[SOLVED] Random Freezes & BSODs after installing a new SSD

[Tatazildo]

Hello, everyone! It's been a long time since I've been here. Forum looks great.

I'm facing some troubles with my computer that, coincidence or not, started happening after I upgraded my 240 GB M.2 SATA WD Green to a 1 TB NVMe WD_Black SN750. I'm getting lots of random freezes that last about 5 seconds. I've tried turning "Game Mode" On/Off on the WD SSD Dashboard (it's a feature that basically won't allow the disk to turn off if I'm not mistaken) but this didn't change the behavior.

Also I've been getting lots of BSODs with DRIVER_IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL errors. Sometimes they point to a specific process, but most of the time they don't. The latest one was "ntfs.sys", which worried me a bit because could mean that there's in fact something weird disk-related.

Here are my specs:

• Windows 10 Pro x64 version 19042.746 (20H2)
• ASUS PRIME Z270-K Motherboard
• Intel Core i7-7700K
• Western Digital WD_BLACK NVMe SN750 1 TB (OS)
• Western Digital WD Green SATA 240 GB
• 64 GB (2 x 32 GB) Corsair CMK32GX4M1D3000C16 at 2400 MHz
• EVGA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti SC2
• 1x Seagate Barracuda 8 TB, 1x Seagate Barracuda 2 TB, 1x Seagate Barracuda 4 TB and 1x Seagate Backup Plus Hub 10 TB

I ran "sfc" and some files were repaired (most of them were shortcuts with ".lnk" extension) but that's all. CrystalDiskInfo shows all disks healthy.

I don't know what may be happening. I'm willing to provide more details if needed, of course.

 

[jojesa]

Did you perform a clean install or a disk cloning?
If you performed a clean installation, how many disk were connected to the system? Did you allowed Windows to finish setup (all updates) before you changed settings or install drivers?

 

[USAFRet]

after I upgraded my 240 GB M.2 SATA WD Green to a 1 TB NVMe WD_Black SN750

How did you do this upgrade?

 

[Tatazildo]

Did you perform a clean install or a disk cloning?
If you performed a clean installation, how many disk were connected to the system? Did you allowed Windows to finish setup (all updates) before you changed settings or install drivers?

I did perform a clean install. All the disks were connected to the system, I believe. Yes, I let Windows finish its stuff first and then ran Driver Booster to ensure everything was up to date.

 

[Tatazildo]

How did you do this upgrade?

Clean install.

 

[GregoryDude]

From my experience, when installing windows 10 while other drives are connected caused issues in my windows 10 environment (similar to yours). Particularly because sometimes windows will put system files on other drives instead of your primary drive which causes instability and even boot problems. I would disconnect all your hard drives except your primary drive and then reinstall windows 10. After windows 10 is reinstalled, then re-connect all your other disk drives.

 

[jojesa]

I did perform a clean install. All the disks were connected to the system, I believe. Yes, I let Windows finish its stuff first and then ran Driver Booster to ensure everything was up to date.

To avoid issues, try performing the clean installation with only the drive where you are installing Windows connected. Any other drive can be connected to the system when the installation is finished.

 

[Tatazildo]

From my experience, when installing windows 10 while other drives are connected caused issues in my windows 10 environment (similar to yours). Particularly because sometimes windows will put system files on other drives instead of your primary drive which causes instability and even boot problems. I would disconnect all your hard drives except your primary drive and then reinstall windows 10. After windows 10 is reinstalled, then re-connect all your other disk drives.

To avoid issues, try performing the clean installation with only the drive where you are installing Windows connected. Any other drive can be connected to the system when the installation is finished.

Thanks, guys. I'm gonna try that during the weekend and keep you all updated.