[SOLVED] Gigabyte GA-P55-UD3R stuck on "Loading Operating System . . ." (AHCI?)

[LilZpai]

I recently built an older computer and have been trying to get Windows booting for a couple of days now. First of all, I ran into the problem that I couldn't install Windows onto the disk because "This computer's hardware may not support booting to this disk."
I tried creating a thread for that error as well, which you can look at here if that interests you, though, I never came to any conclusion. I decided to simply install Windows on another computer, which worked flawlessly on the same disk. When putting it back into the newly built one, however, it doesn't get past "Loading Operating System . . ."

As for what I have tried so far:

• Changed SATA ports.
• Changed HDD three times and tried installing Windows 10 on them, same error (Windows cannot be installed to this disk. This computer's hardware may not support booting to this disk.)
• Tried booting off a SATA SSD with Windows 10 installed on it (Stuck on Loading Operating System . . .)
• Reset BIOS settings to both "Optimized Defaults" and "Fail-Safe Defaults" (Still no luck.)
• Flashed to the latest BIOS version. (Nothing changed.)
• Tried heading into "Advanced BIOS Features" and disabled all other boot devices besides "HDD". (Used to be HDD -> CDROM -> Legacy LAN)
• Tried enabling eXtreme Hard Drive (XHD) (Disabled it again after not getting any result.)
• Tried changing "PCH SATA Control Mode" to AHCI and RAID(XHD) from IDE.
• Tried changing "eSATA Ctrl Mode" from IDE to AHCI, though doubt eSATA is what's causing the issue.
• Tried changing "0_1/IDE Ctrl Mode" to AHCI and Raid(XHD) from IDE. (Doesn't change anything.)

The only thing changing when enabling AHCI rather than IDE is that a few more drive detection screens come up before booting and such. A GIF of booting up is provided below.

I believe the issue to be related to AHCI, though with no prior experience with motherboards from this time, this sort of BIOS or error, I'm kind of lost for ideas and really need help.

System specs:
Xeon x3430
Gigabyte GA-P55-UD3R
Corsair Value Select 2x4GB 1333MHz
Palit GTX 760 2GB
Andersson 650W 80+ Bronze

Here is a link to a video of the exact BIOS with the same settings I have. It shows all settings and different screens, figured that'd be easier than taking a ton of pictures.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CCA-0fVOMQY


Here is a GIF of everything during booting if that could be of any help.

If any more information is needed, just ask and I can provide.
Thanks in advance.

 

[jay32267]

"I decided to simply install Windows on another computer, which worked flawlessly on the same disk. When putting it back into the newly built one, however, it doesn't get past "Loading Operating System . . ." "

So you installed Windows on one computer and expect it to work in another computer?

I think this might be your problem.

This is something I don't do because it can result in problems due to the different hardware.

 

[LilZpai]

"I decided to simply install Windows on another computer, which worked flawlessly on the same disk. When putting it back into the newly built one, however, it doesn't get past "Loading Operating System . . ." "

So you installed Windows on one computer and expect it to work in another computer?

I think this might be your problem.

This is something I don't do because it can result in problems due to the different hardware.

No, I'm not expecting it to work in another computer. After several attempts of trying to get it to install on the machine, I gave up and tried installing it on another to see if that would work. It worked on that system, but not on the one that failed to install it in the first place. Therefore, I am lead to believe that it is an issue with some sort of BIOS settings, perhaps related to AHCI.

When attempting to install Windows on the machine I'm having issues with, it gives me the error "Windows cannot be installed to this disk. This computer's hardware may not support booting to this disk.", as mentioned in the post. I cannot install it on this system, as it simply doesn't allow me to, hence why I tried installing it on another system to make sure it's not the drive. If you have any tips on how to get it to install on the computer I'm working on, that would be appreciated.

Here is a picture of the error when attempting to install Windows to that drive with my newly built machine:

 

[jay32267]

Ah....I understand.
I have had happen what you are experiencing.
I recall giving up and loading Windows 7 because it was old hardware and that worked....but I realize that's not what you are looking for.

 

[lynx1021]

Does the hard drive show in the Bios with SATA IDE enabled? I recently changed my mother board from IDE to AHCI, Had to change a registry setting also since windows was already installed. Under AHCI it does not show under IDE drives anymore but in anther section (I will have to look when I get home). Is the hard drive you are trying to use have anything on it? IF so it may need to be wiped.

 

[LilZpai]

When "PCH SATA Control Mode" and "0_1/IDE Ctrl Mode" is set to IDE, the drive shows up under "IDE Channel 0 Master" under the "Standard CMOS Features" tab, though, when changing the settings to AHCI, I only see it under the "Hard Disk Boot Priority" setting when hitting enter on that. I also see it under "Boot Menu" when entering that rather than the BIOS. Other than that, I don't know of any more tabs that show the drive in this BIOS.

The harddrive I'm trying to use did not have anything on it prior to installing Windows on another machine earlier today, so other than Windows 10, it has nothing on it. Wiping it won't be an issue.

 

[LilZpai]

Update and bump

I have now tried cleaning the disk with Diskpart and also converted it to MBR rather than GPT. As well as reinstalling the Windows 10 installer to my USB drive. However, the Windows installer keeps prompting me with the same message; "Windows cannot be installed to this disk. This computer's hardware may not support booting to this disk. Ensure that the disk's controller is enabled in the computer's BIOS menu." This message pops up both when AHCI is enabled, and when IDE is. See post #3 for the picture of the error message.

Edit: Now tried Windows 7 installer instead, though it gets me just as far and gives me with the exact same error message.

 

[LilZpai]

I feel pretty stupid that it took me so long to try this, but the solution was to install Windows with a CD.