My Windows10 Gives me an infinite loading on boot since i added a HDD.

[zetadarus]

Please read everything im aware that this looks like a simple issue to fix :


Hello tom's hardware comunity , i recently added a ODD To HDD adapater for my laptop so i could have two Hardrives instead of one drive and an optical disk drive that i don't use at all .

And that ended up working perfectly , at least for the first weeks ,

so what happends is when i start my computer , i see the Windows Loading screen and it never ends , even after waiting more than an hour

i see my HDD usage light showing me that it's working on it ( light is blinking all the time) , my OS is on an SSD wich is on the normal HDD port of my laptop and my HDD is on the adapter ,

So what i thought is maybe my HDD is faulty and windows can't read it properly or something

so i tested it and it works flawlessly with no SMART errors or anything , so i thought "maybe it's the adapter that's faulty then" nope , i bought another of those adapters stil does the same thing , i even replaced the HDD with an SSD i had laying around , nope nothing worked .

When i get into my bios and disable the ODD interface the systems boots right up , but when there's that it doesn't work , i tried updating my BIOS still nothing .

what i don't understand is , it worked perfectly fine for the first two weeks then it does this , and as soon as i reinstall windows it does the same thing again , works flawlessly for a moment then blocks

MY friends uses the same exact adapters as me and they never had such a problem , only here i am , and yes i did search around already but , everyone that has this seems to be a bios related problem , while for me it seems to be a windows related problem , maybe there it a way to make windows ignore HDD's at startup ?

 

[COLGeek]

I suspect you may have some physical damage to the port that your adapter attaches to, inside your laptop. Have you examined (looked at it) the port for damage, or debris?

 

[zetadarus]

I suspect you may have some physical damage to the port that your adapter attaches to, inside your laptop. Have you examined (looked at it) the port for damage, or debris?

i did check the physical connections nothing seems to be wrong , also why would it always work when i reinstall windows if it was a physical problem :/

 

[COLGeek]

It makes little sense in regards to its behavior. When you re-installed Windows, were both drives physically installed in the system? Or, did you re-install with only the primary HDD installed (preferred method, by the way)?

When you say "works flawlessly for a moment then blocks", how long a period of time are you talking about?

 

[zetadarus]

It makes little sense in regards to its behavior. When you re-installed Windows, were both drives physically installed in the system? Or, did you re-install with only the primary HDD installed (preferred method, by the way)?

When you say "works flawlessly for a moment then blocks", how long a period of time are you talking about?

Yep , both drives were there , i had the choice to install to my SSD or my HDD

as for the seconds question , it's quite random , but it does it like one or two weeks

like , the first week in install windows , runs flawlessly , then next week i start up the laptop , and i get that infinite loading and i see the HDD usage light blinking , if i remove the second drive it boots fine :/

 

[COLGeek]

What is the make and model of your laptop?

 

[zetadarus]

What is the make and model of your laptop?

Asus X540LJ

 

[COLGeek]

Your friend has the same model laptop or just the same adapter to mount the HDD?

 

[zetadarus]

Your friend has the same model laptop or just the same adapter to mount the HDD?

Two of my friends have different laptops but are using the same adapter indeed

 

[COLGeek]

What happens if you reinstall the ODD?

 

[zetadarus]

What happens if you reinstall the ODD?

ODD works fine if i put it back i can read any normal disc

 

[COLGeek]

What happens if you reinstall the ODD?

ODD works fine if i put it back i can read any normal disc

This implies that the adapter is the problem. I would recommend exchanging the adapter to see if that helps.

 

[zetadarus]

This implies that the adapter is the problem. I would recommend exchanging the adapter to see if that helps.

I tried that already too , i took my friend's one when that happened just to try to figure things out ,

same thing happened

i also tried another brand and same thing

that's what i've tried so far :

Changing adapter : doesn't work
Changng my secondary HDD : doesn't work
Updating my bios : doesn't work

Reinstalling windows : works but problem returns after a week or two

 

[zetadarus]

What happens if you reinstall the ODD?

ODD works fine if i put it back i can read any normal disc

This implies that the adapter is the problem. I would recommend exchanging the adapter to see if that helps.

I tried that already too , i took my friend's one when that happened just to try to figure things out ,

same thing happened

i also tried another brand and same thing

that's what i've tried so far :

Changing adapter : doesn't work
Changng my secondary HDD : doesn't work
Updating my bios : doesn't work

Reinstalling windows : works but problem returns after a week or two

 

[COLGeek]

This "Reinstalling windows : works but problem returns after a week or two" is the part that baffles me. Why it works for some period of time and then stops working is befuddling.

Do you notice a difference if using battery power only (AC adapter disconnected)?

In your power management profile settings, are you HDDs powering down when not in use or are they on all of the time?

 

[zetadarus]

This "Reinstalling windows : works but problem returns after a week or two" is the part that baffles me. Why it works for some period of time and then stops working is befuddling.

Do you notice a difference if using battery power only (AC adapter disconnected)?

In your power management profile settings, are you HDDs powering down when not in use or are they on all of the time?

im weirded out as much as you are by this issue , but i think i found what triggers it , but first yes , the hdd is running all the time and not powering down when unused , and no difference with or without the AC adapter

now going back to what i found what triggers this , it might be related to windows update wich would explain why it happends after a while

now this might not be it too as when i install windows it also does updates and this doesn't happen too so

also i've beeen able to get into windows by letting the pc boot for around 2 hours , i noticed a really brief HDD analysis right before the log in screen , after that i was able to reboot the computer fine without that issue happening again , then i got a windows update and the pc rebooted and got the problem again , im aware that windows updates takes a little bit of time to install , but thing is windows is installed on a brand new SSD and that the HDD has nothing to do with the system itself

also² i didn't mentionned that but when that happened before i could sometimes force the pc to shut down ( long press on the power button ) , wait around 10 minutes and the pc would boot normally


im really wondering what causes this issue as i can't really find anything related to it , but everything makes me think it's windows related problem instead of a hardware one , i never know tho

 

[COLGeek]

Hopefully, someone else will come along with a clue. I am stumped.

A Windows update should be apparent if installing/updating.