PC will not boot...

cats_five · 9 Apr 2013 at 10:52

This is effectively a new build. I've installed W7 and got it up to date, and Office and put all the office patches on, downloaded and installed the chipset drivers (Gigabyte FM2 mobo) and it wanted to restart after the last update - can't remember what it was, suspect a large Office update. I've also installed the driver for my Canon printer, and the Netgear Raidiator utilitity since last time it rebooted.

Now it won't boot past the splash screen and it won't respond to the keyboard so I can't get into the BIOS, which is UEFI.

It has two HDDs, the smaller one with C: (windows and software that doesn't offer a choice) and D: (user directories, software I can put somewhere other than C), and a larger one which is E: and only has data on - it did have a boot partition but I removed that and expanded the file system I wanted to keep. I'm sure it's rebooted since then.

I've take out the USB stick that was in and checked there isn't a DVD / CD in and still it doesn't want to boot, having done so many times as I've done all the Windows Updating.

I have no idea where to go from here. Advice, please?

Nix · 9 Apr 2013 at 11:10

Is your keyboard USB?

Make sure it's plugged directly into a USB on the board that's not 3.0.

cats_five · 9 Apr 2013 at 11:27

It's plugged into the one I've been using all along (and it's been fine), on the top of the case, but will plug it into one of the ones on the back, directly on the mobo, and see if that helps. It's not plugged into the USB 3.0 port.

cats_five · 9 Apr 2013 at 12:00

Swapping the keyboard USB port didn't make a difference.

Unplugging all the SATA devices did.

The DVD is OK, so is the smaller HDD with the OS on but it won't boot with the larger one attached.

Thankfully all the important stuff on it is backed up.

Do I have a dud HDD all of a sudden? It didn't present a problem when I initially reconnected it, and I've checked all the connections and they seem OK. The power is from the same lead from the PSU that the one that works is.

At least I can get on installing more of the software.

BuToNz · 9 Apr 2013 at 12:41

I've seen this problem before...The controller on the hard drive dies - the BIOS routine then waits for it until the end of time. When unplugging it the PC will boot fine.

To me it sounds like a dud drive, you could always try plugging it in while in Windows. If the drive doesn't show and/or it crashes the drive management window then it's safe to say the hard drive is dead.

cats_five · 9 Apr 2013 at 12:51

So it's OK to plug the SATA cable into the mobo while the PC is running?

Will probably be looking for a new HDD later on today....

BuToNz · 9 Apr 2013 at 12:59

cats_five said:
So it's OK to plug the SATA cable into the mobo while the PC is running?

Will probably be looking for a new HDD later on today....

It's easier to plug in the power to the hard drive than trying to plug a SATA connector into the motherboard while on. But yes, SATA hard drives are 'hot' swap.

cats_five · 9 Apr 2013 at 13:31

Not sure I agree over which cable is easier to plug - I'll be plugging the SATA into the mobo which has lots of access. Maybe it depends on the way the PC is laid out.

Will have a go, thanks.

If I need a new HDD.... Is there a way to get my OS there from the existing HDD? Any new one will be much faster.

BuToNz · 9 Apr 2013 at 13:37

Yeah, you can use something like Acronis will do what you want. Plenty of tutorials out there.

Personally I prefer just reinstalling everything from scratch, starting with a blank canvas. Either way is fine.

cats_five · 9 Apr 2013 at 15:20

Disk is definitely dud - I can feel it spinning, but it can't be picked up if I plug in the SATA when the system is running. Went into Disk Management, no sign of it nor when I tried refresh or rescan.

Shucks, this rebuild is turning into a complete new PC albeit over a year or so - new case & PSU last year, new SATA DVD earlier this year, new mobo, CPU & RAM yesterday, new HDD when it arrives... Plus a goodly session copying over from my NAS.

A clean install is all very well except for the hours of Microsoft downloads it involves... And that's what I have now, so I'm in a good place to make an image to go onto a new HDD.

BuToNz · 9 Apr 2013 at 15:33

Feel your pain, I do a fresh install and use the built in Windows image tool to create a 'base' image to revert to should I need to. This includes all Windows updates/Drivers/Applications I normally would install, used it many times and it's been fine everytime.

Nix · 9 Apr 2013 at 16:10

Is the disk making the click of death when it first starts?

cats_five · 9 Apr 2013 at 18:01

BuToNz said:
Feel your pain, I do a fresh install and use the built in Windows image tool to create a 'base' image to revert to should I need to. This includes all Windows updates/Drivers/Applications I normally would install, used it many times and it's been fine everytime.

Oooh!!! Better investiate that ASAP! Will your image fit on a DVD? As well as W7 I have Office 2010 Pro and I install most of it.

And no, no click of death that I heard, the case was off and my hearing is OK. It is definitely spinning.

BuToNz · 9 Apr 2013 at 18:45

I dump the image it makes on my NAS, which I can access within the setup too. You could use Acronis to do the same thing, in fact it's probably easier. I just prefer to use the built in tools I learned to use in my MS certification.