[SOLVED] Stuck on EFI Shell after installing new SSD

[SnackboxAdam]

Update: I resolved the issue, read in the comments below what I did. (This solution may not be suitable for some people but give it a read anyway)





So I bought an MX500 from Amazon and it arrived today. After installing, I was hit with an EFI shell / Device mapping table. I then disconnected the new SSD in hope of it just being a faulty SSD that I can return. Sadly, even after removing the new SSD and trying different configurations of the hard/solid state drives I already have, the EFI Shell still appears and I have no access what so ever.

Things I've done/tried:
1. I checked my bios if the old windows SSD is being read. It is.
2. I tried CMOS resetting.
3. I tried resetting my bios settings to factory default.
4. I tried disconnecting every drive except the old windows SSD.
5. I changed my boot settings from UEFI to UEFI/Legacy and that gave me a prompt to insert a windows media key/CD, meaning it's not reading my already installed windows on the old SSD. I put in a Windows 10 Flash drive in and switched my bios settings to give that specific flashdrive boot priority and it still didn't read it.
6.I have read and tried almost every solution presented to this issue and nothing worked.
7.I tried shorting the CMOS reset, no prevail
8. I removed my GPU, all other USB devices, 3 out of the 4 RAM sticks I have, and it still didn't work.

I'm not a complete novice when it comes to PC hardware but I lack heavily in the software department. Some help would be really appreciated.

 

[karenjoly]

Did you review this discussion ?

http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/366241-31-startup-problem-stuck-screen

 

[SnackboxAdam]

Did you review this discussion ?

http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/366241-31-startup-problem-stuck-screen

I have, it was the first discussion I found, still did nothing.

 

[SnackboxAdam]

I fixed the issue. The resolution to this problem wasn't ideal but at least the PC is now working.

What I did to fix it:

1. I disconnected all SSDs/HDDs and did a cold boot, the result was a missing EFI map.

2. I then turned off the PC and did a CMOS reset, I then only connected my main SSD and went to the bios.

3. On my laptop, I found a BIOS update on the MSI page for my specific motherboard. I had already updated in the past but I flashed a fresh BIOS in just to be sure.

4. I then reboot the PC and the EFI error was gone, I was greeted with a different message this time; The SSD wasn't being recognised as a Windows Boot Drive [It was being read by my bios though which meant the Master Boot Record was messed].

5. I turned off my PC, connected all my SSDs/HDDs in and made a bootable Windows USB on my laptop.

6.The diagnostic and troubleshooting on the bootable USB didn't work so my last resort was to format the main SSD and install a fresh copy of Windows.

7. Although I lost some data, the PC is now working and is stable, with all the SSDs and HDDs showing and are fully working at optimum speeds.


-The result: The computer now runs perfectly fine, with all my overclocks running stable.

-The Price: Losing Data. The Data I lost was insignificant as I have all my important Data/work on my MacBook Pro. I can see how this can be a bad solution to some with important Data on their main drive.

-Alternative Resolution: If you have important Data on your Boot Drive and you have a separate SSD/HDD, install windows on that spare drive instead because even though the MBR[Master Boot Record] was corrupted, the rest of the data 'should' be intact unless the drive was damaged in the process.

Best of luck to people who have this issue.