Windows 7 booting problems

[keyser8]

I was out today and returned home to find my pc sat on an error screen having left it on the Windows Login screen.

It seemed the PC had re-booted itself and the error screen was displaying that the bootable devices needed were unavailable with status: 0xc000000e.

I have restarted the pc several times, each time the boot process is extremely slow (normally boots within 15 seconds to windows login when working), and ends up back at this same screen.

I have managed to boot from the Windows 7 installation disk once, ran a Windows repair which stated the error was a corrupt boot configuration which the diagnostics claimed was fixed successfully. This however has made no difference.

Leaving the PC to boot from the SSD where windows is located continues to result in the same error screen already mentioned, and trying to boot from the installation disc hangs on a black screen with blue lines at the top and bottom, presumably just before the part you'd normally expect to see the "Press any key to boot from disk..." instructions.

I haven't installed any new hardware recently, the only things connected to my PC via USB are mouse and keyboard, and I have tried resetting the BIOS to defaults but this also made no difference.

Any help or guidance on this issue would be greatly appreciated!

 

[jackson1420]

To clarify, Windows is just booting slower?

And Windows Repair disk is claiming victory for no reason?

After resetting your BIOS to defaults, did you configure the BIOS (making sure SATA mode isn't anything but AHCI - this should be standard but I would verify all the BIOS features anyway after a reset)

 

[keyser8]

To clarify, Windows is just booting slower?

And Windows Repair disk is claiming victory for no reason?

After resetting your BIOS to defaults, did you configure the BIOS (making sure SATA mode isn't anything but AHCI - this should be standard but I would verify all the BIOS features anyway after a reset)

No, Windows will not boot at all. The POST seems to detect both hard drives and the CD drive, then goes to the error page (status: 0xc000000e)

I did configure the BIOS yes, but the problem still persists.

Windows Repair seemed to claim victory for no reason as it changed nothing.

Also of note, when given the choice to select the operating system to repair using the Windows 7 disk, it shows Windows 7 on a 0 mb partition on an unknown drive.

Not sure what other info I can provide that would be of help.

Edit: Just ran the system repair again, got the message that the problem couldn't be repaired automatically and the diagnostic report showed;

Root cause found:
------------------------------
Boot sector code for system disk partition is corrupt.

Repair action: Boot sector repair
Result: Failed. Error code = 0x139f
Time taken = 0 ms

------------------------
------------------------

 

[jackson1420]

Make another boot disk and verify it works on another system.

Is the BIOS set to boot to the HDD first and nothing else? Confirm that then try the second boot disk option and boot off that.

Maybe try clearing CMOS by removing the battery for 10-15 minutes. I don't want to guess too early but if none of these options work then the motherboard might be at fault

 

[keyser8]

Make another boot disk and verify it works on another system.

Done this, worked fine.

Is the BIOS set to boot to the HDD first and nothing else? Confirm that then try the second boot disk option and boot off that.

Boot order is cd drive, SSD, HDD.

I can boot from CD (just takes about 10 minutes to get there) but System Repair does nothing. Checking "disk part" through the command prompt shows that it only finds the secondary HDD and not the SSD which holds the windows install (although it can be seen in BIOS so the computer is in some way aware it exists).

Also, trying "System Restore" from the CD only gives an error.

 

[jackson1420]

Try a different SATA controller on your system if it is available. Also with a different known-working SATA cable.

There may be a bad motherboard controller/component or an SSD failure which I find harder to believe but can happen. If you can hook up your SSD to another system and check the health we can rule out that possibility.

 

[keyser8]

Try a different SATA controller on your system if it is available. Also with a different known-working SATA cable.

There may be a bad motherboard controller/component or an SSD failure which I find harder to believe but can happen. If you can hook up your SSD to another system and check the health we can rule out that possibility.

I will try this shortly. I have however just installed Windows 7 on the 2nd HDD (which was previously just used for storage) and it works fine. The SSD is till not recognised by either Windows 7 Install or diskpart command line. Would the fact that the fresh Windows install works on the other HDD point towards the motherboard being fine?

I'll try the SSD from my PC in my wifes rig now and let you know how it goes.

 

[jackson1420]

Interesting progress. But I think we are revealing the issue. The motherboard sounds to be fine and in good health.

The SATA drive in question was working before but now it isn't. I honestly haven't experience an SSD failure before so I don't know if the nature is different but there is a science to it.

That would be my next idea is to check another SSD in the same port or try the plugging in the SSD in question to another system or an external HDD bay.

Good luck

 

[keyser8]

Ok so I tried the SSD in 3 other SATA ports on my PC, still no luck. Then I tried the SSD in the wifes PC and still nothing.

Furthermore, when booting my PC from the new windows install on the 2nd HDD, the POST was still taking around 10 minutes, UNTIL the SSD was gone from the system, after which it took 11 seconds from switching on the system to reaching the Windows login screen.

Seems to point towards an SSD failure then?

 

[jackson1420]

That surely sounds like a SSD failure.

If you want to do one more test you can use an external HDD bay then you can try to see if it recognizes it in a booted system.

Otherwise I would say the SSD is kaputt. Could be a minor issue or major in the drive but either way I believe the SSD has failed.