New Windows 7 installation trying to boot from external USB drive

[laserman]

I bought a brand new Seagate 1TB drive and inserted the installation disk, commenced installation. Not thinking that I had to remove them I also had two external USB drives connected. One WD 3TB drive and the other a WD 500 GB drive, both USB. During the installation, it asked me which drive to utilize. I selected the 1 TB drive and the other two drives weren't even listed. When it got to the point of supposedly writing the files to the drive, it just sat there and sat there and sat there. I looked at the external USB drive and it was very active, where the drive light was flashing with activity. The screen stated that it was still 0% writing so in my panic, I cancelled the installation. It appeared to quit properly and the computer powered down. I disconnected the two external drives and made a second attempt. The second attempt flew through with no issues, loading and it booted up in 7 fine.

I connected the one WD 3TB drive. It recognized the drive and I was able to see the contents of the drive with no problem. I restarted the computer. During the restart, when the window comes up "starting Windows", it just sits there. Windows emblem pulsing, just sits there. I look at the external drive and it is active. It never boots.

I powered down. I disconnected the newly installed W7 hard drive and installed a previous drive I have with Kubuntu 12.04. During the boot process, it too, now lags in booting, now taking about 4 minutes to boot, finally coming up to the desktop for Kubuntu. During the boot process, the external 3 TB drive shows activity. I've looked at the flags in Gparted for this drive and it does not show it as a boot drive.

What can I look for on this drive that is making it use this drive or even look at this drive? My BIOS does (and has been) use USB or CDROM drive for first order boot but I've never had this problem before, even when I had it designated for XP. Thanks for your replies and I'll add amplifying information as we go along.


laserman

 

[gregrocker]

Please post back a screenshot with all drives connected of Disk Management - Post a Screen Capture Image

Confirm that only the Win7 hard drive is set first to boot in BIOS setup. I would also confirm that you correctly installed in AHCI mode for the SATA controller which is optimal.

If so you may need to move the data off to wipe the hard drives with Diskpart Clean Command which clears any boot code that can interfere. But first let us look at the configuration to make sure Win7 is configured correctly and only its intended boot partition is marked System and Active.

 

[Gator]

Please post a picture of Disk management. If you have to, load the system with nothing but the boot drive connected, then connect your 3TB drive and take the screen shot. You can use the snipping tool and upload it here using the "paper clip" icon near the smiley icon.

To recap..

Your new 1TB hard drive is an internal hard drive and you want it to boot first, correct?
Your 3TB drive is an external drive that you did not and do not want to boot, right?

Assuming my first question is correct, you need to make sure after installation that you set your BIOS to boot to your new 1TB drive first. I don't recall reading that you changed it back to boot from your hard drive. Also, never install anything with other devices connected. Wacky things happen for no good reason which is why its always best practice to remove all drives and only install a new OS to a drive with the drive, mouse and keyboard connected.

Edit: Blah.. Grocker is too fast.

 

[laserman]

Thank you both gregrocker and mhansen1.

I threw this out there after having been frustrated trying to clear it before going to work this morning. I won't be able to get a snapshot until I get home later this evening.

mhansen1, you are correct. I want the 1Tb drive to boot and the 3 TB drive to be just an external drive.

I'll get you the snap later this eve. Thanks again.

Laserman

 

[laserman]

Attached shot of Disk Management.

 

[gregrocker]

The configuration is correct.

There may be some boot code on the external which is intefering. The best way to resolve this is to move the data off to wipe it with Diskpart Clean Command.

Then repartition it as a Logical drive for data only which cannot ever interfere with boot: Partition / Extended : Logical Drives - Windows 7 Forums

 

[laserman]

Something I did in the past and don't know why but there is a shadow copy of an old XP box I have on this drive. It's not a back up, iso, or img. Straight out shadow copy. Files right out there...could that be interfering?

 

[Gator]

Something I did in the past and don't know why but there is a shadow copy of an old XP box I have on this drive. It's not a back up, iso, or img. Straight out shadow copy. Files right out there...could that be interfering?

While I would always defer to gregs opinion, I think part of your problem is that you have CD/USB booting first instead of your HDD. At least, thats what it sounded like in your initial post.

Again, greg has more knowledge in his pinky than I do at this point but its just a guess.

 

[gregrocker]

Good reminder. Did you assure the Win7 hard drive is remaining set first drive to boot in BIOS setup as we earlier suggested?

 

[laserman]

Checking now.

 

[laserman]

The drive was listed in the boot sequence list but was not numbered, thus not even in the boot order. I am going to transition all of the files over to the current drive and format the drive, then place the files back on there and try the booting process again to see if it still hangs up.

 

[gregrocker]

Is the hard drive set first to boot when the external is connected? Make sure.

Formatting is not enough. It requires going deeper to delete boot code and the partition table which might be interfering. Use the booted Win7 installation media to run Diskpart Clean Command.

Then format the drive for data storage with Logical partitions which can never interfere: Partition / Extended : Logical Drives - Windows 7 Forums

 

[laserman]

Yes, the hard drive was listed as first in the boot order then the onboard USB/CD-ROM drive.

I have your reference pulled up on another tab and will use that for the process of trying to fix this.

 

[laserman]

After bouncing around schedules and working with moving a ton of data and performing the steps gregrocker recommended, I completed it and tested...only to still be at the same brick wall I was at before. Not all is lost though because it taught me something I had never done before and will keep it in my references in case I need it.

Next, It dawned on me that the drive may be at fault.

I contacted Western Digital about the probability that this drive failed (which would have been a big surprise, considering it was only six months old but not improbable) and the first option they provided me was, disconnect the drive, boot then plug the drive back in.

Really?

Yeah, that works out great when you do that remotely.

Option 2 they gave me was asking about my BIOS. Had I had the most recent upgrade?

As it turns out, the BIOS was version A12 (with Dell) and the current version was up to A22. I performed the BIOS upgrade and initial testing proves that it may have been the BIOS being the stickler in the whole process. What I don't understand is, why this came up only after installing Windows 7 because it was working fine before I went down that road. Now, booting up on either the Windows 7 or the Kubuntu drive, there no longer seems be a lag or hang to complete booting.

Before I give this the all clear, I'm going to double check the drive and make sure all of the data got back in its place on the USB Drive, perform another boot on both internal hard drives separately and then come back and give this a "mark solved" provided everything passes (which I believe it will).

Thanks again for all of the inputs. Another lesson learned for my pocket.

laserman

 

[gregrocker]

Sometimes a BIOS update is required for running a newer OS or even a larger HD. It should tell you what changes were made in subsequent BIOS updates.

You can reboot into Dell F12 key menu to run Diagnostics to get a full suite to test hardware. Sometimes even more Diagnostics are on the Utility Partition choice.

Otherwise here is WD Data Lifeguard bootable flash stick and Windows version
for testing your HD.