I have an issue where Windows 7 will not boot with a new hard drive.
It's a slightly long story, but I'll give you all the detail I can.
I have 1 SSD in SATA 1
1 SATA HD in SATA 2
1 x Blu Ray RW in SATA 3
1 x DVD RW in SATA 4
eSATA in SATA 5
This new WD Black hard drive in SATA 6
Installed the new hard drive. Booted up. Initialised hard drive in Disk Management. Set a format off (MBR + NTFS). Then got the error message of Access Denied. Drive disappeared from Disk Management and couldn't get it back.
Restarted. Windows hung at "Starting Windows" screen.
Drive is visible in BIOS and is not set as boot drive.
Put the hard drive in a USB enclosure and it was recognised by Windows. Formatted the drive. Thought that all was good.
Reinstalled internally and still Windows will hang at the "Starting Windows" screen.
If I put it back in the enclosure, it works fine.
Have run extended Seatools and Western Digital Data Lifeguard tests whilst connected by USB. Passes all of them.
I have also tried it in all other SATA ports and with different cables.
Disconnect all SATA HDD's for the moment. Install the drive internally, boot off of the Windows DVD. If installing Windows 7 or 8 press Shift+F10 at bootup to go directly to the Command Prompt.
In the command prompt, type following commands pressing Enter after each bold command:
i) diskpart
ii) list disk
it will show the list of your drives, with the information:
- status
- total space
- free space
status would probably be "invalid" and free space would be "0 bytes"
you have to select the drive next with
iii) select disk <disk number> disk number = as listed in previous command, normally 0 iv) clean (this erases all data on the Disk, so be sure you choose the correct one)now for verification of disk status and free space type
v)list disk
the status should be "online" and free space should be "disk size"
vi)exit
4- now restart the machine and boot from the Windows Disc/USB again
proceed and at "select disk to install windows" you would be able to view the hard disk drives
Once Windows is installed, you can plug in the rest of your drives.
What version of Windows are you trying to install? The Shift+F10 after the disc boots, only works with Windows 7 or 8. Or you can continue to boot from the disc and choose Repair Your Computer when that fails it will take you to the RE (recovery environment) where you can choose Command Prompt.
If you are trying to install XP, then boot off the Windows CD and get to the Recovery Console
With no discs at all in, it whips through to the windows installation bit so I can get to the command prompt, but obviously there's no disk to list in disk part. With the hard drive installed, it won't get past the startup windows screen.
Before that I get a uefi window where the directory is Shell
I will try that. I finally got to system recovery options with the hard drive connected, but now it's stuck at "searching for windows installations". I really shouldn't have to do all this for a new hard drive.
Disabled uefi. It doesn't give me a message saying "pres any key to boot from CD". Just goes straight to "windows is loading files" and then "starting windows". Then hangs...
Boot into Setup (Bios) go to Boot Priority. Here using your arrow and Enter key, make CD/DVD drive First boot device. Save and Exit Put the Windows DVD in, as the computer boots, you should see the message Press Any Key to Boot From CD/DVD. Once the computer starts to boot from the Windows DVD at the Install Now screen press Shift+F10 to go to the Command Prompt or go to the Repair Your Computer
If you have removed all other Drives that do not come into play, so there is only one CD/DVD drive and the HDD you are trying to install to, and it hangs with that HDD attached but not when it is removed, then that HDD is faulty and needs to be replaced.
Took it to where I bought it from. They ran full tests, managed to boot from it, install windows to it and install as a secondary drive.
Took it back home and started trying to isolate a device it wasn't compatible with. Unplugged everything and started plugging everything in one by one. It will boot to "reboot and select proper boot device" in all configurations EXCEPT my C drive which is an OCZ Agility 3.
Why don't you try this: use just 1 SATA hard drive on SATA0 port, and 1 CD/DVD optical drive to install Win7 media. It may be you have a problem with your Motherboard. If you cannot do this, your Mobo may be at fault (the onboard disk controller chip probably failed) and needs to be replaced. If your computer shop got the SSD drive to work on another computer, then the drive is most likely ok. If you cannot get a 1 drive-1optical drive combo to install Windows (any version), then your Mobo is toast! If the 1 drive-1optical drive combo DOES run a successful Windows install, then your BIOS or something else in your Motherboard is preventing it working on SSD drives only!
We've had some other users here experience this. In some cases, Motherboard updates from the manufacturer for newer SSD drive technology has solved the problem; in other cases, the users have called the Motherboard manufacturer or OEM company (Dell, HP, Acer) and discovered that their Motherboard is NOT compatible with SSD drives. :nonono:
SSD drive technology is new; only about 8 years old. You are running Windows7 which means your computer could be 5 yrs. old and wasn't designed to run SSD drives! :facepalm: If my little SATA drive test works, it means it probably needs to be updated to run SSD drives via a BIOS update; but many manufacturers are not making this capability available on older computers (desktops or laptops).
Try my test and let us know how you make out! :thumb:
Have tried everything they suggested as well as what has been suggested here.
Novatech gave me a brand new drive. Tried that today. Had the exact same issue. Booted. Windows says new device installed. Into Disk Management as Administrator. Device visible. Initialise. Format. Before it starts formatting, get the error
Virtual Disk Manager
Access Denied
and then back where I was with the other drive. Won't boot with this drive plugged in.
I still don't understand why my current configuration:
1 x OCZ Agility 3 as C
1 x seagate as F
1 x blu ray as D
1 x DVD RW as E
You do not have to format a drive first to install Windows. Just attach it and boot off of the Windows install media (DVD or USB) choose the drive you want to install to. If you have previously formatted it, you can delete the partition here and then choose Install and it will automatically partition and format the drive.
Be sure to Update the Firmware on the SSD and be sure to boot into Bios, go to SATA or HDD Mode, make sure the HDD mode is set to AHCI. If that still fails, then try updating the Bios from your motherboard manufacturer.
Hi Ben:
Awesome, you're my 2nd Fixed this week!! :dance:
Yes, quite unusual, since the WD Black drives are the cadillac of hard drives, and are often used in commercial business computers, UNIX workstations, SAN/NAS, and in network servers. :ermm:
You know the WD Black drives I think are guaranteed by WD for 8 years, so you can contact them and tell them what happened, and they can send you a replacement REFURBISHED WD Black drive. You can use it as a spare, or for external storage, or just give/sell to a friend. Might be worth a phone call. WD stands behind their products-I know, I worked there for 4 yrs. and helped design their internal electronics and disk controllers as well as testing methods.
So glad you got it working! :spinning: Take care and thanks for posting back your final solution to share with other TSF users. :smile:
Please mark this thread as solved if you get time:
Best,
BBJ
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