New SSD, stuck at startup motherboard screen

[war hawk]

I recently got my first SSD after me original HD crashed and lost the windows files. So I decided to get windows 7 for it, I tried installing it from a USB and read the thread about it but with no luck. So I decided to go with my original windows xp cd and then upgrade to windows 7. I started up the comp and had it boot from cd, formatted the new SSD and installed the windows xp files. My comp then rebooted as normal for this and now it stays at the Asus motherboard screen for about 35-40 sec before going to a black screen with the blinking _ at top left and restarts just to do it all over again. I can hit Tab and if gives me the info, detects the Cd-rom, SSD and my usb keyboard. I have the option to hit alt+f2 to load the flash drive, but there is none saved in bios. I hit Del to run setup and everything is detected. WhenI fit f8 to try and boot from the SSD (to let windows continue to install) it goes to the black screen _ flashing or restarts immediately. I have used this windows cd in the past with no problems.

 

[whs]

Bad mistake to install XP on a SSD. XP does not support Trim and will muck up the SSD. Before you install Windows 7, I recommend to to a Secure Erase to cleanup the SSD.

Then define a primary, active partition on the SSD (e.g. using cmd of the installation disc). These are the commands:

Diskpart
List disk
Select disk n (where n is the number that was given for your SSD in List disk)
Clean
Create partition primary align=1024
Format fs=ntfs quick
Active
Exit

 

[VistaKing]

To Partition a SSD that you will have an OS installed. I recommend this

DISKPART
LIST DISK
SELECT DISK #
CLEAN
CREATE PARTITION PRIMARY ALIGN=4096
FORMAT FS=NTFS QUICK
ACTIVE
EXIT

 

[whs]

To Partition a SSD that you will have an OS installed. I recommend this

DISKPART
LIST DISK
SELECT DISK #
CLEAN
CREATE PARTITION PRIMARY ALIGN=4096
FORMAT FS=NTFS QUICK
ACTIVE
EXIT

What's new. Didn't you read the post above yours that has been sitting there since 2 hours.

 

[VistaKing]

Yes I read the comment you said 2 hrs ago. If you read correctly it says " recommend " . You mention the alignment of 1024 . SSDs are erased in 4K blocks.

 

[whs]

Yes I read the comment you said 2 hrs ago. If you read correctly it says " recommend " . You mention the alignment of 1024 . SSDs are erased in 4K blocks.

Right. But anything divisible by 4 is OK for the alignment.

 

[VistaKing]

Hi War Hawk welcome to SevenForums .

Take a look at this link to do a www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/1649-clean-install-windows-7-a.html and if you have a 2nd mechanical hard drive you could move your Users and ProgramData folders away from the C:\ drive ( SSD DRIVE ) by taking a look at this link http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorial...ove-during-windows-7-installation.html?filter

Note : If you have 2 hard drives 1) SSD and the 2nd is the mechanical make sure only the SSD drive is plugged in. If you want to do it that way of moving your Users folder away from the C:\ drive. Your Users folder will grow in time . ( music , photos, etc )

If your motherboard is a UEFI board go to this link first http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorial...e-firmware-interface-install-windows-7-a.html

 

[war hawk]

I tried the secure erase program, tried for hours and different methods with no luck. For whatever reason when I reboot and select to good from usb. It will go through the whole process, option 1...ect. up untill the last thing before the partition magic is suppose to load. It wont mount the ISO file.I tried differnt usb sticks, nothing. Now when I plugged it back into my laptop sata to usb, Im missing 33 gigs. Now it says 447 free, on a 480 gig ssd. Under my computer/ manage it said formatted partition. Im confused on where 33 gigs went to. I did take screen shots, are we allowed to post links on here?

 

[whs]

Sure, you can post links.

 

[VistaKing]

War hawk might want to take a look here Sean's Windows 7 Install & Optimization Guide for SSDs & HDDs

Regarding your 447 usable space on your 480GB SSD. That does sound about right

 

[war hawk]

Here is the link for the image when I tried the secure erase:
Image - TinyPic - Free Image Hosting, Photo Sharing & Video Hosting

The missing Gigs:
Image - TinyPic - Free Image Hosting, Photo Sharing & Video Hosting

I was talking to a friend who has the same laptop as me and he made a good suggestion. Why not put it in my laptop through my 2nd hard drive slot. So I did that and installed windows 7 with no problems. The laptop restarted and boom, windows 7 loaded under the SSD, like a fresh copy. So now I know it works on the new ssd. I took the SSD out of the laptop and put it in my tower and now I have this problem.... After 35 secs of sitting on the motherboard screen, it flys by the setup tab option, (detects everything) and where Windows is suppose to be loading... It gives me this:
Image - TinyPic - Free Image Hosting, Photo Sharing & Video Hosting

I have a asus p5kc motherboard, and never has it sat at the splash screen for longer than 5 secs. Now its 35ish before it does anything.

 

[VistaKing]

War Hawk,

Can BIOS on the Asus P5KC see the SSD drive ? You might want to update the Drivers on your board . Make sure the SSD drive is the only drive connected to the SATA ports on your motherboard. Plug in your SSD to the SATA-0 PORT on your motherboard.

 

[war hawk]

Yes the bios can recognize the SSD. I havent plugged it in the sata 0 port yet tho. The only thing I have connected other than it is the CD/DVD player that has no cd in it.

Odd thing here: I took the the HD out of my laptop and put in the SSD (so it starts up alone by itself), that now has windows 7 on it.... I started up my laptop and it Beeped and that last link i posted, the black screen with the symbols, That came up on my laptop and wouldnt go past it.

 

[VistaKing]

WarHawk ,

Put the laptop hard drive back into the laptop. Plug the SSD back to the desktop. See if you could create a bootable USB flash drive http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/2432-usb-windows-7-installation-key-drive-create.html hopefully your laptop isn't running Windows XP . Cause the tutorial will not work. XP doesn't see a flash drive in diskpart .

 

[gregrocker]

Partition Magic is not supported in Win7 and never has been.

If what you're trying to do is write the Win7 ISO to flash stick use UltraISO Software To Create Bootable USB Flash Drive which always works for me.

Then boot the Win7 installer using the BIOS Boot Menu key to choose it under USB, Removable or HD's - you may need to expand a listing to see the stick.

During custom install delete all partitions using Drive Options shown in Steps 6/7 of Clean Install Windows 7 , create New as you wish, install Win7 to first parrtition ignoring the small boot partition it creates.

There are other steps here to assure you get a perfect install, same as for Clean Reinstall - Factory OEM Windows 7

 

[war hawk]

ok, I was able to wipe the SSD clean with the toolbox OCZ has for that SSD on their website. I burned a ISO to the usb plugged it in and the problem im having now is: After I choose to boot from it, or the DVD I made it goes to a black screen and no longer am I getting the gibberish as I was in the screen shot I provided BUT now im getting BOOTMNGR is missing, press cntl+alt+del to restart. I even tried installing windows 7 onto the SSD with my laptop, it will boot just fine with my Laptop HD in it, but when the SSD is by itself, thats the message I get. My laptop is also running Windows 7. When both of my hard drives are in it, I can boot from the windows 7 version off the SSD with no problems but as soon as the SSD is by itself, I get the BOOTMNGR is missing message.

 

[gregrocker]

The error you're getting means the installer is not booting, so it's either not been burned or written correctly or you're not booting it since it is instead trying to boot the HD. It should normally even boot itself if the HD is wiped, so it may be written or burned badly.

If you wrote a confirmed ISO to flash stick using UltraISO as given then it should always boot, providing you're tapping the correct key to trigger the one-time BIOS Boot menu, with the HD set first to boot in BIOS setup. Flash sticks are listed on the Boot Menu under USB, Removable or HD's You may need to expand a listing to see the stick name. Then select it and see if it loads. If not describe exactly what happens.

If you have a confirmed good ISO and disk that won't boot in another PC either, then burn another DVD using ImgBurn at 4x speed.

How to Boot A Computer from CD or DVD - YouTube

 

[VistaKing]

If you got the windows installed onto the SSD . But can't log into windows . Try this http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/104341-bootmgr-missing-fix.html with just the SSD plugged in . The link I provided should fix your bootmgr is missing press ctrl+alt+del to restart error .