Moved encrypted mSATA drive to new port, system hangs on windows startup. - Dell Latitude e7440

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eshepard

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Aug 17, 2010
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Hey everyone,

I have been issued a Dell Latitude e7440 from work. The laptop has 2 bays - 1 standard hdd bay, and an mSata bay. The computer has an mSata drive in the SATA HDD bay with an adapter.

I want to move the mSATA drive to the mSATA bay and install a SATA drive in the SATA bay.

When I move the mSATA drive to the other port, the machine boots, starts to load windows 7, but hangs on start up. It never asks me to login, it simply hangs at a blank screen with a moveable cursor. Ctrl+Alt+Delete does nothing.

If I boot in Safe Mode I get the windows login prompt, but I can't login, my password will not work.

If I put the drive back on the original SATA port, everything works just fine.

The drive is encrypted, I am not sure if that may be part of the issue.

Any ideas??

Thanks
 
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eshepard

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I don't think I can ask the IT department. What I am trying to do is have two hard drives, with separate installations of windows, giving me two systems in one. I don't want/am not supposed to/can't install personal programs on the work system. I want to be able to boot to a personal environment and a work environment. I travel a lot, and don't want to carry two machines.
 
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USAFRet

USAFRet

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I would think putting a new OS on one of the drives would be considered "install personal programs on the work system"

If just swapping the drives around does not work easily, then they have some restrictions in place. GPO or other.
Which we won't help you circumvent in here.

It isn't 'your' PC.
 
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Solandri

Solandri

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Jan 4, 2012
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If it's your company's computer, not yours, you really shouldn't be tinkering around with the insides unless your company gives you permission. If they say OK, the obvious solution is to buy a mSATA SSD as the boot drive for your personal environment.

If they say no, see if the laptop can boot off of a USB drive. If it can, buy one of these:
http://www.amazon.com/SanDisk-Extreme-Transfer-SDCZ80-064G-GAM46-Version/dp/B00KT7DOSE

That's nearly as fast as a SSD (scroll down to see the benchmarks). They make a 128GB version in their Pro line, but it's more expensive per GB. The regular 64GB version frequently goes on sale for $25.
 
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