Help - I'm in over my head

[S-Africanus]

My computer

CPU-AMD 720 X3 BE (not unlocked or overclocked, both of which seem to freeze the MB)
MB-Biostar TA790 GX 128M
Memory-4 GB G. Skill RAM
GPU-HIS 6850
PSU-Corsair 650w
Case-Lian-Li PC7B
HD-1 WD640 GB partitioned as C:\ E:\ J:\
HD-2 Hitachi 1 TB D:\
HD-3 La Cie 1 TB external USB 3.0
HD-4 new today, but still in package - SSD 256G|SAMSUNG MZ-7PC256B/WW R
DVD-Generic DVD player
Windows 7 OEM

I have had sporadic episodes where the OS freezes while loading at the black screen with the Windows logo and won’t go any farther. I have to turn the power off and then on which usually allows a normal boot but sometimes proceeds to repair mode, where nothing is ever repaired. Occasionally I have to go to a restore point. So I bought an SSD which arrived today without really knowing if it's compatible with what I already have.

Also sometimes my Hitachi D:\ drive will not show up in My Computer, again for no apparent reason. It seems that when that drive doesn't appear I'm likely to have the other problems with drive freezing or getting a BSOD.

1) Does anyone have any suggestions for diagnosing the two current sets of disk problems?

2) The La Cie comes disk image SW. Can I make an image of C:\ alone and install it on a my SSD and have the OS work? Is there a guide for such an upgrade? Or can I do a fresh install of my Windows 7 OEM to a SSD or is that technically prohibited?

Help appreciated.

 

[j2j663]

1. I would strip the computer of all non-essentials for booting. Leave only the mobo, processor, HDD, ram and PSU. Then see if you can recreate any of the errors.

Realistically I would suspect that there is something corrupt in you windows installation.

2.Yes there are many programs that can "clone" an image from one drive and copy the "clone to another computer.

How ever if you have a corruption in your OS then you definitely do not want copy the old OS to the new SSD as you would be transporting any software problems it may have.

 

[bigbasedrum]

If I were you, I'd remove all HDD's only put in the new SSD and re-install Windows on the SSD(I'm assuming that's what you want to use it for). Then I would put back all the other HDD's and make sure you first boot from the SSD, and then manually copy/use your data from the other HDD's. Also maybe having so many HDD's is confusing Windows? At this point you have like 4 HDD's (5 with the SDD). Also, why on earth is your HDD drive D:??? Your Optical drives are usually drive D? (Don't just change it though, that can cause serious issues) Just a question to satisfy my curiosity.

 

[unksol]

I haven't seen a DVD drive show up as drive D for years. On a system that's installed with multiple partitions/drives they usually take priority under windows and the DVD ends up as the next available letter, unless you specifically mess with the assignments

 

[bigbasedrum]

Oh, sorry my mistake I didn't know that. Mine has always been D . Was just curious as to how it happened.

 

[j2j663]

I have been running windows with 5 HDDs and an SSD for a few years now. I also have more than double that in partitions. I mean this respectfully but there is no way windows is getting "confused" with any number of physical drives.

 

[bigbasedrum]

yes, it was a long shot . However, it could be a faulty install, or it could be an HDD that's on its last legs.