My SSD Doesnt show up in the boot menu and cant be booted from.

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carey101

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Feb 9, 2015
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My computer was running fine until i had to do a hard reset. Now i cant find my operating system and when i go into bios it can see the drive that contains my Operating System (Windows 7) but it isn't available as a boot option anymore.

i am currently unable to repair the files (if that is the problem) and no fixes i have seen have been working.

when i boot my computer it displays "Loading operating system.." then after about 5 seconds displays "DISK BOOT FAILURE, INSERT SYSTEM DISK AND PRESS ENTER"

I have tried using a repair disk but after getting to the system repair screen and checking for errors, it is unable to fix the issue after countless attempts.

finding the root cause of my problems is my main concern at this time.

any help is appreciated.

my SSD is INTEL SSDSA2CW120G3 120 GB.
i also run a 1tb HDD as a storage drive but have had no issues with running them both since i got it.
 
Solution
volcanoscout
For a very good quality unit with a good amount of headroom for $80: http://pcpartpicker.com/part/xfx-power-supply-p1650bbefx

For a little bit more ($99), this is a top-end unit with lots of headroom: http://pcpartpicker.com/part/evga-power-supply-220g20750xr

This is an excellent guide for quality and reliability assessments of PSUs: http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/id-1804779/power-supply-unit-tier-list.html

The XFX is a Tier 2A, and the EVGA is a Tier 1. Both of them have efficiency ratings of 80+ Gold and are fully modular.
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carey101

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It does show up on disk management just not in the boot menu. How could i initialize it?
 
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volcanoscout

volcanoscout

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If it needs to be initialized, it should give you the option by right clicking on the drive.

I think I must be missing something though - obviously, you're successfully booting into OS (errors not withstanding) if you're able to access your disk management. Your BIOS is still going to your SSD to boot, even if it's not showing it as a boot option, otherwise you wouldn't be able to boot at all.

If you've already done a hard reset (depending on your definition of a hard reset), and you are able to get into Windows, I would consider taking these steps:
1. Run a health check on both your drives.
2. Back up any important files currently on your SSD.

If your drives are healthy and Windows Repair can't find any issues, it might be your mobo. Try reinstalling your mobo drivers and clearing the CMOS. If that doesn't clear up the issue, I'd start from scratch and reflash your BIOS and do a clean install of Windows.
 
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carey101

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Feb 9, 2015
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Sorry, i must've misunderstood what he meant by disk management. Currently i cannot run my operating system at all, all attempts to start end with "disk boot failure" the only way i am able to see that my SSD is being detected is through the bios.

However i have been able to get to the startup repair menu through the windows installation disk and check my drives using the command prompt, the SSD appears to be fine with no memory in "bad sectors." when i actually run the "startup repair" as such it says that it cannot repair the problem automatically and give options whether to send the information to Microsoft or not.
Looking at the details of the repair is says: "Root cause found: Partition table is corrupt on disk /Device/Harddisk0" with the error code "0x490" and then other times when i run it it returns: "MBR is corrupt" with the same error code.

Not sure most of that means but i hope it helps.

Thanks for you help
 
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carey101

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Ok so that didnt work, but i think the problem lies deeper. After i click "repair computer" on the install screen it does not show an operating system to choose (like all the videos showed).

Even though my SSD does appear in the bios as peripheral, the whole operating system seems to have vanished.

Maybe i should just try re-installing windows and see how that goes? (Even though that means losing the other files i had on the drive, right?)

Thanks
 
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volcanoscout

volcanoscout

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From the description in your last post, I think a re-install is going to be your next step. Basically, you can't repair the MBR if you can't access it. You won't be able to save your programs, but if you have access to another system that you can plug the SSD in as a secondary drive, you might be able to access and copy your files.

It is possible to download a manufacturer's application to write the proper MBR to a new sector on the drive but, having never done this myself, I don't know how well that will work or if there are any side-effects that you'd have to contend with. This option would also require having access to another system to plug the drive into, and assumes that the drive can be accessed at all.
 
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carey101

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Feb 9, 2015
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Ok, so after trying to install windows i found that my drive was only reading that it had 8 mb of space. when i looked up as to why it was doing this i found out that there is a major firmware bug for Intel SSD's. When they experience "certain power loss conditions, the drive can become completely bricked and unbootable." which seems to be my problem.

http://www.tested.com/forums/pc-and-mac/44240-huge-bug-in-intel-ssds-complete-recovery-information-here/

Now, as i was trying to resolve the issue using the steps posted in the link above, my power supply has died (it was Corsair: cmpsu-650hx for anyone interested).

I can't really do anything more without power but i thought i would let you know that i may have found the issue with my SSD

Thank you for all your help so far.

 
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volcanoscout

volcanoscout

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Were you having power issues previously? As in, your original problems might have been caused by power fluctuations from a failing PSU? The timing of the system problems, SSD failure and PSU failure would seem to indicate that. If so, I'd give Corsair customer service a call or email. Corsair's warranty coverage is pretty comprehensive and often they'll replace components that are damaged by a faulty PSU.
 
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carey101

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The PSU would've more than likely contributed to the issue although i never had any problems up until now. It is an old model so was probably on its way out anyways. Don't think it will have a warranty as it is so old so i am looking into getting a new one, any recommendations on a good PSU?
 
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carey101

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I have a Nvidia Geforce GTX 970 Strix GPU and my CPU is Intel i7 (cant tell you the exact model from memory). No over-clocking and i don't plan on upgrading GPU's as i purchased this new one about 2 months ago. SSD is about as old as the PSU, so more than likely it won't have a warranty which is why I'm so determined to fix the issue rather than having to buy a new one.

Probably looking to spend no more than about $200 or around that area i guess. Really just need something that will be able to run everything with no problems.
 
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volcanoscout

volcanoscout

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Jan 5, 2014
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14,960
For a very good quality unit with a good amount of headroom for $80: http://pcpartpicker.com/part/xfx-power-supply-p1650bbefx

For a little bit more ($99), this is a top-end unit with lots of headroom: http://pcpartpicker.com/part/evga-power-supply-220g20750xr

This is an excellent guide for quality and reliability assessments of PSUs: http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/id-1804779/power-supply-unit-tier-list.html

The XFX is a Tier 2A, and the EVGA is a Tier 1. Both of them have efficiency ratings of 80+ Gold and are fully modular.
 
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