Back again, this time I need help with repairing boot drives.

[vwracer409]

It's been so long since I've had to do this, that the memory is giving me a real pain in the ass. I have four different boot drives that have finally taken a dump. Either they wont complete the boot cycle, or they've taken to snoozing on the job. There are various problems that lead me to feel something is on vacation in the system. Years ago this bunch of problems required rebuilding/restoring the system. This allowed me to seek out individual problems to correct them. Because of the time issue, I'm asking of there is anything that could jump up and bite me in the butt?

Once I get the drives working properly, I'm going to transfer them to a nice bundle of Samsung drives I've had sitting on the shelf for some time.

 

[continuum]

Need more information sadly.

Going to throw a whole grab bag of questions, don't expect you to have any or all of them. Are the drives failing manufacturer's diagnostics? Are these hard drives? SSDs? What makes and models? All in the exact same system/exact same hardware otherwise? Ditto for software/OS? Have you tracked temperatures? If SSDs, have you checked writes? Seemingly unrelated but do you have any network mounts or anything else that might affect boot time? Anti-virus running?

Again some questions there may be random and may not be that at all. But there's a whole bunch of other bits that may or may not be relevant that we can only guess at and need you to provide.

 

[vwracer409]

Greets continuum lets give the added information a shot. All the drives are Adata 650, or 635 SSDs,
they are interchanged as needed in the same system, and have for the last 4 years. The specs in CPUZ-ID show the same information as 2 years ago. They also seem to have been running within specs.

When I first built the system four years ago, I changed from Win 7 to Win 10 and never could get this lightening fast boot up times I had been hearing about. Faster than Win7, but not even close to the 20 seconds I read about. I swear half of ARS helped me build this. I maxed everything possible on the build, Hell, you may remember this as you were among those who contributed your skills!

 

[continuum]

Might need you to be more descriptive on the boot process, how long is each portion taking - from power on to UEFI showing, how long does it take at UEFI screen, how long from UEFI screen to Windows loading screen, how long from Windows loading screen to Windows logo screen being displayed?

 

[Paladin]

Depending on how often you have been changing them, the connectors might simply be worn out. They are generally designed for around 50 or so connect/disconnect cycles from what I remember for SATA drives. You might just try a new SATA cable.

Beyond that, get a cheap SATA to USB3 adapter and see if you can connect one of the faulty drives to a working computer and see the files there. Don't fiddle with them at all, just see if the drive shows up quickly, if you can see any files on there that you expect etc.

 

[vwracer409]

Some information that may help with the diagnostics: MOBO, is Gigagnyte GA-MA 785GM-US2H, AM3 938 CPU AMD Phenom II X4.965.

A lot of the testing I have done leads me to believe that DVD drive is taking a dump. Trying to repair the boot drives doesn't give me consistent results on the same drive. Time to change out drives and checking connections and individual sections of the system. Strip this puppy down to bare parts.

I would like to know if the My Threads section of ARS can reworked to display by the dates Right now, I can't display them by dated groups. I want to find the information on this build, and maybe find the problem. Memory serves there were problems in setting up Win 10 on how I built it. It's been so long since this build, I really can't accurately remember.. Then again, there is a section of the Intel build that never happened, Maybe it's a good time to put that together....that, or I'm getting old!

It seems to me I had an issue with using a USB drive of Win 10, but we did figure it out. You guys seem to have these answers at hand. I know we worked it out, or I wouldn't be here with my butt hanging out. If I can just build one master drive with what I want..........not asking much!
.

 

[continuum]

Sounds like you have some idea of what to try next already, let us know what further testing shows.

 

[vwracer409]

It may look like I have an idea what I am doing, but don't bet on it. Confusion would be a better description. I can't seem to get the Windows creation tool to work right, or be recognized when trying to use it. Once I can get it to link up and be recognized in the boot order, I can get things working right for a repair install. I'm trying to use the instructions on https://www.easeus.com/computer-instruction/repair-install-windows-10.html#1

I'm probably doing it all wrong, but it's been so long I can only ask for help, or suggestions . I've got a full Win10 drive set up, but it isn't working anywhere close to what it should. All I can do right now, is keep banging on the door for help. There was a Tech I could trust to solve this, but, he up and died, so there isn't much help from him.

I keep trying to find all the entries in My Files that cover the original build on this system. I've gone through 8 pages of entries, and still can't isolate what we worked on 4+ years ago. It may not have an answer, but it's a start. Thanks for checking in me continuum, and please don't give up the ship. I've been trying to get this straightened out but only because of the data I can't get at until I can look into the original boot drive files. Getting old isn't much fun......

 

[vwracer409]

Here we go again. Out of nowhere comes the popups, virus',and all the crap nobody needs to deal with on a rebuild. Is there something in particular I should be looking for? It all started when I began to set up the internet. Fortunately, this is the setup drive, instead of the final with all the testing taken care of. When this whole mess began at the beginning of October, it turns out about a dozen of us in Albuquerque developed the same issues. Nobody seems to have a clue.as why.The first one to win gets a bowl of Green Chili Stew.

Next problem was/is going through all the old threads hoping to find all the data from about 4 years ago when I originally built this system I recall there was an issue or two that stuck in my memory. Seems it was a problem between USB2 and USB3 and using the USB port on the computer, or on the external port. I can't remember exactly, but it was an issue with getting it setup and running. hopefully someone can remember what it was so I can look some more.

 

[continuum]

Here we go again. Out of nowhere comes the popups, virus',and all the crap nobody needs to deal with on a rebuild.

Got photos of the screen/screenshots of what you're seeing?

When this whole mess began at the beginning of October, it turns out about a dozen of us in Albuquerque developed the same issues.

This statement confuses me. Is there some context it's supposed to provide that instead causing only more confusing to us outsiders?

 

[vwracer409]

Continuum: Sorry, no pictures. All the popups, etc showed up before I had a chance to even to set up, and it was the type of stuff that kept trying to take over while I was trying to set up protection. Decided to look again this morning, and couldn't find anything out of the ordinary.

The second point of confusion was to show there seemed to be something happening in Albuquerque that wasn't showing up elsewhere. It almost seems as if we had a target on our butts.

I'm trying my best not to post things that are too stupid, but when I lump it all together, that's how it comes out. Sorry guys!

 

[Paladin]

OK so you have some kind of core issue here.

If you are doing a new windows install on a computer there is absolutely ZERO reason you should have virus popups or whatever before you even finish the install. That is simply impossible. That's why people are confused about what you are describing.

It should be a process of:

Get hardware ready
Get USB drive with fresh Windows installer image on it (using Rufus to burn the ISO downloaded from Microsoft to the USB thumb drive)
Plug USB drive into new computer
Turn on new computer and boot from the USB thumbdrive and start the install process, press enter a few times to get it done, reboot a couple times for the install process to finish (it does that by itself)
Windows is installed, remove thumbdrive
Windows comes with very competent antivirus already (Defender) so you are basically done

Where in that process are you getting virus popups or whatever?

 

[vwracer409]

Thanks Paladin. I'm going to redo the installer with Rufus. Haven't tried that yet. I'm still going over all the threads over the years trying to find the ones concerning the build on this system. I can find almost everything on the Intel Sandy Bridge I was trying to put together, but never got around to, but nothing on the Gigabyte system. Old age I guess......!

 

[Paladin]

I don't understand why you need any old information.

Now that you mention it though... what hardware are you using exactly? What motherboard model and CPU? It should tell you in the BIOS information page (hit delete or F2 right after powering it on to enter the BIOS).

If the hardware is old enough, it might not work with Windows 11 without a couple of options set during the Rufus software thing.

By the way... This is Rufus

https://rufus.ie/en/

This tells you how to use it.

https://www.makeuseof.com/installed-windows-11-on-old-pc-this-method-still-works/

You can (and should) download a fresh version of the ISO file that needs to be given to Rufus to copy to the USB drive to make an installer.

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows11

Download the ISO there (or download the media creation tool and make a new ISO). Do not use the media creation tool to make a USB installer drive.

 

[vwracer409]

Good Day Paladin. The main reason for searching my old posts is to find certain pieces of information pertinent to this computer. The best example concerns the RAM. I built this system to maximize all the components. The RAM would be maxed at 16GB. I had 4X4 GB of DDR2, but I couldn't use all 4 sticks at once. For about 2 days, I swear everybody was chiming in to help find out why. One Arsian finally remembered why. All we needed to do ws drop the RAM voltage down one step. It had something to do with DDR3 being released. I was trying to find that, and other info on this build. I can't find anything specific and I know there was a butt load to read up again.

As far as working with Win11, I think not. I think I'll finally get around to building the Intel machine, as there is a history of information on making it work. It will give me the chance to use the Lian Li case, and components I've kept buried Thanks for the help