Solved Win 7 will not boot

dsscottage

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Before, I get too wild and crazy, I'd like to ask for some advice/confirmation.

We had a power outage/surge during a thunderstorm and our Win 7 Ultimate computer will not boot.
-The computer goes through the POST and then all we see is a flashing cursor on a black screen.
-It will not boot into safe mode either.
-When I look that the BIOS, the SSD is not recognized.
-I attempted a Windows repair with the Win DVD but was informed that the SSD was not recognized.

Fortunately, I recently upgraded from the HDD to the SSD and the old HDD was left installed but disconnected. I returned the old HDD to the boot drive and moved the SSD to a secondary position. The computer will boot to the old HDD and I can read the data (including Windows) on the SSD as a secondary drive. I went into Disk Management and the SSD (as a secondary drive) is shown as a healthy NTFS drive. Therefore, I suspect that the Master Boot Record is corrupted. I've searched "fix MBR" and found a number of links to programs that are advertised to automatically fix the MBR.

Before I download and try one of these, let me ask...
1. Am I correct in my assumption that I probably have a corrupted MBR?
2. Is downloading and running one of the MBR fix programs the best strategy or is there some other simpler or safer way to do this?
 

My Computer

Computer type
PC/Desktop
Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
ASUS
OS
Windows 10 Pro
CPU
Intel Core i7-3770
Motherboard
ASUS CM6870
Memory
16MB
Graphics Card(s)
NVIDIA GeForce GT 640
Sound Card
Onboard HD Audio
Monitor(s) Displays
Hanns.G HZ281
Screen Resolution
1920x1200
Hard Drives
Samsung 850 EVO 512GB SSD and
ST2000DM 2TB HDD
Internet Speed
Gigabit
Antivirus
Windows Defender
Browser
Chrome
Other Info
Second desktop computer - Intel Core 2 Duo - Win 7 Ultimate,
Laptop - ASUS Intel Core i5-3317U - Win 10 Home
This Forum tutorial could help you fix your problem. Of course you will need to have the SSD as the only boot option by disconnecting your HDD.

Startup Repair - Windows 7 Help Forums

Do keep in mind that you may have to run Start Up Repair 3 times.
 

My Computer

Computer type
PC/Desktop
Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
Self built using existing case
OS
Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit sp1
CPU
Intel i5 3570 3.4Ghz Ivy Bridge SKT 1155 quad core
Motherboard
Gigabyte Z77-HD3 SKT 1155 2xSata 3, 4x USB 3.0
Memory
G-Skill Rip Jaws 16Gb (8x2) DDR3 -1600 PC3 12800 CL 10 red
Graphics Card(s)
Gigabyte NVIDIA GT610 1Gb DDR3 810/1200 PCI-E 2.0 Silent
Sound Card
NVIDIA High Definition & Realtech High Definition Audio
Monitor(s) Displays
2 x Philips 226V4L 16:9 aspect ratio
Screen Resolution
1920 x 1080 HD
Hard Drives
Samsung 840 Pro 256gb SSD, SATA 3.
Hitachi Touro Portable 1tb, USB 3.0 HDD used for image b/ups.
PSU
Corsair VS450
Case
Codeng
Cooling
PSU fan & CPU fan
Keyboard
Logitech
Mouse
Logitech Wireless trackball M570
Internet Speed
Wireless 3G. 3mg down & 550kb up.
Antivirus
Bitdefender Internet Security 2020
Browser
Opera (Current Version) & Firefox
Other Info
MS Office 2013 Pro. Davis weather station software. MGE Nova 600 avr UPS.
This Forum tutorial could help you fix your problem. Of course you will need to have the SSD as the only boot option by disconnecting your HDD.

Startup Repair - Windows 7 Help Forums

Do keep in mind that you may have to run Start Up Repair 3 times.

I did run Start Up repair and it failed to fix the problem. It indicated that it failed to find the SSD. However, I only ran it once. I'll try again and run it at least 3 times and post back with the results.
 

My Computer

Computer type
PC/Desktop
Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
ASUS
OS
Windows 10 Pro
CPU
Intel Core i7-3770
Motherboard
ASUS CM6870
Memory
16MB
Graphics Card(s)
NVIDIA GeForce GT 640
Sound Card
Onboard HD Audio
Monitor(s) Displays
Hanns.G HZ281
Screen Resolution
1920x1200
Hard Drives
Samsung 850 EVO 512GB SSD and
ST2000DM 2TB HDD
Internet Speed
Gigabit
Antivirus
Windows Defender
Browser
Chrome
Other Info
Second desktop computer - Intel Core 2 Duo - Win 7 Ultimate,
Laptop - ASUS Intel Core i5-3317U - Win 10 Home
Resolved

Sometimes I think that computers are haunted buy ghosts!

I restored the SSD to the boot position and started the process of doing another Startup Repair. Surprise! Surprise! The computer booted normally on the SSD!

I hate it when I can't explain why something happened and I have only two unlikely possibilities:
1. The original Startup Repair worked even though it reported failure.
2. Somehow during the power failure/surge, the SSD SATA cable because slightly unseated and by moving the cable it was re-seated.

Anyway, all is well and my wife is happy to have her computer back. When my wife is happy, I'm happy!

Thank-you for your help.
 

My Computer

Computer type
PC/Desktop
Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
ASUS
OS
Windows 10 Pro
CPU
Intel Core i7-3770
Motherboard
ASUS CM6870
Memory
16MB
Graphics Card(s)
NVIDIA GeForce GT 640
Sound Card
Onboard HD Audio
Monitor(s) Displays
Hanns.G HZ281
Screen Resolution
1920x1200
Hard Drives
Samsung 850 EVO 512GB SSD and
ST2000DM 2TB HDD
Internet Speed
Gigabit
Antivirus
Windows Defender
Browser
Chrome
Other Info
Second desktop computer - Intel Core 2 Duo - Win 7 Ultimate,
Laptop - ASUS Intel Core i5-3317U - Win 10 Home
You are welcome & glad to hear you have the problem fixed. Your diagnosis of the possible causes is most likely the case & a badly seated cable is probably the guilty one.
 

My Computer

Computer type
PC/Desktop
Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
Self built using existing case
OS
Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit sp1
CPU
Intel i5 3570 3.4Ghz Ivy Bridge SKT 1155 quad core
Motherboard
Gigabyte Z77-HD3 SKT 1155 2xSata 3, 4x USB 3.0
Memory
G-Skill Rip Jaws 16Gb (8x2) DDR3 -1600 PC3 12800 CL 10 red
Graphics Card(s)
Gigabyte NVIDIA GT610 1Gb DDR3 810/1200 PCI-E 2.0 Silent
Sound Card
NVIDIA High Definition & Realtech High Definition Audio
Monitor(s) Displays
2 x Philips 226V4L 16:9 aspect ratio
Screen Resolution
1920 x 1080 HD
Hard Drives
Samsung 840 Pro 256gb SSD, SATA 3.
Hitachi Touro Portable 1tb, USB 3.0 HDD used for image b/ups.
PSU
Corsair VS450
Case
Codeng
Cooling
PSU fan & CPU fan
Keyboard
Logitech
Mouse
Logitech Wireless trackball M570
Internet Speed
Wireless 3G. 3mg down & 550kb up.
Antivirus
Bitdefender Internet Security 2020
Browser
Opera (Current Version) & Firefox
Other Info
MS Office 2013 Pro. Davis weather station software. MGE Nova 600 avr UPS.
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