Boot devices not being recognized

[maomatt]

I have an old build that I made a while back. Specs follow

CPU - Intel Q6600
Motherboard - EVGA nForce 680i LT
Memory - 6GB Corsair XMS2
Graphics Card - ZotacGEForce GTX 1050 Ti
HD - SP 512 GB SSD / Crucial 250 GB SSD
OS - Windows 7

The machine had been running solidly ever since I had installed a Crucial 250GB SSD. Then last month, after installing some Windows updates, it hiccupped. It ran ok for a day, and then would not boot. Then after many tries it finally booted normally. I attempted to run a virus scan (Avast, free version) and it BSOD in the middle and then would boot no more, after.

I flashed the BIOS, with no change. Pulling the drive, I took a look at it, hooking it to another machine using a SATA to USB cable. It says it needed formatting, despite all my data being on it
But that is a different problem for a different thread.

Deciding that the SSD had failed, I ordered a new one. It arrived and I installed it. Windows 7 installed normally. I downloaded Avast and installed it, then ran a scan and all was good.

I then ran Windows update. And afterwords the computer hung up on black screen in booting. I gave it 4 hours, in case it was moving very slowly, then rebooted.

After reboot... not only was the new SSD not recognized or seen, but now even my SATA DVD drive was not recognized! The only device found was the floppy drive. (yes, I have a 3 1/2 floppy drive installed in this build) Going into CMOS and Boot Manager provided no insight.

So, frustrated, I turned the machine off and let it set overnight.
And when I turned it on today, it booted to 'bad windows shutdown' dialog. I selected booting in safe mode and... It locked up at the login screen.

And after rebooting it was right back where it started. HD and DVD not found. I pulled the new drive and hooked it via SATA to USB cable and it looks fine. OS installed and all files in place.

And now I write this post to you, the experts of the community. Any suggestions on what might be wrong with my Box?

 

[samuria]

First move is replace sata cable as it all pree windows were the problem is. When you flashed the bios did you clear the bios and reset most require this

 

[maomatt]

First move is replace sata cable as it all pree windows were the problem is. When you flashed the bios did you clear the bios and reset most require this

Yes, BIOS cleared and reset. Cables a no go, as well.

 

[samuria]

Cables a no go, as well.?Remove any dvd and other drives just have boot drive if the bios isnt see it you have to solve that first did you set right mode ie uefi?

 

[file3456]

The common denominator here is that damn Windows update. It's why I don't use them all that much and have other security in place. Never got a virus or any of that crap.

 

[Megahertz07]

What Win 7 version you have?
Do you use any crack?

 

[maomatt]

It is a legit copy of Win 7 that I got a while back. Not cracked or anything.

 

[Megahertz07]

What version of Win 7?

 

[maomatt]

What version of Win 7?

64 Bit

 

[johnhoh]

If you get a BSOD on a 12 year old motherboard then put in a fresh boot drive and install windows fresh and get yet another BSOD, my money is on the motherboard being bad.

 

[townsbg]

There aren't many faster ways to permanently screw up a system than a bios flash. If it fails you could end up with a paperweight. Sure there are ISOs that'll revert them but if your BIOS is so screwed up it can't sense anything then a revert disk is no good. IMO a bios flash should only be done for new functionality you can't live without and not to fix an issue because it can cause even more issues than it would resolve. It won't fix an issue with the OS but only hardware issues yet it's a common misconception that it'll fix all. I would much rather reinstall Windows than flash the bios since the OS is only software. The BIOS impacts hardware. You can look up your motherboard and see if there is a BIOS revert but it might not fix your system. Depends upon the damage. Unfortunately your big hint is the inability to sense drives. That is exactly what the BIOS does. It senses and allows communication among the different hardware components.

However you can check the cables, swap out the cables, test the devices in a known good computer but I'm concerned that the BIOS is screwed up.

 

[Megahertz07]

By version I mean Home, HP, Pro or ultimate.
What version of Win 7?

 

[maomatt]

By version I mean Home, HP, Pro or ultimate.
What version of Win 7?

Windows 7 Pro x64

 

[Megahertz07]

Did you find a solution?

Look in bios for HDD mode. Old MB has IDE or SATA mode. Also you should set as AHCI mode.