Inaccessible Boot Device after clean install Windows 10

[rsmith7]

My PC has a Gigabyte EG41MFT-US2H motherboard, 4 Gb RAM. OS disk is 60 Gb Sandisk SSD and for data there are a pair of Seagate 500 Gb HDDs. It had Windows 7 Home Premium from day 1, and subsequently Windows 10 10240, 1511 and 1607 - all via update not reinstall. It runs fine.

But due to the reported problems with freezing after the AU 1607 upgrade, I thought it prudent to do a clean install having first created a system image of the SSD. I don't actually suffer from the reported problems by the way. However, having apparently completed the install, the final boot gives the BSOD "Inaccessible Boot Device". I've found the only way to boot is to disconnect the two HDDs.

I tried connecting a blank HDD and got the same result. Subsequently I've done a clean install on this HDD with no other drives connected. Everything works fine - just much slower than the SSD. But if I try connecting either the SSD or one of the other HDDs I get the BSOD again. And the PC will not start in safe mode either. It seems I can do a clean install with just an SSD or HDD connected, but both fail as soon as another device is plugged in.

I've tried a clean install of Windows 7 SP1 and this has no problems. So looks like something carried over from W7 is missing on clean W10 install. Any ideas what?

Meanwhile the PC is back up having restored the SSD from the image backup.

 

[Colif]

What you said here:

Thanks for your informative reply. I'm coming to the conclusion that the motherboard of this PC does not fully support Windows 10.

on Microsoft's site is truth.

surprised it works on win 10 considering your driver choice... that could be the difference. Your PC has no win 8 or 10 drivers (I assume motherboard is rev 1.4), but i don't know why you getting that error right away. there shouldn't be any drivers except stock win 10 ones, maybe it doesn't have the drivers anymore.

What you could do is install win 7 on ssd and then upgrade it using the win 10 installer as you have an activation of win 10, your PC just doesn't want to go there from fresh.

Upgrading the PC is the best way forward as your PC getting too old to keep up and you be amazed at speed of new PC now. I had a PC about same specs last year and I just didn't even contemplate updating to 10, it was getting too old. Sure, I never thought to get an SSD but that doesn't help if CPU can't keep up with ssd. Eventually you just have to start a new.

 

[rsmith7]

Thanks for your reply. I have assumed that there are drivers missing but I don't understand why they are there when the system started out as Windows 7, but not after a clean install.

Also if I clean-install onto a Seagate HDD, and then try to boot having plugged in a second, identical Seagate HDD, I get the problem too. The second HDD would surely be using the same drivers ...

So I think I will go ahead and replace the MB.

But just curious why this problem isn't more widespread ...

 

[Colif]

Possibly your boot order, sometimes they show the hdd before the ssd, since ssd didn't exist when your PC was made.

maybe you using the wrong sata connector on motherboard and its sata 2 or something, and when you plug new drive in its seen as the boot drive

did the other drive ever have windows on it? some ideas here: http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/280318-32-windows-boot-hard-drives-installed

Edit: I removed answer about win 10 not having the drivers as well, it boots up if no other hdd attached, so its not that.


I don't think its more widespread as perhaps most people who upgraded PC its age have just done an upgrade and not a fresh install of win 10. Or maybe they stayed on win7.

 

[rsmith7]

I did some more tests before deciding to replace the MB. I used the 1511 ISO disk just to ensure it wasn't something with the 1607 AU version.

With just 1 HDD connected, and the other HDD and SSD disconnected, I did a clean install. Afterwards plugging in either the second HDD (an identical drive) or the SSD causes the failure.

Next I did a clean install on to the same HDD, but with the other HDD connected throughout. No problem with both HDDs connected, but plug in the SSD afterwards and the failure occurs.

Finally a clean install on to the same HDD with both the other HDD and SSD connected works fine. However the process has updated the SSD to reflect a dual-boot to itself or the HDD, which I had to correct afterwards.

So it seems a clean install to the SSD will work, provided I keep both HDDs plugged in. However I don't really know why. Meanwhile I've updated the SSD to 1607 AU level via Windows Update and it runs fine.

 

[Colif]

Are any of the drives IDE or all sata? is it a master/slave setting thing? I only ask ask motherboard does have both. SSD should be on sata

top post here is your motherboard, wonder if it relates: http://www.win-raid.com/t2f23-Intel-RST-RSTe-Drivers-newest-v-WHQL-v-WHQL-30.html

http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/277547-30-ahci-mode

think i need a second opinion

 

[rsmith7]

The SSD and both HDDs are SATA with only the DVD drive being connected to the IDE channel. There's nothing in the BIOS that allows me to set AHCI. I've tried "enhanced" mode and it makes no difference so I left the default of "auto".

Simple fact is that if I clean install Windows 7 SP1 on to the SSD with the HDDs disconnected, there is no problem with then shutting down, plugging in the HDDs and rebooting. But exactly the same process with a Windows 10 ISO causes the issue. Therefore there must be something different in the W10 boot process but I've no idea what.

It concerns me that if sometime in the future I need to replace one of the HDDs, will I get the same problem?

 

[Colif]

Sometime in the future you need to replace motherboard anyway since its already lacking in win 10 drivers. That situation won't improve as time moves along. Best to stay on Win 7 if you can.

I don't know enough about the win 10 boot process myself so you are probably correct in your guess about a difference. Its very strange though.