Solved Lenovo G585 Won't boot After Upgrading To SSD

[Chris Nicola]

The original 500 Gbt factory HDD running Win 7 home on my Lenovo G575 works fine. I decided to upgrade to a 240 Gbt SSD by cloning using Aomei Backupper. When I installed the ssd drive and start up, the screen hangs with a black screen and flashing cursor.

I booted into a Win7 Home startup disk and chose startup repair. It said it found errors and fixed them and booted into windows fine. But on restarting I get the same black screen and flashing cursor.

I ran the startup disk again and this time it said it could not fix the errors and told me to remove any new hardware with the following report.

problem signature 02 6.1.7600.16385
problem signature 03 Unknown
problem signature 04 781
problem signature 05 External media
problem signature 06 1
problem signature 07 Bad Driver
OS version 6.1.7601.2.1.0.256.1
Locale ID 1033

The interesting thing is that after the failed attempted repair, the Win 7 startup disk gives the option to reboot. Then the computer boots into Windows on the ssd just fine.

I tried running a "Win 7 Home" upgrade installation and it failed after hanging on "expanding files at 18%" so I abandoned the install.

So with the ssd installed I can only get into Windows if I use a Win 7 startup disk and choose the reboot option.

I am wondering if this is some kind of configuration problem or if I need a special driver to make the ssd boot?

I am at a loss what to do. Your suggestions would be appreciated.

Kind regards
Chris

 

[Snick]

Hi Chris Nicola,

Here's AOMEI on subject-matter
How to Clone Hard Drive to SSD with Free ... - AOMEI Backupper
Cloned Hard Drive or SSD Won’t Boot - How to Fix!

And from ASUS
Why Cloned SSD Won't Boot | How to Make SSD Bootable? - EaseUS

Nic

 

[Chris Nicola]

Thanks. I will try some of those suggestions and let you know.

Kind regards
Chris

 

[Chris Nicola]

I have tried everything without success. I tried Aomei boot repair. I tried an upgrade install of Win 7 Home. I removed all partitions on the ssd and tried a clean Win 7 home install. The machine still hangs on the flashing underscore.

The strange thing is that it was booting fine while the clean Win 7 installation was running. After the install was finished, it cannot boot properly by itself. It can only boot instantly when commanded by the Windows installation media.

The other thing I have found out is that when left alone, the flashing underscore lasts for 10 minutes and then the Windows logo appears. Then after 5 more minutes it will boot normally. So what is making it stall for so long? Is the bios searching for a missing driver? The ssd has the latest firmware. The Lenovo laptop has the latest bios.

My final conclusion is that this particular ssd will not work on this machine due to an incompatible bios, motherboard or perhaps a missing driver. Left by itself it will eventually boot after 15 minutes. So the mbr is not the problem. Something is causing the boot to hang.There may well be a solution but I am at a loss to find it! So in the meantime, I have replaced the original mechanical HDD until I can find a solution.

Thank you for your help

Kind regards
Chris

 

[Snick]

Chris I PMed @Megahertz07 for additional assistance

 

[Chris Nicola]

Thank you. I have a gut feeling that there is a simple solution to this. Windows setup was commanding the machine to boot from the windows installation on the ssd just fine. So I know its possible.

Kind regards
Chris

 

[Snick]

No problem, Megahertz07 deals more with OS installations/upgrades/cloning.
@SIW2 does also

 

[bawldiggle]

I use AOMEI and about 12 months ago (on my Lenovo) I cloned the HDD to SSD.
If you "backed up" the HDD onto SSD, I think you will find you should have "cloned"



I am using PRO best money I ever spent

Hope this helps

 

[hazel123]

Have you tried a clean install on the ssd? As a test. It might help narrow it down to wether it's a problem with the cloned image, a faulty ssd or incompatibility. Have also had a problem with one type of SSD not working with a machine but another type would (the ssd wasn't faulty - it worked fine in another, newer, machine).

 

[hazel123]

If the clean install works then you could try recloning or just leave the clean install on and extract the files from the old hard drive maybe? Or reinstall the files from backups. I tend to always do a clean install on a new drive and reinstall files from backups - then reinstall programs.

 

[Chris Nicola]

Thanks bawldiggle and Hazel123. The ssd worked fine on a desktop pc and is in good condition. I used Aomei to clone the drive and it hangs and takes 15 minutes to boot. I deleted all partitions and tried a clean install and it still hangs for 15 minutes. While windows was installing it booted fine many times into Windows setup so I know the ssd is not faulty. The problem seems to be that during the boot Windows or the bios is searching for something that causes it to hang for 15 minutes. Maybe a driver has the wrong name or something like that. The problem is probably quite simple but I am stuck.

Kind regards
chris

 

[hazel123]

Maybe try manufacturer website for latest firmware for the ssd? Also which make and model of ssd is it?

 

[hazel123]

Just a thought - have you tried with the original drive (if it didn't die) to see if it does the same thing? My nephew had this model and it died within 2 years (motherboard). Not that that means a lot! That could happen to any laptop.


If it's doing the same thing with the original standard hard drive then it's a hardware issue rather than compatibility. Also how much ram have you got in it?

 

[hazel123]

A couple of links on similar issues - may help - first one is specific to a Lenovo issue - suggests disabling Lenovo Service Engine in Bios


System hangs at Lenovo Logo during boot - Lenovo All-in-ones bundled with Lenovo Service Engine - US


Solved: G570 gets stuck on windows startup screen, removing battery allows boot up. - Lenovo Community

 

[Chris Nicola]

Thanks for the suggestions. The SSD has the latest firmware and the laptop has the latest bios. The original HDD works fine. Its just the ssd that hangs for 15 minutes before booting. I checked the links. There is no option of enabling or disabling Lenovo service engine in the bios. The presence or absence of the battery does not affect the boot although the problem may well be driver related... I will keep trying! Thanks again.

Kind regards
Chris

 

[hazel123]

Total pain. Which SSD make/model is it?

 

[Chris Nicola]

The SSD is a Silicon Power Sata3 S55 220Gbt. It was working fine in my Desktop but I decided to upgrade to 500 Gbt and now have this one spare. A Windows 7 install CD can command the laptop to reboot into the SSD just fine. So there must be a hack that can make it work.

Kind regards
chris

 

[Vineet Garg]

Hi All,
Greets,
Chris Nicola : Sir,

With as many things done already,
1. It's probably a driver issue & i think you should consider these :
(a) Install/Update to latest Chipset drivers & Storage drivers thereafter.
(b) Transition to AHCI :
AHCI : Enable in Windows 7 / Vista
( Honestly, i don't know why, but i have seen many people switching/changing to AHCI, even from RAID to AHCI in transition from HDD to SSD )
(c) Clean Installing windows 8/10 on the SSD & check the issue.
I assume that you can download the latest official iso, check its integrity, decide your system configuration & prepare installation media accordingly. Besides, here is a very good & informative tutorial/article by sir Bare Foot kid but i think that works for Bios+Mbr configuration.
SSD / HDD : Optimize for Windows Reinstallation

2. Macrium Reflect Free does cloning & migration from HDD to SSD very well. You have to clone/image the system partitions from HDD and just drag & drop partitions to SSD. Besides, here is a very good & informative tutorial/article by sir whs :
SSD - Install and Transfer the Operating System
(It even talks about the practices with SSDs)

3. I would like to see two-two snaps of the Disk Management window when running on/from HDD & SSD. ( Inspired by sir Megahertz07 's explanation )
(a) Standard View
(b) From Menu bar in Disk Management : View > Top > List Disk

Let us know.

Thanks & Regards. ...

Extras : You are running 32 bit on 4gb ram ?

 

[SIW2]

Nothing to do with the cloning tool. Aomei works very well.

I am having intermittent boot issues with a crucial ssd on a gigabyte mobo. That is after a clean install set to ahci mode.

The OP also had problems

hanging on "expanding files at 18%"

 

[Chris Nicola]

Thank you all for your comments. I will run through some of the latest suggestions and let you know how I get on.

Yes its got nothing to do with the cloning tool. For troubleshooting purposes I have performed a clean install of Win 7 Home to try and solve the hanging boot issue.

Kind regards
Chris