Losing Drive After Sleep Mode

Well install windows, then install the drivers, then the updates..Once done i want you to measure the boot with all the SSD, HDD and dvd drive and other peripherals connected.

Check for the disappearing drives ... your initial problem... Let me know how it goes..


Then after this you can start installing all the softwares.. like MSE,and others which you use on a daily basis..

Hi Dumfy

any update ??

centaur78 said:

Hi Dumfy

any update ??

Hi centaur78 - indeed there is. Finsihed a few things off beofre work and am now ready for a fresh Windows install when I get back in the morning.

Was unable to get E:\ aligned. Didn't want to spend too much time on it as I wanted to press on. Will look again at it later. Had a spare HDD so have utilized that for my E:\ drive instead. So SSD and 2 HDDs are correctly aligned.

All devices are now on the AMD controller on the mobo. Still have very slow boot which should be corrected with fresh install. However, have been testing Sleep Mode and not a single drive has disappeared - either HDD or optical. Great result there. Also still with the latest F8n BIOS.

I hope you get this before I start the Windows install . .

Should I set the BIOS to AHCI or keep as Native IDE?

I intend to keep all devices connected to AMD controller at install and will make sure the install goes on to the SSD and not one of the HDDs. Is this a good idea?

Lastly, on drive alignment, it seems I had a very small unallocated partition at the start of the drive - 8MB.
This was the case with a spare drive I had and Partition Wizard aligned it - but using MSINFO32 showed it wasn't (with the 4096 calculation). I deleted the partitions to unallocated space and reformatted. Then drive was aligned - both in Partition Wizard and MSINFO32. Does that small 8MB segment upset everything?? Is there a way to crrect with having to delete partitions and format?

Let me know what you suggest re AHCI/Native and I'll report back once Windows is installed. I'll not install anything else apart from Windows Updates and will test for boot time and disappearing drives.

Thanks again for keeping on this. I'm learning a lot!

Cheers

Dumfy

Should I set the BIOS to AHCI or keep as Native IDE?

Well Native IDE is default setting in the BIOS.. Native IDE is used because it has more compatibility with hardwares used in your system but it doesn't have the features of AHCI

AHCI on the other had has features like Hot swapping, Native Command Queuing (most useful in multiuser/ server environment.). There is a slight performance improvement using this ... but those are only noticable in benchmarks...

You can use either one of them ... but you need to select them prior to installation of Windows. Because if you install windows with Native IDE and then later change to AHCI..... Windows will not boot .. because it needs the AHCI drivers to do so....

It is possible to change to AHCI later even after installation of windows... but its bit complicated and sometimes the AHCI drivers are know to cause issue with incompatible hardwares.

I intend to keep all devices connected to AMD controller at install and will make sure the install goes on to the SSD and not one of the HDDs. Is this a good idea?

Yes thats ok.

Lastly, on drive alignment, it seems I had a very small unallocated partition at the start of the drive - 8MB.
This was the case with a spare drive I had and Partition Wizard aligned it - but using MSINFO32 showed it wasn't (with the 4096 calculation). I deleted the partitions to unallocated space and reformatted. Then drive was aligned - both in Partition Wizard and MSINFO32. Does that small 8MB segment upset everything?? Is there a way to correct with having to delete partitions and format?

You donot need to format the partition... it should have worked with Partition Wizard or the other solution using Gparted.


All right keep me posted.

Ok could you reset the bios to the optimal default setting..

Dont set the port multiplier or anything.... just the default and reboot and check

The BIOS Optimized Defaults loaded, but still have long boot time . . .

Cheers

Dumfy

Could you also use HWmonitor and post the snapshot here

then do the below.

1. Download Process Monitor. Unzip the file and open Procmon.exe with administrative privileges:
2. Stop Process Monitor from logging all the current events by clicking on “File/Capture Events.” Now go to “Options,” where you will find the crucial entry: “Enable Boot Logging.” Enable it, click on “Generate profiling events” and click “OK.” and close Process monitor
3. Now reboot your PC. After the startup process is done completely, launch Process Monitor again and click on “Yes” once you see the message:
4. Save the boot log where ever you want (on your desktop, for example). Process Monitor now generates a huge list of basically each and every boot event.
5. Upload the bootlog.pml file... Since this is going to be a big file.... Zip the files and upload it dropbox or skydrive and post a link here

Last but not the least Could you a Memtest for the RAM. Do the test for each stick on each slot individually for at least 7 to 8 passes.

OK - will get to work on that but for Step 5 . . .

1. Upload the bootlog.pml file... Since this is going to be a big file.... Zip the files and upload it dropbox or skydrive and post a link here

. . . is there an alternative way to get the file to you as I have never used either Skydrive or Dropbox

Thanks

Dumfy

Dropbox is easy just register your good to go .... or put it up any other online services..