Question PC does not detect SSD and HDD after hardware change

[Angkoridz]

Hello,

Some days ago I tried to clone an old laptop's HDD to a new SSD by installing them into my desktop PC but something went wrong.

There are three disks in my PC:
SSD Samsung 850 Pro 256GB with Windows 10 installed
HDD WD Black 2TB for data
HDD WD Blue 1TB with Windows 7 installed
Motherboard: Asus P8Z77-V LE Plus

I removed both my PC's HDDs and plugged the same cables in the laptop's old HDD and new SSD. When I powered on the PC, it tried to boot from the laptop's HDD so I kind of panicked and switched off the PC. In my understanding it should not have happened because the primary boot disk of my PC was the SSD with Windows 10 which I had not touched.

Then I removed the laptop's disks and powered on PC again but it would not boot at all - it did not detect the SSD. After that I put back both HDDs exactly as they were before and then PC booted in Windows 7 from the WD Blue HDD. The SSD and WD Black did not show up in device manager and BIOS anymore.

So far I have tried switching power and SATA cables in different combinations but the only disk which now is detected is WD Blue. So there probably is nothing wrong with the cables and ports because WD Blue works with any of the cables and in any port. Also there is nothing wrong with the SSD and WD Black itself - I put them in an external enclosure and they work fine.

Until now I have managed to solve the issues by reading other posts but I cannot find anything that resembles this situation. Any ideas how to solve this are welcome.

 

[jay32267]

I would first power down....and reset the BIOS in the desktop PC.
Then I would try and power up the desktop with ONLY the boot SSD for the desktop.

 

[Angkoridz]

Thanks for the suggestion. I selected "Load optimized defaults" in BIOS which, as I understand, means resetting BIOS on Asus motherboards and disconnected the HDDs. However that did not help. I get the same result as before when only the boot SSD was connected - black screen with text "Reboot and Select proper Boot device.

After doing this I checked the SATA configuration in BIOS after powering on and off several times. The SSD appeared there once but still it did not boot afterwards.

Maybe I should update the BIOS just in case? I checked that there is available a newer version.

 

[jay32267]

I think there might be something wrong with the Windows install on the SSD.
I might try a clean install....on one drive....with no other drives connected.
I wouldn't upgrade the BIOS yet.

 

[Angkoridz]

Would it even be possible to do a clean install of the OS when the disk is not detected?

Could you explain, how can a problem with Windows installation on SSD result in the fact that also the WD Black HDD is not detected? I read on Windows 10 Clean Install Tutorial that sometimes system decides to install one or more partitions on secondary drives. Is it somehow related to this?

 

[SkyNetRising]

Can you show screenshot from Disk Management on your pc with all original drives connected?
(upload to imgur.com and post link)

I'd suspect HDD with win7 has bootloader on it. Without this drive your pc is unbootable.
And win10 drive doesn't have a separate bootloader on it.

 

[Angkoridz]

Can you show screenshot from Disk Management on your pc with all original drives connected?
(upload to imgur.com and post link)

I will post the screenshot from Disk Management as soon as I get back to my pc.

I'd suspect HDD with win7 has bootloader on it. Without this drive your pc is unbootable.
And win10 drive doesn't have a separate bootloader on it.

In case the bootloader is located on HDD with Windows7, then why the SSD with Windows 10 still would not boot when I connect all drives exactly as they were at the beginning? Does it mean that there is something gone wrong with with Windows10 installation? How can I check where the bootloader is actually located? This all new to me...

 

[Angkoridz]

Since resetting of BIOS and disconnecting both HDDs did not help getting the SSD to boot, later just as an experiment I connected the HDDs again.
Pc booted Windows7 like earlier but then a message that a new device is being installed appeared. After a while the WD Black HDD was back!
Unfortunately the SSD still is not being detected.

 

[SkyNetRising]

In case the bootloader is located on HDD with Windows7, then why the SSD with Windows 10 still would not boot when I connect all drives exactly as they were at the beginning?

Because adding or removing a storage device can change boot priority.
After every adding/removing you have to check boot priority settings and make appropriate changes, if necessary.

How can I check where the bootloader is actually located?

Bootloader usually is a small partition - either

primary, active (has word "System" in description) on MBR drive or​

EFI System on GPT drive.​

Quite easy to spot it, when observing Disk Management screenshot.
Here some examples:

Spoiler

Bootloader in EFI System partition:

Bootloader in Primary Active partition:

 

[Angkoridz]

Can you show screenshot from Disk Management on your pc with all original drives connected?

I took out the SSD and connected it by external USB enclosure so that it would show up in the Disk Management. It is listed as Disk 2. Here is the screenshot:

It seems that both disks - HDD with Windows7 and SSD - have the bootloaders. Or am I getting something wrong? There is "System, Active" partition on HDD and "EFI System Partition" on SSD.

 

[SkyNetRising]

Windows 7 disk has legacy bootloader on it (Primary, Active, System partition).
Windows 10 disk has UEFI bootloader on it.

To boot from windows 10 disk,

enable UEFI,​

set first boot device to Windows Boot Manager,​

disable secure boot (if necessary).​

 

[Angkoridz]

It took some time but I finally found the UEFI and Secure boot settings. However I cannot select Windows Boot Manager as the first boot device because it is not listed in BIOS. As I understand, it would be available if the Windows10 disk (SSD) would be detected by BIOS but it is not. I can access it only if I take it out of the pc case un put it in an external USB enclosure. When it is connected internally, BIOS shows that there is not anything connected to the particular port.

What would be the next step in this situation? To get this disk to show up in BIOS? I really hope that it will not come down to formatting or clean install of OS. It would take weeks to reinstall all my sofware and configure it...

 

[SkyNetRising]

However I cannot select Windows Boot Manager as the first boot device because it is not listed in BIOS.

What options in boot priority list do you have?
Can you show a photo?

Do you have listed:

UEFI Hard disk?​

HDD BBS priorities?​

 

[Angkoridz]

When I select "UEFI only" in Boot device control in BIOS Adanced mode (under CSM), the boot priorty list is empty. Otherwise there are just two options in the list - the optical drive and WD Black HDD. They are listed by their model number:

The Boot menu in BIOS EZ mode is like that:

So there is none of the options you mention...

 

[SkyNetRising]

Connect SSD to sata port, where 2TB drive is connected. Disconnect 2TB drive for now.

And check under Hard Drive BBS priorities (same page, where Boot Option Priorities are listed).

This page - video at timestamp 6:39

View: https://youtu.be/zLs4xdlBhi0?t=399

 

[Angkoridz]

Connecting the SSD to the port of 2TB HDD worked - the pc finally boots in Windows10. However it happens only when "UEFI only" option is selected in BIOS. Otherwise it boots Windows7 again. The SSD has been set as the first priority.

Afterwards I connected the 2TB HDD to the port, where the SSD previously was, but it is not being detected anymore. This is becoming even more confusing than it already was... What could I try to get back the 2TB HDD?

 

[SkyNetRising]

Connecting the SSD to the port of 2TB HDD worked - the pc finally boots in Windows10. However it happens only when "UEFI only" option is selected in BIOS. Otherwise it
boots Windows7 again. The SSD has been set as the first priority.

You have to set boot priority properly.
Have UEFI and legacy both enabled and
set Windows Boot Manager as first in Boot order.
Setting SSD as first in boot order will not work. That option tries to boot from SSD in legacy mode. SSD is not bootable in legacy mode. Windows on SSD is installed in UEFI mode.

Did you check options under Hard Drive BBS Priorities?

What could I try to get back the 2TB HDD?

Try different ports. Do not use Marvel controller SATA port (single navy blue color port).

 

[Angkoridz]

You have to set boot priority properly.
Have UEFI and legacy both enabled and
set Windows Boot Manager as first in Boot order.
Setting SSD as first in boot order will not work. That option tries to boot from SSD in legacy mode. SSD is not bootable in legacy mode. Windows on SSD is installed in UEFI mode.

Did you check options under Hard Drive BBS Priorities?

I should have been more specific in my last post. Sorry. Actually I did all of this. Just in case, I will list all that step by step (as far as I remember):

Connected the SSD to the port of 2TB HDD. Left the 2TB HDD unplugged.
Powered on the pc but missed to click the key to enter the BIOS. The pc booted Windows10 anyway - without any adjustments in BIOS.
Thinking that the problem has been solved, I shut down the pc and connected the 2TB HDD to the port where the SSD was connected previously.
Checked the settings in BIOS. The Boot Device Control under CSM in BIOS was set to "UEFI and Legacy OpROM". I did not touch that.
The first Boot Option priority by default was the optical drive. The second was Windows Boot Manager.
Under Hard Drive BBS Priorities the Boot Option #1 was the SSD. The second was the Windows7 HDD.
Then I tried to boot and it booted Windows7 instead of Windows10. The only way how to get it to boot Windows10 was to select "UEFI only" setting.

Try different ports. Do not use Marvel controller SATA port (single navy blue color port).

I tried to exchange the cables between Windows7 and 2TB HDD. As a result they both were not detected anymore...
They both are connected to Intel SATA ports, not Marvell. Later I will try my luck connecting the HDDs to other Intel ports. It is a bit complicated because of pc case...

 

[SkyNetRising]

Is your PSU modular?
Are you using original cables from your PSU?

Because with modular PSUs, if you use wrong cables (designed for a different model PSU), you can kill/damage hardware connected.

 

[Angkoridz]

Is your PSU modular?
Are you using original cables from your PSU?

Yes, the PSU is modular - Corsair CX600M.
I am absolutely sure that all cables connected to it are original.

 

[Angkoridz]

Try different ports. Do not use Marvel controller SATA port (single navy blue color port).

I tried connecting the 2TB HDD to all other Intel SATA ports but it was not detected. Then I plugged it back in the same port as before and it finally showed up in BIOS. The Windows7 disk also was detected.

However when I booted Windows10 and checked the disk management, it said that 2TB HDD now had GPT Protective Partition. When I last accessed it in Windows7, it had the Primary partition and worked fine.

Just to see if the fact, that the 2TB drive was detected, was not just a coincidence, I restarted the pc. Once while booting a message, that the disk C (SSD) is being scanned and repaired (or something like that), appeared and it was over in ten seconds or so. Next boot was very slow and then another message appeared:

This has been going on for two hours and has reached just 1%. Judging by the sound, it is the 2TB HDD that is being fixed. Now I probably just have to wait until this process finishes, right?

Could all this be somehow related to the appearance of the Protective Partition? Is there any logical explanation to what is happening? I have not experienced any indications that the SSD and 2TB HDD could be failing. Samsung Magician software states that the SSD is in good condition.

 

[Angkoridz]

This has been going on for two hours and has reached just 1%. Judging by the sound, it is the 2TB HDD that is being fixed. Now I probably just have to wait until this process finishes, right?

The fixing process has been going on for about 12 hours and has reached just 4% of the Stage1. At this speed it will probably take more than a week...

I tried to find some advice regarding this and there are two opposing opinions. Some say that you should not interrupt this regardless how long it takes because that may corrupt the drive. Others say it would be ok to force shut down.

Any suggestions which advice to follow?

 

[SkyNetRising]

The fixing process has been going on for about 12 hours and has reached just 4% of the Stage1. At this speed it will probably take more than a week...

More like - 12.5 days.

Some say that you should not interrupt this regardless how long it takes because that may corrupt the drive.

Yes. Exactly.
But if scanning takes this long, this means you have a hardware problem with your HDD. Probably damaged/unreadable sectors.

 

[Angkoridz]

The fixing process got stuck at one point. Since I had the backup of the most important files, I just shut down the pc. Next time it booted normally. All data seems to be intact and there are no signs of any corruption due to forced shutdown.

So far I have not found that there would be any real hardware problem with the particular HDD. I ran the CHKDSK and it did not found any problems. Also I ran the diagnostic short and extended SMART tests from the WD Dashboard utility which indicates that the health of the drive is "Normal". Those tests also did not find any problems.

For several days the particular HDD worked without any problems. Today it again shows in the Disk Management as "GPT Protective Partition" and cannot be accessed. I thought that once the drive has converted to GPT Protective Partition, this cannot be reversed that easily. Especially not by itself. This does not make any sense, at least to me... Could it be some sort of Windows glitch that it thinks that there is a problem with the drive while actually there is none?

Maybe I should run some more tests on different software just to be sure about the health of the drive?

 

[SkyNetRising]

Check health of your drives with HDtune health. Post screenshots.