[SOLVED] Windows not Booting from hard drive

[timkomb57]

I built my computer 4 years ago and it has been running great since. Over the weekend I accidentally unplugged the computer while it was on and now it won's boot from any hard drive. I get the "insert bootable media" screen. I tried my wifes laptop SSD and it give the same problem. Both SSd's work perfectly fine in her laptop and start right up. I have tried different SATA ports and also power connections. Also I have messed around with the boot order in BIOS. Both are detected but neither will load. Any idea where to start?

 

[white.a.drew]

I built my computer 4 years ago and it has been running great since. Over the weekend I accidentally unplugged the computer while it was on and now it won's boot from any hard drive. I get the "insert bootable media" screen. I tried my wifes laptop SSD and it give the same problem. Both SSd's work perfectly fine in her laptop and start right up. I have tried different SATA ports and also power connections. Also I have messed around with the boot order in BIOS. Both are detected but neither will load. Any idea where to start?

If you have a random spare drive to test with yes, try testing a fresh install on a random hdd. If this works plug your boot drive back in and instead of hitting install on your boot drive in the bottom left corner click repair

 

[timkomb57]

I have a spare hard drive I just purchased but would rather not open it up if I dont have to (would like to return it). Do you still think it could be just the hard drive if it starts right up without issues in my wife's lap top? Even hers which has a 6 month old fresh install won't boot up on my PC when installed. Do you think it could be a motherboard or power supply issue instead? Just seems weird that hers had the same problems as well in there.

 

[white.a.drew]

I have a spare hard drive I just purchased but would rather not open it up if I dont have to (would like to return it). Do you still think it could be just the hard drive if it starts right up without issues in my wife's lap top? Even hers which has a 6 month old fresh install won't boot up on my PC when installed. Do you think it could be a motherboard or power supply issue instead? Just seems weird that hers had the same problems as well in there.

I'm thinking it's the sata contoler on the mobo like I said originally but the only way to really test it is fresh install a os on a drive whether you format you hdd or use a new one/borrow a friends dying drive and just boot from it it if it allows a install of windows if not then its the mobo having a issue

 

[white.a.drew]

I have a spare hard drive I just purchased but would rather not open it up if I dont have to (would like to return it). Do you still think it could be just the hard drive if it starts right up without issues in my wife's lap top? Even hers which has a 6 month old fresh install won't boot up on my PC when installed. Do you think it could be a motherboard or power supply issue instead? Just seems weird that hers had the same problems as well in there.

I'm thinking it's the sata contoler on the mobo like I said originally but the only way to really test it is fresh install a os on a drive whether you format you hdd or use a new one/borrow a friends dying drive and just boot from it it if it allows a install of windows if not then its the mobo having a issue

 

[timkomb57]

so you are saying do a fresh install on another drive ( i might have one burried away) (i am guessing to use my wife's computer since I cant boot from mine?) and then install that drive into my computer? If it works then its my drive, if not the motherboard needs replaced?

 

[timkomb57]

I did some digging around on sata controler issues and it "seems like" that if it was failing, it would not be able to detect the hard drive. My SSD and my wife's SSD both are detected in BIOS along with with the correct SATA port it is connected to (and swithes when I move it to another) along with the drive info (capacity, manufacturer, model, etc). So both SSD's are detected and some information is being transferred. What are your thoughts still?

 

[white.a.drew]

I did some digging around on sata controler issues and it "seems like" that if it was failing, it would not be able to detect the hard drive. My SSD and my wife's SSD both are detected in BIOS along with with the correct SATA port it is connected to (and swithes when I move it to another) along with the drive info (capacity, manufacturer, model, etc). So both SSD's are detected and some information is being transferred. What are your thoughts still?

yes and no if it's failing fully it wont detet anything but if it's having a issue with file transfers and is losing data well running then it's still the sata controller could be faulty. however no i was saying if you have a spare dive just laying around, boot from your pc into a bootable usb. and see if it will allow a install if it doesn't even allow you to boot from a usb then there is something wrong with the mobo in general. and may need replace fully. if it will boot from a usb and isn't allow a install of any kind then you are having issues with the sata ports on the mobo and again may need to replace. however if it was bought used and you have been running it with a diffrent cpu then was original running in the system it may be fighting trying to figure out what it's now running with in it and may need to do a full bios reset. you can do this by pulling the watch battery out of you motherboard and unplugging the system. well unplugged and battery removed hold the power button on your computer for 30s two times then. plug everything back in, it will reset you bios to default status and try again however if this a reacuring problem with drives failing it sounds to me like your mobo is faulty.

 

[timkomb57]

The MOBO and CPU (well everything else also) was brand new when I built it back in 2015. I did the full BIOS reset last night with no luck. I also tried to do a flash of the BIOS firmware (as it is now 5 updates past the current installed version) and it would detect the USB Flash drive the update files are on but unable to find anything on it.
I am highly suspecting the MOBO and found the same used one for $150 (MSI Z97 Gaming 5)BUT I want to be 100% positive this is the issue before I spend the time and money dealing with this.
I think I ruled out it being the SSD since it is working great in my wifes laptop and her SDD produces the same problem. Also important to note that I found the Original HDD built with the computer before I upgraded to SSD. This also did not work.

The live voltage reading in BIOS are all correct and within spec. Everything seems to be getting power (DVD drive, fans, lights, drives, etc...) so I think the PS is fine.

Onlything else besides the MOBO would be the CPU, RAM, and Graphics Card. I can see the correct amount of memory in BIOS along with the CPU info. If there was an error with these, I would assume the MOBO would produce the common error "BEEPS" I have seen on other computers. Also multiple SATA cables were tested.

I guess all signs point to MOBO, but with everything I try to fix in life it seems that the "obvious" is never the correct answer LOL.

 

[white.a.drew]

The MOBO and CPU (well everything else also) was brand new when I built it back in 2015. I did the full BIOS reset last night with no luck. I also tried to do a flash of the BIOS firmware (as it is now 5 updates past the current installed version) and it would detect the USB Flash drive the update files are on but unable to find anything on it.
I am highly suspecting the MOBO and found the same used one for $150 (MSI Z97 Gaming 5)BUT I want to be 100% positive this is the issue before I spend the time and money dealing with this.
I think I ruled out it being the SSD since it is working great in my wifes laptop and her SDD produces the same problem. Also important to note that I found the Original HDD built with the computer before I upgraded to SSD. This also did not work.

The live voltage reading in BIOS are all correct and within spec. Everything seems to be getting power (DVD drive, fans, lights, drives, etc...) so I think the PS is fine.

Onlything else besides the MOBO would be the CPU, RAM, and Graphics Card. I can see the correct amount of memory in BIOS along with the CPU info. If there was an error with these, I would assume the MOBO would produce the common error "BEEPS" I have seen on other computers. Also multiple SATA cables were tested.

I guess all signs point to MOBO, but with everything I try to fix in life it seems that the "obvious" is never the correct answer LOL.

... Did you try multiple usb ports some wont allow a bios updates through them. Second, try making sure the usb is formated to the correct file type Then try your bios update. Some mobo's wont allow updates formatted to fat32, others ntfs. And I think there might be one other file type they use for bios updates not sure... But it may not have found the update because the usb was formated incorrectly

 

[timkomb57]

So after digging around, I found the ACPI setting and gave that a shot, IT WORKS!!! Now I plugged my 1.5Tb HDD back in and I have no detection from that. Not even showing up in BIOS as a device. I even tried it using the same connections from my DVD drive (since it was working fine) and nothing! One problem down, 1 more to go...