windows won't boot if i removed 2nd ssd

twist3d0n3 · 21 Dec 2010 at 16:42

hi all

weird issue, but as title when i remove my 2nd ssd (nothing on it) then try and boot i get an error saying windows failed to boot.

i've tried uninstalling it in device manager, shutdown and reboot, but the same thing happens.

i want to take the ssd out to put in another computer, but i can't get into windows without it plugged in.

i've tried running the windows disk, but the same message comes up once it's booted from the disk...

any help appreciated!

cheers

E: i should probably point out these aren't in raid 0, and that they are intel x25-m 80Gb's

Tealc · 21 Dec 2010 at 17:16

My best guess is that Windows probably created a hidden system file on it as part of the installation routine and when you remove the drive that file cannot be found and Windows doesn't have a clue what to do next.

On my drive there are a couple of files which could be all important:-
bootmgr
BOOTSECT.BAK

Now I'm not about to go and delete them to find out how important but I did need to uncheck the 'Hide Protected Operating System Files' option to see them.

jsp21c · 21 Dec 2010 at 17:41

Boot from Win 7 Installation Disk

Apparently Windows 7 creates a 100MB boot partition which can be on any disk in the system when Win 7 is installed. To avoid this you need to have just one hdd or ssd installed when installing Win 7.

I think you can sort out your system by removing the second ssd, booting off a Win 7 installation (or rescue) disk and use the Windows Recovery Environment, open a command prompt and run bootrec.exe

You can read the MS how to here;
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/927392

I think in your case you might need the bootrec.exe/FixBoot command

Personally I have used the bootrec.exe/FixMbr in the past to remove the Linux Grub boot loader and restore the Windows boot loader when experimenting with dual booting.

twist3d0n3 · 21 Dec 2010 at 17:55

thanks very much for the replies chaps.

now, enabling system protected files shows $recycle.bin and system volume information on the 2nd ssd. i was under the impression those got put on whatever drive and were only relevant to what was on the drive, and as such not important for boot?

jsp21c, indeed, windows has created a 100mb partition on the 2nd ssd, so i will try the fix you suggest.

thanks for the help guys!

i'll report back in a bit to see if this fixed things.

twist3d0n3 · 21 Dec 2010 at 18:36

oh well, that didn't work.

it couldn't find the mbr etc, presumably due to them being on the drive that isn't attached

this leads me to believe there must be a way of partitioning my primary ssd, then shifting that 100mb partition across? is that possible?

rpstewart · 21 Dec 2010 at 18:53

Did you try the /fixmbr & /fixboot options with bootrec?

twist3d0n3 · 21 Dec 2010 at 19:04

yup tried both of them.

i used the /scanos option too, which returned 0 installations detected, which suggests that it needs the other ssd plugged in whilst i'm trying to sort it, but that kind of defeats the point

i've just noticed in disk management, it says the reserved partition on the 2nd ssd is 'system, active, primary partition', whereas my primary drive says 'boot, page file, crash dump, primary partition' - i don't know how relevant that info is, but how can i have 2 primary partitions? :confused:

rpstewart · 21 Dec 2010 at 19:13

You can have 4 primary partitions per drive.

trisp · 21 Dec 2010 at 19:13

Tealc said:
My best guess is that Windows probably created a hidden system file on it as part of the installation routine and when you remove the drive that file cannot be found and Windows doesn't have a clue what to do next.

On my drive there are a couple of files which could be all important:-
bootmgr
BOOTSECT.BAK

Now I'm not about to go and delete them to find out how important but I did need to uncheck the 'Hide Protected Operating System Files' option to see them.

This^^

rpstewart · 21 Dec 2010 at 19:24

http://www.sevenforums.com/general-discussion/31456-removing-100mb-system-partition-no-re-install-needed-3.html

The top post on this link looks useful. Basically you boot with both drives installed then use the bcdboot tool to write a new boot sector onto the c: drive. Once that's done you set the c: drive as the active partition either with disk management or diskpart. Once the system has rebooted then you should be able to remove the second disk.

It's worth noting that this is just some random article I've found and not something I've tried out so it's potentially risky.

twist3d0n3 · 21 Dec 2010 at 19:36

rpstewart said:
You can have 4 primary partitions per drive.

didn't know that

trisp said:
This^^

yes, we've established that much, just need to shift the bugger

rpstewart said:
http://www.sevenforums.com/general-discussion/31456-removing-100mb-system-partition-no-re-install-needed-3.html

The top post on this link looks useful. Basically you boot with both drives installed then use the bcdboot tool to write a new boot sector onto the c: drive. Once that's done you set the c: drive as the active partition either with disk management or diskpart. Once the system has rebooted then you should be able to remove the second disk.

It's worth noting that this is just some random article I've found and not something I've tried out so it's potentially risky.

that looks like the right course of action, i think i'll make a system image before i go through with it just incase.

i'll let you know how it goes!

thanks again

twist3d0n3 · 21 Dec 2010 at 20:13

fantastic! it worked!!!!

strangely, it didn't copy over the 100mb partition, but it's still running fine...

anyway, thank you very much for your help!