Can't install windows 10 on SSD and get my stuff back.

[EPiC-PoTaTo-chiP]

Hi Guys!

Okay, so this is going to be a quite long one, but here goes... I were about to play a game with my friend, i booted up my PC and then the screens goes black, after showing me the MSI logo (i have a MSI motherboard). I tried numerous things, and since i couldn't fix it, i dicided i wanted to reinstall windwos 10. However, i did not have a windows 10 installation disc, so i figure i could install windows 7, and from there, download windwos 10 for free, just like i did the first time. So off i went, but when i had to download windows 10, i saw it wasn't free anymore. I confronted this to a microsoft technician, who were so kind to give me a free copy of windows 10.
This is were it goes all wrong... I installed windows 10 like you normally would, but then i saw i could only install the OS to my HDD instead of one of my 3 SSD's... I thought i could migrate the OS later on, so i installed windows to my HDD. When i booted up for the first time, i thought all my things were going to be there, but it was like a clean install. I could see all of my old stuff if i looked through the harddrives, but that's not what i wanted.. I want to have all of my things installed and ready to use, just like when you upgrade from windows 7 to windows 10. I want to have my OS on one of my SSD's.
After i booted up the second time, the screen went all black again, so i were basically back to problem number one. How do i fix this? How do i get windows to load all my things, so i don't have to delete all data from all of my harddisc's, then install windows 10 again, and then download all of my things?

I hope you guys can help me, and understand my problem. Please tell me, if there is any information i can give you, to help resolve this problem.

Thanks in advance.

 

[photonboy]

Hi,
*Skip to summary first, then jump to STEP#3.

Maybe PRINT this out. It may get complicated. I apoligize, and hopefully others can help you out too.

1) First of all, if you had W10 already that is registered with Microsoft. If you use a W10 install disc, and install the SAME exact version (i.e. W10 Home 64-bit), and SKIP entering a key during installation it will install and properly activate.

Again, your computer is already known by Microsoft. There is no reason for a tech to give you another key.

2) So you had Windows 10 already on an SSD?

Update: avoid this unless you:
a) fix the black screen issue, and
b) you can't boot this properly anymore still

Okay, so if it is corrupted still and you can't even boot into Windows:

a) Unhook the data and power cables from all drives EXCEPT for the previous SSD that had W10 on it
b) boot to the W10 install disc
c) SKIP entering a key when prompted (it should auto-activate later)
d) choose the "UPGRADE" option, and make sure to "KEEP DATA and programs"
e) finish install, test

3) *PROBLEM*
You apparently have a problem with your system which may be difficult to troubleshoot from here. i suspect it's a hardware issue. Possibly:
a) bad video card
b) bad power supply
c) bad motherboard
d) OTHER

*If you have a Windows 10 SSD that worked before, it may be perfectly GOOD still. Thus you may not need to reinstall Windows but rather may need to fix another hardware issue.

4. Troubleshooting->

1) try a different monitor, or HDTV if you can (or move your monitor to try with a different computer)
2) Try a different video connection to the monitor if possible
3) Try a different GPU if possible (video card). If you have a video card, you might be able to try the iGPU if you have one in your CPU (most modern Intel CPU's have them).

If you are attached to the MOTHERBOARD (not an addon card) you could try borrowing a video card but that's a hassle.

4) POWER SUPPLY - there's a strong possibility this is a problem. You can only tell by changing it out.
5) Memory testing->
a) create a Memtest86 disc or USB www.memtest86.com (get help if need be)
b) unhook all SSD and HDD drives
c) boot to the Memtest86 media, and run the default test for a FULL PASS or until errors (it will say "full pass" somewhere; it's roughly 30 minutes for 8GB of system memory)
d) Errors? ask for help
e) No errors?
Unfortunately this probably means swapping parts.

5) LINUX BOOT DISC - get someone to help you create a Linux DVD. Such as Linux MINT. https://www.linuxmint.com/edition.php?id=217
a) download
b) burn to DVD or USB stick (for DVD can use "Imgburn" a free program)
c) shut down, unhook HDD/SSD's to be safe
d) insert and boot
e) test.. open Firefox other programs etc (if successful then it's running from the DVD disc itself. A bit slow but useful for troubleshooting. If it works then your issue is related to the drives or Windows install which I doubt is the problem. If it fails too then it confirms it's a major hardware issue.. you should try it on another PC if possible first.. if you do so, you may need to go into the BIOS such as "DEL" when booting up and select the DVD drive as the boot drive.

Summary:
If I understand correctly you seem to have a monitor or main hardware component that is defective and needs replacing. Such as:
- PSU
- video card
- motherboard (main board and a hassle to replace)
- memory sticks

I'm not certain, but your Windows 10 SSD may be fine, so if you get the issue resolved you may be able to just attach it.

I probably won't be around to help much, but start there.

*If you think the W10 SSD might be okay, then I suggest you unhook it for now. Don't use it until you get the black screen issue solved.

Other:
When you finally get this working, learn how to make a BACKUP IMAGE of your Windows drive periodically. I use Acronis True Image. It can restore your backup in case of drive failure or data corruption like a virus you can't fix. Ask later.