PC usually hangs at Starting Windows

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  1. Posts : 7
    Windows 7 Ultimate x64
       #1

    PC usually hangs at Starting Windows


    Hello,

    I wasn't sure where to post this so forgive me if this is the wrong place to start.

    I recently installed a new secondary SSD in my Alienware desktop replacement. I've been running with two drives for a while, but just recently started using this latest drive. In my rig I run one drive as my work drive and the other as my personal drive. Both drives have a Windows 7 (Pro for work, Ultimate for personal) installation on them. I forgo the Windows boot menu and instead tell the PC which drive to boot from using the PC's boot menu. This has worked well for me in the past with other drives.

    With my latest personal drive however, the PC seems to run well in all aspects except startup. About 70% of the time, the PC hangs at "Starting Windows." The little flower logo continues to animate, but the PC never actually finishes booting. I think I left it that way for a couple hours once and seem to remember the PC going to recovery mode of some kind, but I don't remember the details. Usually I just power the PC off with a hard shut down, then power it back on and try again. This usually prompts a "startup repair" menu which I ignore.

    I've had no luck with the repair methods that I've tried so far which include:

    System Restore - this issue started immediately after Windows is done installing, so not much to restore to.

    chkdsk /r /f
    Here are the edited results. Seems pretty innocuous.

    CHKDSK is verifying files (stage 1 of 5)...
    Cleaning up instance tags for file 0x46e55.
    CHKDSK is verifying security descriptors (stage 3 of 5)...
    323072 file SDs/SIDs processed. Cleaning up 445 unused index entries from index $SII of file 0x9.
    Cleaning up 445 unused index entries from index $SDH of file 0x9.
    Cleaning up 445 unused security descriptors.

    sfc /scannow
    No problems detected.

    Startup Repair - Heres the only error I saw in the report:
    Root cause found:
    -----------------
    Unspecified changes to system configuration might have caused the problem.

    Repair action: System Restore
    Result: Cancelled

    Repair action: System files integrity check and repair
    Result: Failed. Error code = 0x490
    Time taken = 193332 ms

    As far as I know, all the latest drivers and Windows Updates are installed.

    I'm starting to suspect that there is a problem with the SSD itself (the Samsung listed in my system specs) as it has a clean Windows installation and during the initial install, I ran into this problem as well. I wiped the drive and started again and the issue returned.

    I have Samsung Magician 4.5 installed, but I don't see any tools on there to check the integrity of the drive. The screenshot I've attached is about all I can get out of it.

    Any help would be appreciated.

    -Daralen
    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails PC usually hangs at Starting Windows-samsung-magician-4.5.png  
      My Computer


  2. Posts : 177
    Windows 10 Pro x64
       #2

    Have you clicked on the S.M.A.R.T. button?
      My Computer


  3. Posts : 7
    Windows 7 Ultimate x64
    Thread Starter
       #3

    Yes. All the items on there say "OK." I can post details later if anyone wants em.
      My Computer


  4. Posts : 177
    Windows 10 Pro x64
       #4

    Also:
    Why is the AHCI mode deactivated?
    Why the SATA interface is listed as N/A?
    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails PC usually hangs at Starting Windows-capture.png   PC usually hangs at Starting Windows-capture_1.png  
      My Computer


  5. Posts : 7,100
    W7 home premium 32bit/W7HP 64bit/w10 tp insider ring
       #5

    I would rerun chkdsk
    But make sure that BOTH drives are checked, you only reported one set.
    (unplug 1, then swop drives)

    Roy
      My Computer


  6. Posts : 7
    Windows 7 Ultimate x64
    Thread Starter
       #6

    georgeks said:
    Have you clicked on the S.M.A.R.T. button?
    SMART data attached.
    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails PC usually hangs at Starting Windows-smart-data.png  
      My Computer


  7. Posts : 7
    Windows 7 Ultimate x64
    Thread Starter
       #7

    georgeks said:
    Also:
    Why is the AHCI mode deactivated?
    Why the SATA interface is listed as N/A?
    The only drive option I have available in my BIOS is "SATA Operation."

    The three choices are
    ATA
    AHCI
    RAID

    I currently have it set to RAID. I think it started out AHCI but a while back when I was trying to run Windows 8, the only way I could get it to work was by switching the SATA Operation option to RAID. I've been running with that since even though I'm not actually using RAID.

    Setting it to AHCI means I'll have to start from scratch. I'd REALLY like to avoid having to do that unless we're certain it's what's causing the problem I'm having.
      My Computer


  8. Posts : 7
    Windows 7 Ultimate x64
    Thread Starter
       #8

    torchwood said:
    I would rerun chkdsk
    But make sure that BOTH drives are checked, you only reported one set.
    (unplug 1, then swop drives)

    Roy
    The two drives don't see each other in Windows. They're disabled in the Device Manager. The work drive (Intel) is working flawlessly.

    You think I should run another chkdsk /r /f on the drive that's giving me trouble though?
      My Computer


  9. Posts : 7,351
    Windows 7 HP 64
       #9

    You don't have to start over if you set SATA=AHCI on BIOS. Try it.
      My Computers


  10. Posts : 13,576
    Windows 10 Pro x64
       #10

    Just backup your data and reinstall Ultimate, you`ll be done in less then 15 minutes, and updating Windows 7 is now a piece of cake.

    You did right by keeping them separate and using the boot menu, that`s the best way to do it.

    You must have installed in IDE mode, check your bios.

    You can switch it to AHCI, but then windows won`t boot, the experts can tell you how to fix that.

    But none of that will fix your startup issue.

    Wow, you just started using it and it has 492 GB of used space already

    Holy Halibut !!
      My Computer


 
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