OS Problem, SSD Dying?

NooBish AbbZ · 2 Dec 2013 at 05:32

hi guys
last night PC froze, tried to Alt F4, and then Ctrl Alt Del. Neither did anything so reset. OS wouldn't boot and was prompted ot insert disk and press enter. Seeing as i don't have the disk I reset a few more times and eventually it booted.

This morning i've booted up and its got to the screen with the apps on homepage but no mouse. I noticed it's been doing this for a few days with the mouse appearing after a few seconds once the OS has fully loaded, but it's not been sat here for about 10 minutes, in comparison to normal when Os is loaded in, not more than 10 seconds.

Is my SSD dead? Its an OCZ..

EDIT: I do now have a cursor! but still, is SSD dying

wildman_33 · 2 Dec 2013 at 08:45

Sounds like it is, is it running the latest firmware? All my SSDs are OCZ and I always make sure to flash them to the latest firmware as OCZ had a habit of not getting the firmware right the first time. I'm yet to have one fail on me and I have 5 OCZ drives.

NooBish AbbZ · 2 Dec 2013 at 08:54

I highly doubt is a since not updated the PC while I've had it which is since August. Is it similar to updating drivers?

EdgeDs · 2 Dec 2013 at 09:36

Dead ssd and OCZ do tend to go hand in hand i am afraid

NooBish AbbZ · 2 Dec 2013 at 10:03

Sucks

so, new SSD and fresh install and everything will run fine? Also as I bought the PC off eBay, I don't have the win8 disk. Is there any way of using my current version to install a new one? Thinking about It I think I may have seen a 'your product key' within control panel.

Any suggestions for new SSD's then? Samsung 840 pro?

Idleman · 2 Dec 2013 at 10:14

Why not try a secure erase and fresh install before buying a new ssd.
Also, check your storage drivers are up to date.
Have you made any changes in the bios or added any hardware or software prior to this occurrence.

NooBish AbbZ · 2 Dec 2013 at 10:29

Idleman said:
Why not try a secure erase and fresh install before buying a new ssd.
Also, check your storage drivers are up to date.
Have you made any changes in the bios or added any hardware or software prior to this occurrence.

Will a secure erase protect the OS? And no changes in BIOS recently

Idleman · 2 Dec 2013 at 10:38

No, a secure erase will completely erase all data and restore the drive to out of the box performance. You will then need to do a fresh install.
But before you do that, have you checked all drivers are up to date. Have you installed any new software or updates prior to this happening.
Have you tried a windows restore?

NooBish AbbZ · 2 Dec 2013 at 10:41

Windows restore, why didn't I think of that

I will do this and check all drivers are up to date as soon I as I get home this afternoon. Is there any way of doing a fresh install without the disk?

Idleman · 2 Dec 2013 at 10:56

NooBish AbbZ said:
Windows restore, why didn't I think of that I will do this and check all drivers are up to date as soon I as I get home this afternoon. Is there any way of doing a fresh install without the disk?

When you do the restore, check what software or updates will be affected by the restore, it might help you figure out what is causing the problem.
If you don`t have a disc, you can always d/load an ISO file and install from a USB flashdrive.

NooBish AbbZ · 2 Dec 2013 at 11:09

The only recent software I've installed is new games from Steam sale : p and Where would I download an ISO from?

Idleman · 2 Dec 2013 at 11:34

NooBish AbbZ said:
The only recent software I've installed is new games from Steam sale : p and Where would I download an ISO from?

What OS do you have?

NooBish AbbZ · 2 Dec 2013 at 12:30

Idleman said:
What OS do you have?

Win 8

Idleman · 2 Dec 2013 at 12:37

NooBish AbbZ said:
Win 8

Try this.

http://www.redmondpie.com/download-windows-8-iso-x86-x64-file-directly-from-microsoft/

NooBish AbbZ · 2 Dec 2013 at 13:17

Thanks idle man, will try as soon as I get home. Thank you all so much for helping

Idleman · 2 Dec 2013 at 13:19

NooBish AbbZ said:
Thanks idle man, will try as soon as I get home. Thank you all so much for helping

NP, hope you get it sorted.

wildman_33 · 2 Dec 2013 at 13:59

Make sure when you do the secure erase, that you update the drive firmware. Bother are done from OCZ toolbox anyway.

NooBish AbbZ · 2 Dec 2013 at 17:16

Just system restored, rebooting now but taking a hell of along time still. Not sorted the problem

Got my product key for windows 8.

Will see if i can download any newer drivers for SSD once i get my mouse -.-

EDIT: 'new' OCZ firmware was last updated oct 5th 2012 so no problem there. Anything else to try before i download the Win 8 ISO and attempt a secure erase then fresh install without disk?

NooBish AbbZ · 2 Dec 2013 at 19:36

won't let me do a secure erase as the PC is booted from the SSD. suggestions?

NooBish AbbZ · 2 Dec 2013 at 19:37

Could i download the ISO and copy and paste onto a USB? Then boot from USB and do secure erase?

EDIT: BRAINWAVE. Could i not copy over files on SSD to HDD, and then use the ISO method to install Windows 8 on HDD? and then just remove the SSD and buy a new one at a later date?