New OS SSD won't boot on its own, tried everything

meneldor · 01 Aug 2012

Hi guys, first time in the forum, wish me luck!

I have installed W7 on a new samsung SSD, but it will only boot if it's the secondary option next to my old system. If it's on its own, it gets stuck on the "loading operating system..." screen.
This is what I have tried so far:

-Have used the tuts on this site to put it in AHCI mode, post install (with the registry and BIOS change).

-Have set the SSD as active in Computer mgmnt and the old drive as inactive, then running the startup tool with the system recovery disc several times. It fixes some stuff the first couple of times, then claims there is no problem. I also tried this with just plugging out the old drive while I ran the tests.

- Since the sys recovery tests claim all is OK, I have tried just setting the SSD before the old system in boot order, but alas, it gets stuck on "loading operating system" again. I have to trick it by putting the old OS first in line.

-Both MoBo and OS and all seems to support Trim, checked with your tutorial

- All the latest drivers and firmware should be loaded up in MoBo and the HDDs/SSD.

More detail on my system should be in my profile. Does anyone have any idea what the heck is going on?

UnknownReverent · 01 Aug 2012

Did you install the OS with both of the drives plugged in?

meneldor · 01 Aug 2012

Yes, I did!
I did assume this is why I've got the stuff needed to boot on just the first one, which makes sense, but the startup fixer in the system recovery should have taken care of that, no?

UnknownReverent · 01 Aug 2012

meneldor said:

Yes, I did!
I did assume this is why I've got the stuff needed to boot on just the first one, which makes sense, but the startup fixer in the system recovery should have taken care of that, no?

Not necessarily. It could have installed some of the things you need on the other drive. It's best to install the OS with just the drive you want it on plugged in.

meneldor · 01 Aug 2012

Ok, so what do you recommend doing? Is re-installing the OS the only way?

UnknownReverent · 01 Aug 2012

Did you use the startup recovery while both drives were connected? If so, it would have messed with the files on both the drives. You could try doing the recovery while one drive is unplugged and see if that works. If not, then I'd try reinstalling with the drive you want the OS on only plugged in.

meneldor · 02 Aug 2012

No, I did the startup recovery tool with only the right drive plugged in. Also tried setting the other as inactive, but still no go.

UnknownReverent · 02 Aug 2012

Have you tried reinstalling with just the SSD plugged in?

Dave76 · 03 Aug 2012

Your HDD is still marked 'Active'.

First make a restore point: How to Create a System Restore Point in Windows 7

If you don't have a recent Image Backup, to be safe you should make one before you proceed.
Imaging with free Macrium

To mark it as inactive:
1. Open Command Prompt as Administrator, start menu then right click the Command Prompt and click 'Run as Administrator'.

2. Type: diskpart

3. At the DISKPART prompt, type: list disk
- This will list all the disks in your system

4. In the next prompt, type: select disk #
- # means the number of the disk which has the wrong active designated partition

5. At the DISKPART prompt, type: list partition

6. Use the command: select partition #
- # means the number of the partition that you want to mark as inactive

7. Inactive the active partition with command: inactive

How to Mark a Partition as Inactive in Windows 7

Then disconnect the HDD.
With the SSD connected only: Startup Repair - Run 3 Separate Times

bigmck · 03 Aug 2012

I just joined this thread, but the only two drives I see are E: and J:. The SSD should have come out as the C: drive. It seems to me that once diskpart is run to deactivate the HD, you need to have Win 7 installed again on the SSD and be sure and only have the SSD plugged in to the Motherboard. This way your SSD will be the C: drive.