Question ASRock A520M Motherboard - Won't boot Windows 7 SSD

SparkyNZ

Commendable
Mar 19, 2020
7
0
1,510
Sorry, I didn't know whether to post in the Motherboards or Windows 7 section.

I just bought a new ASRock A520M motherboard+cpu. My SSD drive is detected in SATA Port 1 (in setup) but I cannot get it to boot.

The SSD has Windows 7 x64 installed on it. It just won't even try to boot - the motherboard just goes straight back to the BIOS/Setup screen.

I've tried F11 and Del on startup but no difference.

In Advanced->Storage, I tried enabling CSM, tried various combinations of UEFI/Legacy settings but I still can't get it to boot. I might be doing something wrong though because CSM is automatically disabled again after it fails to boot so I may need some detailed guidance on this.

I tried the Windows 10 SSD from my laptop - that boots fine. It just won't boot Windows 7 and that OS has all of my apps that I use. I don't really want to reinstall with Windows 10 - some of the apps probably won't run on Windows 10.

Can somebody please help me with getting Windows 7 to boot.
 

DSzymborski

Curmudgeon Pursuivant
Moderator
Is that really the only option? There's no dodgy Linux boot sector editing that can resolve this?

Even if you managed to get it working, you might be chasing down gremlins for months; you're basically awkwardly slapping an OS from another PC into a new PC even if the Windows 10 SSD works. Cutting this corner with a motherboard that doesn't even have Windows 7 drivers just makes an already dodgy solution into an even worse one.

Most things that worked in Windows 7 worked in Windows 10. Install Windows 10 properly in your new build and then see what applications work.
 

SparkyNZ

Commendable
Mar 19, 2020
7
0
1,510
Even if you managed to get it working, you might be chasing down gremlins for months; you're basically awkwardly slapping an OS from another PC into a new PC even if the Windows 10 SSD works. Cutting this corner with a motherboard that doesn't even have Windows 7 drivers just makes an already dodgy solution into an even worse one.

Most things that worked in Windows 7 worked in Windows 10. Install Windows 10 properly in your new build and then see what applications work.

Yes... you raise a really good argument here. I'm going to have to bite the bullet and move to Win10.. and find another SSD big enough so I can keep my Win7 content in the meantime. I didn't even think about the motherboard not having Win7 drivers.
 
Sorry, I didn't know whether to post in the Motherboards or Windows 7 section.

I just bought a new ASRock A520M motherboard+cpu. My SSD drive is detected in SATA Port 1 (in setup) but I cannot get it to boot.

The SSD has Windows 7 x64 installed on it. It just won't even try to boot - the motherboard just goes straight back to the BIOS/Setup screen.

I've tried F11 and Del on startup but no difference.

In Advanced->Storage, I tried enabling CSM, tried various combinations of UEFI/Legacy settings but I still can't get it to boot. I might be doing something wrong though because CSM is automatically disabled again after it fails to boot so I may need some detailed guidance on this.

I tried the Windows 10 SSD from my laptop - that boots fine. It just won't boot Windows 7 and that OS has all of my apps that I use. I don't really want to reinstall with Windows 10 - some of the apps probably won't run on Windows 10.

Can somebody please help me with getting Windows 7 to boot.
Stock W7 doesn't support any Ryzen and chipsets after first series you would need to preinstall driversif there are any.
 

SparkyNZ

Commendable
Mar 19, 2020
7
0
1,510
I've installed a clean Windows 10 on a brand new SSD. I'll be keeping my old PC and Win7 SSD just in case I need to use them while I complete the migration process.

I won't be going down the WIndows 7 path now.