[SOLVED] MSI Laptop fails to boot to windows after Shut down on System freeze

[Holakraai]

Hello Everyone,

I only write this because my google research didn’t turn up my specific request and/or problem. I am new to the whole forum thing, so please be tolerant with me, if I don’t respect some guidelines. I try to give you as many informations as I can think of.

MY PROBLEM

After shut down, My Laptop “MSI GE73VR 7RF Raider“ starts up in BIOS and won’t boot my Windows. When I checked my Storage settings I noticed that my SSD (Where I had my Windows 10 Home installed) said “Empty”. Screenshot 1

SYNOPSIS

[This is how i set up my PC: “Partition/Drive C:” is my SSD that runs windows and all my applications for better performance, “Partition/Drive D:” is my HDD that has no OS and just contains all my Files and Documents.] I got my SSD on May this year, so it isn’t that old either.

Another side note before I begin: I normally keep my Laptop on Standby. I only switch it off entirely only when I travel with it, to avoid turning it on by mistake. That happens occasionally, let’s say every once in 2 Weeks.

So here is what I did before my Laptop failed on me:

I was playing League of Legends and was stuck in my loading screen, which concludes for me: it was a storage drive problem all along (loading screen implies loading game files).
After the screen didn’t go on for several minutes I tried tabbing out of the game: nothing happened. My PC froze. So i tried opening the Task Manager: which didn’t pop up. So i tried shutting it down, by pressing my off-button. However pressing the off-button just switches my PC in standby mode, which it did. I tried this twice, but couldn’t force the shut down. So I pressed ctrl-alt-del and selected “shut-down”. That worked. Before shutting down however “Origin” blocked the shut-down so I clicked on “shut down anyways”; which is nothing out of the ordinary. This was the last thing I saw from Windows. After the shut down it went straight to the BIOS.

WHAT I’VE ALREADY TRIED

I already tried switching my Boot priority in the BIOS. (Screenshot 2) But that didn’t even make sense, because I had a normally booting, perfectly fine running operating system for months now before the shut down. I switched into “LEGACY” boot mode and got a funny message saying: "Check cable connection! PXE-M0F: Exiting PXE ROM." Screenshot 3

MY OTHER OPTIONS

Unfortunately, several weeks ago my other PC failed to turn on at all, which leaves me without any Computer at all. I am sending this post from my Phone…
So basically I can either bring my Laptop to some Repair shop or insert a USB, but can’t download any software to my USB (only at work I have access to a MAC).
My least favorite option would be to freshly install windows: It is going to be a pain, setting up all programs as I had them.

Another possible option is to open up my Laptop and check for faulty or loose connections.
This would not be a problem, since I’ve already installed the SSD by myself. But I am not sure if that even makes sense.

MY QUESTION

What could have caused this and what do you suggest to try next?
Is my SSD seriously Empty or does it only show like that in BIOS,
because something else is wrong? Or does that information just imply Empty slots?

PS: Sorry for the Image Links, the embedded picture function failed to work on me.

 

[Lutfij]

Prior to the issue, the laptop came with only a single storage drive? The HDD? If you added an SSD later down the road, it's the Samsung 970 Evo Plus, correct? Speaking of the laptop, what BIOS version are you currently on for your laptop? Did you also make sure the firmware on your SSD is/was up to date using Samsung's Magician Tool?

What version of Windows 10 were you on prior? Since Windows Boot Manager is missing, it's possible that the OS has been corrupted. You can try out another thing, remove the HDD and with only the SSD populated, see if you can see the drive during installation, after you've created your bootable USB installer using Windows Media Creation Tools.

 

[Holakraai]

Prior to the issue, the laptop came with only a single storage drive? The HDD?

Yes, correct.

If you added an SSD later down the road, it's the Samsung 970 Evo Plus, correct?

Yes, correct.

Speaking of the laptop, what BIOS version are you currently on for your laptop?

BIOS Version on the first row

Did you also make sure the firmware on your SSD is/was up to date using Samsung's Magician Tool?

No, I can't recall doing that. Was during my Semester. I guess I overlooked that in all my stress.

What version of Windows 10 were you on prior? Since Windows Boot Manager is missing, it's possible that the OS has been corrupted.

That was my guess too. My Laptop had no preinstalled OS.

You can try out another thing, remove the HDD and with only the SSD populated, see if you can see the drive during installation, after you've created your bootable USB installer using Windows Media Creation Tools.

I will try that. Thank you for the fast reply.
First off I need to create such a USB, because I think I lost my old one somewhere. Yay me!
I'll let you know.

 

[Holakraai]

Hello Lutfij,

I have news.
By some miracle I found my USB with the Windows Installation tool and proceeded as you suggested with a few twists.

WHAT I HAVE TRIED SO FAR

First of all I booted from my USB and tried to use the windows repair tool from the advanced options. This was unsuccessful (Screenshot). That message made me suspicious.
So I ran the installation until I could see an overview of my drives and partitions. To my surprise they are all well and fine, as nothing happened (Partitions 1, Partitions 2).

Then I realized that my booting option didn’t let me switch between Hard Drives. (Screenshot)
So I opened my Laptop and took out the HDD, like you suggested Lutfij.
Unfortunately my Laptop still does not recognize the OS on the SSD.
However now the SSD appears as bootable device in my BIOS, but only on Legacy Mode.
(Legacy, NOT Legacy). After putting my HDD back in, nothing changed.
I guess I made some kind of progress.

NEW CONCLUSION

As you can see from my Screenshots, the SSD is well, connected and functioning.
From the remaining storage capacity I deduce, there is still windows on it with all my data.
So my new Theory is: that the boot manager somehow does not recognize the partitions.
Is there a way to fix this or is a clean installation of windows my only option? Is there some low level wizardry on the bios and/or command prompt that could come to the rescue or is all hope gone?

Thanks in advance for any form of input.

 

[Holakraai]

Hello everyone,

After not hearing anymore suggestions I took matters in my own hands.
Long story short: I fixed my problem.

It was a pain, but it in the end it worked.
When I first got my Laptop it had no OS, so I installed Windows on my preinstalled HDD.
There was a small partition with the MBR and the boot loader. When I got my SSD I only formatted my HDD on the System partition leaving a trace of the MBR untouched. So I ended up with a boot loader on the HDD and the system on the SSD. Also my laptop refused to recognize my SSD as the main Storage Drive during the boot up process. So I had to remove my HDD from the Laptop, clean my SSD with windows "Diskpart" (remove everything, partitions included) and reinstall windows. Once my BIOS got familiar with the SSD everything worked fine again.

Thanks for trying to help. Peace out!

EDIT: I can't find an option to solve the issue, so I marked this as best answer. Moderation feel free to close the issue.