Hi,
This is my first post here, I'm sorry if this is not in the correct forum.
I'm running Windows 7 64 bit on a gigabyte ga-x58a-ud3r
A few weeks ago, I shut down my PC completely for a regular cleaning. I do a regular cleaning once a month, this was the first time I had an issue.
After I finished, I powered up the machine, and Windows would continually fail to start - rebooting at some point while the Logo load screen was up.
After several Google searches, I tried pretty much everything I could think of or advice i came across - Nothing worked.
I could not boot from the Win7 Disk, System Repair did not work, advanced boot options did not work, etc. At this point I thought the HDD might be bad (WD Caviar Black 1 TB).
So I went and purchased a new HDD, the same model actually as it was on sale.
Windows installed fine, everything got up and running with no issue.
I then took my HDD which I had believed had failed and plugged it into a Thermaltake BlacX Docking station and I was able to locate the drive in the device manager after scanning for new hardware.
I actually was able to go into the hard drive and recover the few bits of data I hadn't backed up (mostly gaming files). The HDD was completely fine.
Fast forward a few weeks, and feel free to laugh at me here - I'm in the exact same situation with the new HDD once again after cleaning my PC case.
So, I'm not sure what is happening. I've rebooted the PC many times without issue but today was the first time that I fully powered down the PC to do a cleaning.
I suspect something is causing Windows to fail to recognize the HDD itself, but honestly this is way beyond my knowledge how to fix.
I took a risk and I removed the sata cable from the "GSata" slot on the motherboard and put it into one of the standard ICHR10 - to no effect.
I've once again exhausted every option I actually know how to safely do, advanced boot options, repair attempt from Win7 Disk, etc. Nothing is working.
I'm debating running out yet again and grabbing a cheap HDD just to get myself up and running again, but I thought I'd turn to Tom's Hardware first for some ideas - and because I don't want to be going through this issue everytime I want to give the PC case a good cleaning.
Any help will really be appreciated.
This is my first post here, I'm sorry if this is not in the correct forum.
I'm running Windows 7 64 bit on a gigabyte ga-x58a-ud3r
A few weeks ago, I shut down my PC completely for a regular cleaning. I do a regular cleaning once a month, this was the first time I had an issue.
After I finished, I powered up the machine, and Windows would continually fail to start - rebooting at some point while the Logo load screen was up.
After several Google searches, I tried pretty much everything I could think of or advice i came across - Nothing worked.
I could not boot from the Win7 Disk, System Repair did not work, advanced boot options did not work, etc. At this point I thought the HDD might be bad (WD Caviar Black 1 TB).
So I went and purchased a new HDD, the same model actually as it was on sale.
Windows installed fine, everything got up and running with no issue.
I then took my HDD which I had believed had failed and plugged it into a Thermaltake BlacX Docking station and I was able to locate the drive in the device manager after scanning for new hardware.
I actually was able to go into the hard drive and recover the few bits of data I hadn't backed up (mostly gaming files). The HDD was completely fine.
Fast forward a few weeks, and feel free to laugh at me here - I'm in the exact same situation with the new HDD once again after cleaning my PC case.
So, I'm not sure what is happening. I've rebooted the PC many times without issue but today was the first time that I fully powered down the PC to do a cleaning.
I suspect something is causing Windows to fail to recognize the HDD itself, but honestly this is way beyond my knowledge how to fix.
I took a risk and I removed the sata cable from the "GSata" slot on the motherboard and put it into one of the standard ICHR10 - to no effect.
I've once again exhausted every option I actually know how to safely do, advanced boot options, repair attempt from Win7 Disk, etc. Nothing is working.
I'm debating running out yet again and grabbing a cheap HDD just to get myself up and running again, but I thought I'd turn to Tom's Hardware first for some ideas - and because I don't want to be going through this issue everytime I want to give the PC case a good cleaning.
Any help will really be appreciated.