[dmproske]

So after loading Windows 7, avg virus protection, updated windows ect...Computer was running just sitting there while I was doing other things. Maybe 3-4 hours toal run time. Everything seemed fine. I heard the PC shut down like it went into sleep mode. Power light was on but that was it. Could not get it out of sleep mode. Pressed cntrl-alt-delete, pc woke up but was very laggy. So I reset it. Will not boot. I hear the hdd spin up, then the hdd light comes on and stayes steady on. I get to the MSI bios start up screen then it hangs. I then get this error "REBOOT AND SELECT PROPER BOOT DEVICE OR INSERT BOOT MEDIA IN SELECTED BOOT DEVICE AND PRESS A KEY."

I disconnected my hdd and cd drive power and data cables and reconnected them. Both are SATA. Bios lists USB HDD as 1st booot, then HDD, then CD. Thats the way it was by defalt when it worked fine. I changed it to HDD as 1st boot but no change......

This is my build. Im thinking my HDD went south. Any ideas?

Seagate Barracuda ST31000524AS 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
Item #: N82E16822148697

. 1 LG DVD Burner Black SATA Model GH24NS70 - OEM
Item #: N82E16827136236


. 1 Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-bit English 1-Pack - OEM
Item #: N82E16832116986

. 1 CORSAIR Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model CMZ8GX3M2A1600C8
Item #: N82E16820233147

. 1 Thermaltake VL84301W2Z V3 Black Edition with 430W Power Supply ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
Item #: N82E16811133185

. 1 MSI Z68MA-ED55 (B3) LGA 1155 Intel Z68 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 Micro ATX Intel Motherboard
Item #: N82E16813130596

. 1 Intel Core i5-2500 Sandy Bridge 3.3GHz (3.7GHz Turbo Boost) LGA 1155 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor BX80623I52500
Item #: N82E16819115073

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Hi dmproske, sorry to hear you are having this issue.
It may well be a HDD issue but it could also be that the OS has crashed, did you format and partition the HDD correctly before installing W7?
If you do not yet have any important data on the drive you could try a format (full not quick) and partition of the HDD, to do this you need to change the boot order in the BIOS to CD/DVD drive first and the HDD second, a USB device or Network could be the third device etc, place your W7 disk in the drive and restart your PC, follow the on screen instructions or post back if you are unsure of anything.
It is not unknown for new hardware to be DOA or to fail shortly after installation so you may have just been unlucky with a rogue part.

[phillpower2]

Hi dmproske, sorry to hear you are having this issue.
It may well be a HDD issue but it could also be that the OS has crashed, did you format and partition the HDD correctly before installing W7?
If you do not yet have any important data on the drive you could try a format (full not quick) and partition of the HDD, to do this you need to change the boot order in the BIOS to CD/DVD drive first and the HDD second, a USB device or Network could be the third device etc, place your W7 disk in the drive and restart your PC, follow the on screen instructions or post back if you are unsure of anything.
It is not unknown for new hardware to be DOA or to fail shortly after installation so you may have just been unlucky with a rogue part.

[dmproske]

Ok I just tried booting on the W7 disc. I cant format the HDD this way as windows doesnt even see it!! I am going to try a couple more disc diagnostic tools I have read about then I will try checking the cables again before I ditch the drive.

[dmproske]

I tried using seagates SeaTools on a boot disc. Got all sorts of errors, wasnt even able to start Seatools. Any other things I can try to determine that it is the drive? I would hate to rma it with newegg to find out that it is actually the motherboard.

[iammykyl]

have you got a system speaker installed or has your Mobo got diagnostic LEDs?

Edited by iammykyl, 31 May 2011 - 07:08 PM.

[phillpower2]

I changed it to HDD as 1st boot but no change......

Meaning that that the HDD is detected by the BIOS, which may suggest a failed install of the OS.

Ok I just tried booting on the W7 disc. I cant format the HDD this way as windows doesnt even see it!!

If the installion of Windows has become corrupt then it will not see anything, it is the LG DVD drive that should be reading the disk and then providing the options.

did you format and partition the HDD correctly before installing W7?

What is the answer to this question please?

[dmproske]

Yes there is a system speaker on the mb, and it does have led on it.
No I did not format the drive before installing Windows. I take it that I should have.

The LG drive was reading the w7 disc properly, however Windows setup was not seeing the defunct hdd. After this was all said and done I got the same boot errors with the cables disconnected from the hdd as when they were connected to the drive. With the cables connected i could hear the drive spin up then a rhythmic clicking sound.

I hooked up a spare SATA drive from my dad that has xp on it. Booted up just fine, so its not the mb or cables.

I RMA'd the drive with newegg. Hopefully the new drive will be better and hopefully UPS won't play football with the box.

It was mentioned that I should do a "full" format on a new drive before installing Windows. How do I accomplish that with the w7 disc. I was told I could only to a "quick" format using the disc.

Thanks for the help guys.

[iammykyl]

Yes there is a system speaker on the MB, and it does have led on it

I asked as I wondered if you got any beeps of flashing LEDS that indicated a hardware problem at boot up.

[iammykyl]

It was mentioned that I should do a "full" format on a new drive before installing Windows. How do I accomplish that with the w7 disc. I was told I could only to a "quick" format using the disc.

Have a look through this tutorial before installing Windows7. Tells you how to format and manage partitions on your drive.

> http://www.sevenforu...3]=Installation and Setup

There are many more useful tutorials.