Win 7 Pro (x64) install froze on creating new partition, no POST?

[immortals]

I am having a major issue. My computer was running perfect for over 3 years now. Yesterday morning, I had to reinstall Windows 7 x64 Professional. I open installer, I select the old partition, and delete it. I then hit "new" partition and then it freezes. I was forced to turn off my computer and turn it back on.

Once doing this, my computer will POST but after that it hangs on "detecting IDE drives". The only way to make it not hang after POST [and on detecting] is to remove ALL SATA cables to every HDD except the one I want the OS on. I have 5 HDDs installed on my machine! In doing this, I was able to install Win 7..... but now after install, my computer will NOT boot (i.e. hang on detecting IDE drives) unless again I only have the one HDD installed.

I have found a really horrible workaround ... boot into windows, install the SATA & Power cables (while machine is running) and then hit "search for new plug-n-play devices" and then I can see my drives. If I have to restart my computer, I have to disconnect them to boot and then reconnect them to have more than one HDD. Also, the purple SATA2 ports do nothing .... Windows never recognizes any HDD installed into them.

Also, windows doesn't see the onboard Marvell NIC. It is on the motherboard ... why cant it be seen by the OS?

I have bashed my head for days now and cannot figure this out. Anyone had any similar issues and found a work around ?

Thanks for the help!!!!

 

[alphanumeric]

Sounds like your motherboard may have a fault on it. I would try reseting the BIOS to defaults and redoing any custom settings. Will it boot with two hard drives or maybe three hard drives connected? There may be one of them that is failing. If so you may have to try each drive one at a time as a secondary drive to see which one is causing a no post.

 

[gregrocker]

Post back a screenshot of your full Disk management drive map with all drives attached, using Snipping Tool in Start menu. Post another screenshot with just the WIn7 HD plugged in.

Does it matter which HD you plug Win7 HD into?

Try Alpha's suggestion to reset the CMOS, then run Disk Check on each HD and maker's HD diag/repair CD scan one at a time with no other HD's plugged: Hard Drive Diagnostics Tools and Utilities (Storage)

 

[immortals]

Thanks for the reply. I have tried multiple combinations of 2-3-4-5 drives (also trying all 6 sata ports) and it only works with one hdd installed for it to boot. I can have my DVD drive (SATA) connected too (how I was able to install windows).

It just seems too odd that literally everything (hardware wise) was fine and then after setup froze now I'm having issues. The OS drive does have 2 partitions on it (well 3 I guess, 1 for 100mb system reserved, 1 for win 7, and another for storage).

I have searched a bunch and have found similar posts but Microsoft dismisses the issue as hardware. I just don't see how as win 7 install seems to have caused it all....


I also tried installing another bios (I had f14 and put on f12) to see if it made any difference..... None at all. I also cleared the cmos but it does the same.

 

[gregrocker]

Well if you post back the requested Disk Mgmt screenshots we can have a look and see if anything is obvious.

Maximize the screen, draw a rectangle around full drive map and listings boxes with nothing hidden by scrolling, using Snipping Tool in Start menu.

 

[immortals]

I am at school and my home computer (the one with problems) is at my house a few hundred miles away. I won't be able to post a screenshot until Friday afternoon. I will post one later in the week and thanks for the replies guys.

About the only thing I could think of would be the wrong partition (or none) is marked as active.

Again, thanks for the feedback!

 

[gregrocker]

That's entirely possible. It would be useful to compare the Disk Mgmt output when all drives are plugged vs. when only Win7 HD is plugged.

 

[immortals]

Oh, there is one other thing I forgot to mention. With 1 HDD (so it will boot) or all 5 installed, the HDD activity light is permanently on (not flashing, or changing, just permanent).

This is the case after it boots too .... and I'm wondering if it is a sign of something else? If it was just a active partition issue, I can't imagine this light would be permanently on. And this started happening as soon as my computer froze and I had to turn it off/turn it back on.

 

[gregrocker]

Def run the tests I posted in #3.

 

[alphanumeric]

You are correct a missing active partition would not prevent the PC from posting. All that would happen is you would get is a NO Operating System Found BIOS message. The hard drive detection part of the boot is all about hardware. The drives could all be blank and unformatted. The BIOS doesn't care at that stage it just wants to know what they are and how big they are. It's only in the last stage of the post that the BIOS starts looking for an active partition and an OS to load. The Hard Drive status LED being constantly on is not normal, something is wrong. I think I would run the diagnostics on the OS drive first. You could also try booting up with only that drive disconnected. You'll get a no OS found error but if it boots and the status led works correctly that would also point to the OS drive being the bad one.

 

[immortals]

I just got home, and to see if I could get the HDD activity light to turn off .... I disconnected EVERYTHING except 1 stick of ram, the cpufan, & the atx connections to the motherboard.

The HDD light is permanent with NO drives / Optical Drives/ Nothing installed. I even pulled my video card and it is still permanent. I pulled my MOBO to see if anything was obviously wrong with it and I see nothing.....

Any other tips? I'm guessing my MOBO died.........

 

[gregrocker]

Plug HD and monitor back and and see what happens when you boot up.

 

[immortals]

HDD light stays on permanently .... when it says "Windows Loading" the screen stays black and dont get those 4 colorful things above the text .... it just basically "hangs" there and never loads windows.

EDIT:

I switched the cable to SATA1 slot (I had it in SATA0) and now windows boots but the HDD light is still permanent....... So there is something seriously wrong with the various SATA connectors on my motherboard. Hmmm.....

 

[immortals]

Here is the computer management image for my 1 HDD installed (os drive):

 

[immortals]

Gigabyte tech support advised me to RMA the board and I am out of warranty by 2 months so they won't help me at all. I have purchased an Asus board to replace this one.

Thanks for the help guys (alpha# & gregrocker)

 

[alphanumeric]

I too have had a bad experience with a Gigabyte motherboard and poor tech support from them. I'll never by another product from them. I've had this Asus motherboard for almost a year now and have no complaints. I'm brand loyal so my next will likely be Asus too.

 

[gregrocker]

If you can still boot the HD, go into Device Manager and uninstall the key drivers for Win7 - CPU, SATA controller, display, SM Bus, network, sound, etc. Don't restart when prompted at all. Just shut down when done.

This will make it more likely you can start your Win7 on the new mobo. If not, try booting into Safe Mode to install new chipset.

If you have Acronis 10+, it will make a backup image with drivers removed if you choose that option.

 

[immortals]

Thnks for the recommendations. Since I installed nothing after formatting I'm going to just start from scratch and format again. I won't loose too much time. Thanks again!