimized” please note that if you have both the “most stable” and the “optimized” options in the BIOS you should choose the most stable" option as in this instance the “optimized” settings are a form of overclocking that can cause instability.[/COLOR]

[Bagel3000]

Thank you! The ‘factory defaults’ worked! After two days of frustration… it actually restarted once I reset it and re-connected my SSD drive. Thanks again… wish I had found this place sooner!

[phillpower2]

Glad we could help and thanks for letting us know that the issue was resolved (y)

You are welcome btw