When HDD connected, not able to boot to OS drives

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dtaild

Commendable
Jul 24, 2016
8
0
1,510
Hi,

So I have a weird issue. I have three total drives:

  • C drive, Samsung 850 EVO 500 GB(primary of course with Windows 10 installed)
    G drive, Hitachi 1 TB(has Windows 7 installed)
    A Seagate 4 TB harddrive with some back ups and media files

I had a bunch of issues trying to install Windows 10, I actually replaced an old OCZ Vertex II 80 gb I previously had Windows 7 installed to for a OS only drive because it looked like it failed when installing Windows 10 to it.

I replaced the OCZ with the Samsung EVO, and eventually got Windows 10 to it with a whole bunch of trouble in between. The constant though has been, when I have my Seagate HDD attached recently, my Samsung and Hitachi appear in BIOS as storage devices, however do not show as boot drives, though the Seagate appears as a boot, even though it does not have any instance of Windows installed on it(I think it does have image files however).

I was having a ton of trouble installing Windows 10 as mentioned and the only way I was able to get to an operating system with the Seagate attached was by pressing F8 and selecting that operating system.

If I disconnect the Sata cable to the Seagate, I boot fine no problem to Windows 10 and both SSD and Hitachi HDD display as boot options in BIOS.

Not sure what's up with the Seagate. I am tempted to try connecting the Sata to the Seagate once I am in Windows, move the files I want to keep and re-format the Seagate, but I am kind of afraid that doing that may adversely affect something.

Any ideas?
 
Solution
A
It's difficult to believe that the presence of the disk-image file on the Seagate would prevent the problem you've encountered. But since that file is (apparently) serving no useful purpose, go ahead and delete it (or rename it) and see if that has any positive effect on eliminating the problem.

Any possibility of installing the Seagate as a USB external HDD and see if you can access its data through those means?
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dtaild

Commendable
Jul 24, 2016
8
0
1,510
Yes, there is no need to force to boot when the Seagate is detached as Windows 10 boots fine on it's on, but when the Seagate is connected, it does not give the option to boot to a OS-installed drive(only gives the Seagate, removeable media, and CD/DVD drives)
 
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ArtPog

Admirable
Sep 17, 2014
2,951
3
8,965
1. Can we assume that if you boot to the SSD with no other drives connected in the system the Win 10 OS will boot without incident and properly function?

2. Can we assume that if you boot to the Hitachi HDD that contains the Win 7 OS with no other drives connected in the system the Win 7 OS will boot without incident and properly function?

3. And can we assume that if you boot to the SSD with only the Hitachi HDD connected in the system you can select either the Win 7 OS or the Win 10 OS as the boot drive and the system will properly function based upon your selection?

4. Presumably you're working with a dual-boot system. Does the Windows screen display during bootup providing an option to boot to either the Win 7 or Win 10 OS?

Or do you select which OS to boot to via accessing the BIOS boot menu?

Or are you using some third-party program to determine which OS to boot to?

5. There's no OS files on the Seagate HDD, right? No system recovery or recovery partitions on that drive, right? Or are there?

6. Have you checked out the health of the Seagate with Seagate's SeaTools program? Do so AT ONCE if you haven't.

7. So when all is said & done the ONLY problem you have at this time is the system's failure to boot when the Seagate is connected in the system upon bootup, right?

8. But you've inferred that if you connect the Seagate after the system boots you can access the Seagate's data without any difficulty, right?

9. It is not uncommon that when an OS detects a defective SECONDARY drive upon bootup, the system will fail to boot.

10. You could (should you desire) access the Seagate's data for copying/moving, etc. following its connection after the system boots. Your "hot-swappable" BIOS setting (if that setting exists) should be set to Enabled under those circumstances.
 
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dtaild

Commendable
Jul 24, 2016
8
0
1,510
ArtPog,

Thanks! I think you are on the right track in deciphering my original post. Please see my comments below



 
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ArtPog

Admirable
Sep 17, 2014
2,951
3
8,965
When you state there is an "image" on the Seagate HDD created via the Macrium program you are referring to a disk image, right? NOT a disk clone.

So you'll need to pursue some sort of "recovery" process re the disk image in order to access whatever files you want. Is that the case?

In any event since you imply that whatever data is currently on the Seagate was originally on the Samsung SSD which you imaged (or cloned) to the Seagate, isn't that data still available on the SSD? So couldn't you access that data on the SSD? Or is that no longer an option?

Re the hot-swappable BIOS setting if you go that route...not all motherboards contain that setting. You'll find that setting, should it exist, usually in the SATA controller section of the MB. It will be reflected in the MB's user guide or the website of the manufacturer and it's easy enough to just go through the BIOS manually. So if it does exist ensure that the setting is Enabled.
 
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dtaild

Commendable
Jul 24, 2016
8
0
1,510
Correct, a disk image, not a clone.

The image was actually taken of my previous SSD drive which failed and was replaced. It really only had the Windows 7 install, user profile and small amount of programs, I am not looking to recover that image. Outside of the image, I had a large amount of music, pictures, movies, and games on the Seagate, this is what I am looking to recover from that drive. Do you think considering all, I could be okay to hot swap? Could the image files be the reason I am not able to boot with this Seagate drive connected, thus if I remove that image I should be okay?
 
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ArtPog

Admirable
Sep 17, 2014
2,951
3
8,965
It's difficult to believe that the presence of the disk-image file on the Seagate would prevent the problem you've encountered. But since that file is (apparently) serving no useful purpose, go ahead and delete it (or rename it) and see if that has any positive effect on eliminating the problem.

Any possibility of installing the Seagate as a USB external HDD and see if you can access its data through those means?
 
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Solution
D

dtaild

Commendable
Jul 24, 2016
8
0
1,510
Thank you sir, I just purchased an external enclosure for this drive and will run it like that since I have no intention of ever using it as a boot drive. Then will just pull off the old image and should be good. Thanks for all your help!



 
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dtaild

Commendable
Jul 24, 2016
8
0
1,510
Drive in question never was a boot drive. I will make it an external and clear off image as I think this may be my best route(speed and having it as a boot drive are not a concern to me).



 
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