# Pi3 B freezing - now won't boot **URL:** \ **Category:** Support\ **Created:** [August 31, 2017, 11:49am UTC](https://forums.pimoroni.com/t/pi3-b-freezing-now-wont-boot/5823 "2017-08-31T11:49:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![michaelsmith1971](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@michaelsmith1971](https://forums.pimoroni.com/u/michaelsmith1971)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2017, 11:49am UTC](https://forums.pimoroni.com/t/pi3-b-freezing-now-wont-boot/5823/1 "2017-08-31T11:49:22Z")
Our new Pi3 B (bought from Pimoroni this month) has been freezing under light load, e.g. web browsing and now it won’t reboot at all when I remove and replace the power plug. There is a constant red light. Taking out and reinserting the microSD doesn’t help and, when I plug that card into a Windows PC, it does not recognise the new drive/card. The card was one bought from Pimoroni with the Pi with NOOBS pre-loaded etc. Should I be doing anything else? Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![sandyjmacdonald](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forums.pimoroni.com/sandyjmacdonald/32/393_2.png) [@sandyjmacdonald](https://forums.pimoroni.com/u/sandyjmacdonald)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2017, 11:56am UTC](https://forums.pimoroni.com/t/pi3-b-freezing-now-wont-boot/5823/2 "2017-08-31T11:56:47Z")
It sounds like the SD card might be corrupted. I’d recommend re-imaging the card, as per the instructions at the link below. > **[Raspberry Pi - Teach, Learn, and Make with Raspberry Pi](https://www.raspberrypi.org/documentation/installation/installing-images/README.md)** > > The Raspberry Pi is a tiny and affordable computer that you can use to learn programming through fun, practical projects. Join the global Raspberry Pi Community. ---
**Author:** ![flash76](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c2a13f/32.png) [@flash76](https://forums.pimoroni.com/u/flash76)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2017, 2:07pm UTC](https://forums.pimoroni.com/t/pi3-b-freezing-now-wont-boot/5823/3 "2017-08-31T14:07:57Z")
Have you been unplugging the device without shutting down? ---
**Author:** ![flash76](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c2a13f/32.png) [@flash76](https://forums.pimoroni.com/u/flash76)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2017, 2:12pm UTC](https://forums.pimoroni.com/t/pi3-b-freezing-now-wont-boot/5823/4 "2017-08-31T14:12:18Z")
> [@michaelsmith1971](#): > > has been freezing under light load Try installing zRam on a fresh install: > **[GitHub - novaspirit/rpi\_zram: script to enable zram for raspberry pi](https://github.com/novaspirit/rpi_zram)** > > script to enable zram for raspberry pi. Contribute to novaspirit/rpi\_zram development by creating an account on GitHub. ---
**Author:** ![flash76](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c2a13f/32.png) [@flash76](https://forums.pimoroni.com/u/flash76)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2017, 2:16pm UTC](https://forums.pimoroni.com/t/pi3-b-freezing-now-wont-boot/5823/5 "2017-08-31T14:16:17Z")
You might be using a too low power supply, unless your Pi came with a kit. ---
**Author:** ![sandyjmacdonald](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forums.pimoroni.com/sandyjmacdonald/32/393_2.png) [@sandyjmacdonald](https://forums.pimoroni.com/u/sandyjmacdonald)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2017, 2:24pm UTC](https://forums.pimoroni.com/t/pi3-b-freezing-now-wont-boot/5823/6 "2017-08-31T14:24:50Z")
Yes, what sort of power supply are you using? ---
**Author:** ![michaelsmith1971](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@michaelsmith1971](https://forums.pimoroni.com/u/michaelsmith1971)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2017, 3:41pm UTC](https://forums.pimoroni.com/t/pi3-b-freezing-now-wont-boot/5823/7 "2017-08-31T15:41:48Z")
5.1V / 2.5A offical RP power supply. ---
**Author:** ![michaelsmith1971](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@michaelsmith1971](https://forums.pimoroni.com/u/michaelsmith1971)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2017, 3:43pm UTC](https://forums.pimoroni.com/t/pi3-b-freezing-now-wont-boot/5823/8 "2017-08-31T15:43:03Z")
Thanks. Only took power plug out as a last resort when the Pi did not recover after freezing. Usually we have been shutting down using the menu options. ---
**Author:** ![michaelsmith1971](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@michaelsmith1971](https://forums.pimoroni.com/u/michaelsmith1971)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2017, 3:44pm UTC](https://forums.pimoroni.com/t/pi3-b-freezing-now-wont-boot/5823/9 "2017-08-31T15:44:23Z")
Thanks - I assume I’ll need to use a different card as the one I have isn’t recognised by Windows. ---
**Author:** ![flash76](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c2a13f/32.png) [@flash76](https://forums.pimoroni.com/u/flash76)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2017, 5:56pm UTC](https://forums.pimoroni.com/t/pi3-b-freezing-now-wont-boot/5823/10 "2017-08-31T17:56:47Z")
NOTE: I AM NOT RESPONSIBLE IF YOU ACCIDENTALLY DESTROY YOUR MAIN PARTITION ON YOUR HARD DRIVE/SSDRIVE Now that’s out of the way, You may be able to use the same card. Note down the capacity and open start. Type in `diskpart`. Once a CMD window opens, type `list disk`. Find the card with the capacity you noted down earlier. If you have nothing else plugged into your system, the micro SD card will likely show as `disk 1`. Now say `select disk (number of disk)`. Replace (number of disk) with the number, like 1. I.e. it will be `select disk 1`. Make sure you selected your disk and not YOUR MAIN HARD DRIVE. Now type clean. It should return “`diskpart succeeded in cleaning the disk.`” Finally, say `create partition primary` Diskpart will say “Diskpart succeeded in creating the specified partition” Now your MicroSD Card should be working! ---
**Author:** ![PiguyAnge](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forums.pimoroni.com/piguyange/32/11560_2.png) [@PiguyAnge](https://forums.pimoroni.com/u/PiguyAnge)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2017, 6:36pm UTC](https://forums.pimoroni.com/t/pi3-b-freezing-now-wont-boot/5823/11 "2017-08-31T18:36:11Z")
better yet just try a brand new card. If you quick format (fat32) and it slows or pauses at spots instead of smoothly , consistent speed, in its formatting chances are it has some bad spots in the card. I have had alot of issues with poor quality, second inventory, refurbished, and counterfeit micro sd cards on Ebay, it seems to be real popular scam these days. many even look like name brand class 10s but are not. Best just buy a new good brand class 10, 8-16gb from a store in person (or order from pimoroni or adafruit) not from auction sites though. ---
**Author:** ![sandyjmacdonald](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forums.pimoroni.com/sandyjmacdonald/32/393_2.png) [@sandyjmacdonald](https://forums.pimoroni.com/u/sandyjmacdonald)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2017, 9:02am UTC](https://forums.pimoroni.com/t/pi3-b-freezing-now-wont-boot/5823/12 "2017-09-01T09:02:05Z")
I think Michael mentioned that it was a NOOBS card that he bought from us that was having issues? Anyhow, I’d recommend a reformat and reimage as the first step, as that can often sort things out. ---
**Author:** ![gadgetoid](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forums.pimoroni.com/gadgetoid/32/13_2.png) [@gadgetoid](https://forums.pimoroni.com/u/gadgetoid)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2017, 9:51am UTC](https://forums.pimoroni.com/t/pi3-b-freezing-now-wont-boot/5823/13 "2017-09-02T09:51:33Z")
If Windows doesn’t _see_ the card (not uncommon with cards formatted for the Raspberry Pi, even the boot partition can have issues) then try SD Formatter: [https://www.sdcard.org/downloads/formatter\_4/](https://www.sdcard.org/downloads/formatter_4/) Open the options and make sure you’re doing a quick format with “Size Adjust” on, and it should get the card back to a state where you can copy in the NOOBS files, or image Raspbian using Win32DiskImager.