Twice in Same Week--SSD Drive Missing From Boot Sequence in BIOS, Win 7 Machine

[Qs Laptop]

This is very weird. For the second time in the same week I've had trouble booting up a computer because the SSD containing the OS is missing from the boot sequence in BIOS.

This is on my old Win 7 machine. I sometimes need to access old files on it and it has always booted up before. This time I got an error message so I restarted the computer, entered BIOS, checked the boot sequence and noticed the SSD was missing. The boot sequence was CD/DVD then data HDD.

I went through the same steps as I had before with my Win 10 machine (see other thread for details) culminating in clearing CMOS which allowed the computer to see the SSD, setting the SSD to be first in boot sequence. A restart gave a different error message about not being able to access the HDD. I unplugged and reseated all SATA cables at both ends. Same error message. After much troubleshooting I determined if I disconnected the SATA cable from HDD I could make the setting of the SSD as primary boot device "stick" and get into Windows as a one time event but subsequent restarts failed as the SSD had vanished from the boot sequence, leaving the CD/DVD as the only boot device.

I now suspected the SATA cable connecting the SSD drive to the motherboard as the culprit but I didn't have any spare SATA cables. Then I saw the dangling SATA cable from my disconnected HDD and used it to connect my SSD. Now I can get into Windows every time but I don't have access to my HDD, so can't get at the data I want. I ordered three new SATA cables from Amazon. I'll update this thread as to my progress.

I never would have believed a cable can go bad unless I had experienced it for myself. I still don't believe it. How can a securely connected cable that doesn't get touched inside a case that never gets moved, spontaneously go bad?

I suppose it is possible the SATA connector on the motherboard could be bad and not the cable. I don't feel like testing that theory right now. I guess I'll find out when I try the new SATA cable.

 

[easysurfer]

Good luck on your trouble shooting.

I feel your pain. Went through a similar experience months ago pulling my hair out as to why I thought my laptop would only boot intermittently. Ended up the laptop's video cable behind it's LCD screen was loose. So, the laptop did boot each time but I didn't see a successful boot each time with my own eyes .

In the meantime, my false assumption had me going down several rabbit holes .

 

[NW-Bound]

I would clone the SSD drive ASAP in case it's the real source of problem, and the moving of the SATA cable is just a coincidental factor.

Intermittent failures can drive you up the wall.

 

[Qs Laptop]

Good luck on your trouble shooting.

I feel your pain. Went through a similar experience months ago pulling my hair out as to why I thought my laptop would only boot intermittently. Ended up the laptop's video cable behind it's LCD screen was loose. So, the laptop did boot each time but I didn't see a successful boot each time with my own eyes .

In the meantime, my false assumption had me going down several rabbit holes .

Wow, that would be a frustrating headscratcher. Nice job finding the problem.

I can kind of see a loose cable happening in a laptop as they are picked up and moved frequently, hinged cover is open/closed frequently, etc. But a PC that justs sits in the same spot and is powered up maybe 5-6 times a year? And not a loose cable, a cable that goes defective.

 

[Qs Laptop]

I would clone the SSD drive ASAP in case it's the real source of problem, and the moving of the SATA cable is just a coincidental factor.

Intermittent failures can drive you up the wall.

Once I got this Win 7 computer to boot I downloaded Seagate's Sea Tools disk drive diagnostic software and tested the 120GB SSD. It passed every test.

Of course, I couldn't test the 1TB HDD in the Win 7 machine because I'm using its SATA cable to connect the SSD drive, but I assume it would pass the tests as well.

I also ran Sea Tools on the 256GB SSD and the 1TB HDD in my Win 10 machine and both passed all tests.

I bought a Crucial MX 500GB SSD yesterday. I plan on cloning my 256GB SSD in my Win 10 machine and replace it with the new 500GB SSD.

I should mention when I got into the Win 7 machine I kept getting a “Windows Created a Temporary Paging File” Error and then noticed the SSD was almost completely full. Not sure if this paging file error is because the SSD was full or because the OS couldn't access the HDD. I uninstalled a bunch of programs from the SSD and ran disk clean and freed up almost 11GB.

Anyway, I'm thinking I clone the 120GB to the 256GB drive I just removed. Is this a good idea or not?

I would only do this after I had backed up important data from it and was satisfied with the install of the 500GB drive.

 

[Qs Laptop]

Of course rather than cloning the 120GB drive to the 256GB drive and keeping the Win 7 machine operational I could simply pull the 1TB HDD and install it in my Win 10 machine. I would then keep the case, power supply, CPU fan for a future Win 11 machine build or else sell the components.

 

[easysurfer]

Wow, that would be a frustrating headscratcher. Nice job finding the problem.

I can kind of see a loose cable happening in a laptop as they are picked up and moved frequently, hinged cover is open/closed frequently, etc. But a PC that justs sits in the same spot and is powered up maybe 5-6 times a year? And not a loose cable, a cable that goes defective.

Finding the solution in my case took months and many iterations of trial and error and buying and testing other parts. I was working under a wrong assumption which led me to think, maybe the issue was a bad power button, or perhaps the palm rest wasn't making proper contact. Barking up wrong trees.

 

[jim584672]

Obviously you have been black bagged and you machines are compromised. Suggest throwing them in a pile for burning.

 

[Qs Laptop]

Obviously you have been black bagged and you machines are compromised. Suggest throwing them in a pile for burning.

Obviously.

 

[Ian S]

Of course rather than cloning the 120GB drive to the 256GB drive and keeping the Win 7 machine operational I could simply pull the 1TB HDD and install it in my Win 10 machine. I would then keep the case, power supply, CPU fan for a future Win 11 machine build or else sell the components.

Unless there's another reason for keeping the WIN7 machine, that makes a lot of sense. If for some reason you don't want the data drive inside your WIN10 machine, then I've found external hard drive docking stations like this to be very useful: https://www.newegg.com/rosewill-rx303-pu3-35b-dock/p/N82E16817182311

 

[easysurfer]

I would clone the SSD drive ASAP in case it's the real source of problem, and the moving of the SATA cable is just a coincidental factor.

Intermittent failures can drive you up the wall.

+1

I would clone as a possible preventive measure if the SSD is bad.

Also, could use the cloned HDD awhile as a test. If problems still persists with the cloned HDD, then can rule out the SSD as the culprit (unless something on the data? which I don't think is possible).

 

[Qs Laptop]

Unless there's another reason for keeping the WIN7 machine, that makes a lot of sense. If for some reason you don't want the data drive inside your WIN10 machine, then I've found external hard drive docking stations like this to be very useful: https://www.newegg.com/rosewill-rx303-pu3-35b-dock/p/N82E16817182311

This that would be a tidy solution. I searched for some others and found this one, that also acts as an external docking station and also feature one-touch cloning.

https://www.amazon.com/SSK-Aluminum-External-Duplicator-Function/dp/B07WS59SP4/

 

[jim584672]

I would back up the data, but not clone. Cloning brings any problems over and I think a clean install is the best way. Also Win 7 is a security hazard and shouldn't be used. Win 10 or 11 (may need hacks to install) should work fine. A new SSD and SATA cable hopefully fixes things.

 

[Qs Laptop]

I now suspected the SATA cable connecting the SSD drive to the motherboard as the culprit but I didn't have any spare SATA cables. Then I saw the dangling SATA cable from my disconnected HDD and used it to connect my SSD. Now I can get into Windows every time but I don't have access to my HDD, so can't get at the data I want. I ordered three new SATA cables from Amazon. I'll update this thread as to my progress.

I borrowed the SATA cable from my DVD drive and connected it to my HDD. Now I have access to my data.

So I have:
Nothing connected to SATA port 0, previously SSD drive was connected here.
SSD connected to SATA port 1, using HDD SATA cable, works.
HDD connected to SATA port 2, using DVD SATA cable, works.
DVD not connected.

In this configuration the computer boots as normal and I have access to SSD and HDD. No access to DVD drive as no SATA cable connected to it.

 

[Qs Laptop]

I would back up the data, but not clone. Cloning brings any problems over and I think a clean install is the best way. Also Win 7 is a security hazard and shouldn't be used. Win 10 or 11 (may need hacks to install) should work fine. A new SSD and SATA cable hopefully fixes things.

According to everything I've read the motherboard on my Win 7 machine cannot be used with Windows 10. I highly doubt that and might contact the manufacturer to find out for sure.

Still, I think I'm going to retire the Win 7 machine and use some of its parts to build a Win 11 machine. I've got an i7-2600K CPU, an AMD Radeon 6800 graphics card, a 750 watt Corsair power supply, four 4GB Corsair memory sticks, a CPU fan, and the case. That's a good start on a new machine. Supposedly my CPU won't work with Windows 11. Otherwise, I think all I need is a motherboard and new CPU that will work with Windows 11.

I'm probably going to install the HDD from the Win 7 machine in my Win 10 machine. That way I can get at the old data.

I'm going to clone the 240GB SSD from my Win 10 machine onto the 500GB SSD I just purchased. I will then likely format the 240GB SSD and put it in the stock parts pile.

[Edited to add: My memory sticks are too slow for current CPU's/motherboards]

 

[easysurfer]

Fun and satisfying to reuse parts. I did that when moving from Win XP to 7, then from 7 to 10. In both cases, the boards couldn't handle the newer operating system so had to buy a barebones setup that worked. My plan is to wait until Win 10 is no longer supported, then go through the process again.

 

[CRLLS]

I have used a bare-bones USB to SATA cable adapter a few times. They are around $10 on eBay or Amazon. The few times I have needed to use it justified the simple solution. It takes up little space in a drawer, easy to pull it out when needed, attach it to an HD laying on the table alongside my laptop and do whatever I need to do with the HD.

 

[Ian S]

Fun and satisfying to reuse parts. I did that when moving from Win XP to 7, then from 7 to 10. In both cases, the boards couldn't handle the newer operating system so had to buy a barebones setup that worked. My plan is to wait until Win 10 is no longer supported, then go through the process again.

That's my plan too. I see no reason to switch to WIN11 now since it means getting a new motherboard and CPU and memory likely too. Also graphics card.

 

[jim584672]

They say you need certain processors to run Win 11. But I have tried Win 11 on many machines "too old" to run it and it runs fine, you just need to do a trick when installing it.

 

[Ian S]

They say you need certain processors to run Win 11. But I have tried Win 11 on many machines "too old" to run it and it runs fine, you just need to do a trick when installing it.

Yes, you can fiddle with the registry and get WIN11 to install and work. However, there's no guarantee that later updates will work properly or at all. No thanks, I'll stick with WIN10 for the time being.

 

[Davidhelp]

Maybe update the BIOS or get new SSD drive

Maybe update the BIOS or get new SSD drive.

I have a SAMSUNG 870 QVO SATA III 2.5" SSD 2TB drive and it has been working great for the nearly 2 years I have had it.
I have a desktop pc with a Gigabyte motherboard from 2015 and using Windows 7 Pro 64bit.

I also bought a Crucial MX500 1TB 3D NAND SATA 2.5 Inch Internal SSD this on May 1, 2022 for a 10 year old Gateway laptop. It has Windows 7 Pro 64bit on it. No issues so far.

 

[Qs Laptop]

After I replaced the SSD SATA cable and moved it from port 0 to port 1, made sure the boot sequence was set correctly the computer boots as normal. I also removed about 15GB of old programs and files.

 

[NW-Bound]

There's still a chance it's the old SATA Port 0 than the cable, meaning the hardware driving this port is getting "weak".

 

[Qs Laptop]

There's still a chance it's the old SATA Port 0 than the cable, meaning the hardware driving this port is getting "weak".

Agreed. That's why I didn't re-use port 0 with the new cable. Any idea what could cause an individual port to go bad?