Windows won't start issue: heat?

[gkg101]

When I turned on my computer today, I got to the "Windows is starting" screen but there was no glowing icon - just the text frozen. I noted that the hard drive activity light barely flickered for a millisecond then lit up no more. Thinking a hard drive problem, tried to install Windows on a spare drive but got the same frozen "Windows is starting" screen. Then removed my GTX 660 and connected the monitor directly to motherboard video thinking a PSU issue, that a lighter load would help start Windows and diagnose the problem. No change. Then disconnected a USB hub and it's attached devices not expecting change because the removal of a video card should make a bigger difference than devices on a USB hub. But really surprised that Windows loaded and operated normally, at least playing videos. Then I checked Hardware monitor and the CPU at 61c idle! So i checked the CPU and observed caked on dust, lots of it in the groves of the the heat sink. I will clean everything and reseat CPU but my question is : is this a caked on dust the problem? I checked temps just a couple of days ago and it was 25c. The sequence of events doesn't make sense to me. Did removing the USB stuff make a difference, or was it coincidence. Or was it that the dust build up reached a threshold? To look at it, I'm thinking maybe because there is really a lot of dust buildup that I hadn't noticed before. So I'm gonna pick up thermal paste, but in the interim, I'd appreciate the sage enlightenment that I know certain members here are capable of bestowing.
[edit] well maybe dust isn't the issue because this happens at startup where I observed 45c in the bios after warm up.

 

[Thermonuclear]

Moar system specs! If you plug the USB stuff back in, does it stop starting up, again?

 

[gkg101]

Well system specs in signature, but guess you mean the hardware monitor specs and yes I will plug the USB stuff back in to see if Windows doesn't start again. And post some screen shots when I check how to do so properly. I'll post back.

 

[gkg101]

I reconnected my USB hub and its attached devices and Windows loaded just fine. Everything seems stable, although I haven't re-installed my GTX 660 yet. Here is a screen shot of Hardware monitor, computer at idle:

[edit} more information. I checked task manager and my CPU is at more than 50% usage and I'm not running any major applications... wow

 

[gkg101]

I'm not running any big applications but look at my usage. Maybe that accounts for higher than normal temps.

 

[Nexillus]

Those are the temps you are receiving at idle still? I would recommend a re-mount of the heatsink (of course clean it) and some new thermal paste.

 

[Deleted member 88227]

Looks like EVGAVoltageTuner is consuming 50% of your CPU. Uninstall it, see if your usage goes back down.

 

[gkg101]

Hmm, I don't use voltage tuner, just Precision for monitoring, but it's there somehow, probably loads on startup with Precision. I can deselect Percision from loading at startup, I hope. But why is Chrome using so much? Virus?

 

[Deleted member 88227]

So much what? It doesn't appear to be utilizing any CPU at the current time. If you're referring to it's memory footprint, that's normal.

 

[gkg101]

Oh, your referring to CPU usage.
I wonder why I just noticed the performance hit just yesterday. I've had Precision and Tuner installed since September. Anyway thanks. Things are seemingly back to normal, although I'm scratching my head as to this sequence of events starting with Windows freezing at the loading screen.

 

[Deleted member 88227]

For an "idle" system your CPU usage still seems rather high. I would be inclined to think that you have a software/operating system installation problem. I'd recommend doing one of two things.

One, start uninstalling programs until the problem goes away, run various anti virus programs (MCE seems to work good) and anti malware programs to see if something might be infecting your computer. This is basically troubleshooting the issue which could be time consuming.

Otherwise, reformat and install a fresh copy of Windows 7 with updated drivers. If the problem persists after this then you can begin checking hardware and/or data that was not wiped for infections. I would even hold off on connecting any secondary/backup drives to the computer when formatting/installing Windows 7 initially. Use the computer for a while to see if the problem persists.

 

[gkg101]

For an "idle" system your CPU usage still seems rather high. I would be inclined to think that you have a software/operating system installation problem. I'd recommend doing one of two things.

One, start uninstalling programs until the problem goes away, run various anti virus programs (MCE seems to work good) and anti malware programs to see if something might be infecting your computer. This is basically troubleshooting the issue which could be time consuming.

Otherwise, reformat and install a fresh copy of Windows 7 with updated drivers. If the problem persists after this then you can begin checking hardware and/or data that was not wiped for infections. I would even hold off on connecting any secondary/backup drives to the computer when formatting/installing Windows 7 initially. Use the computer for a while to see if the problem persists.

Thanks Skillz, I'm doing that now with a couple AV and anti malware programs. There seems to be MBR problem that Spybot S&D Rootkit scan found. But the 23% we're seeing is actually on the upside of what I've been noticing since I uninstalled the EVGA stuff just earlier as per your advise. Right now, it's 1-4 % with Temps much much lower since I uninstalled EVGA Precision and Tuner. But the fluctuations bother me. Are fluctuations normal? How this all happened is a mystery I won't be surprised if it happens (Windows freezing at loading screen) again. Thanks again.

[EDIT]
Just had a thought. Taking out my GTX 660 and replacing it with the ATI motherboard video, might have caused the high Precision usage. I got an error message about Precision when I restarted with the new drivers.

 

[Deleted member 88227]

Minor fluctuations is normal, high spikes generally are not on an idle system. If you're using it, it will fluctuate a good bit.

Precision's usage should have been 0 if it found out that a supported driver was not present.

I would continue running scans and making sure your system is clean, however if Spybot found a rootkit in your MBR, then I would no doubt do a complete format. Cleaning it out doesn't exactly solve the issue of how it got on there in the first place (granted a fresh install might not either, but a fresh install with a firewall and properly running/secured software will) not to mention there is still a possibility that it didn't get it all.

 

[gkg101]

Minor fluctuations is normal, high spikes generally are not on an idle system. If you're using it, it will fluctuate a good bit.

Precision's usage should have been 0 if it found out that a supported driver was not present.

I would continue running scans and making sure your system is clean, however if Spybot found a rootkit in your MBR, then I would no doubt do a complete format. Cleaning it out doesn't exactly solve the issue of how it got on there in the first place (granted a fresh install might not either, but a fresh install with a firewall and properly running/secured software will) not to mention there is still a possibility that it didn't get it all.

My CPU usage and temps have been normal ever since I uninstalled Precision. I remember Precision giving me error messages after uninstalling Nvidia drivers to update but it never caused a problem in that case. EVGA doesn't sell Radeon video cards so that might be a clue.

But I'm asking about what caused Windows from booting in the first place. Do you think I have a dying 5 year old PSU that temporarily came back to life? Should I get a new PSU right away? Is there a chance could this problem is caused by a hijacked MBR?