This is not a physical drive issue
This might be a partitioning issue, but if so I have not found it yet.
Scenario #1
- I have a specifically formatted drive.
- It contains a Windows 7 installation (fully updated until Jan 2020)
- This drive boots with no reported issues.
- It is an SSD. SATA 3.
- It behaves quickly, no noted speed issues.
- I have run SMART tools and benchmarks on the SSD – as fast as expected. 400-500 Megs/sec both read and write.
Scenario #2
- If I attempt to boot Windows 10 PE, with a bootable thumb drive, the windows “4 box ” logo appears and the circling dots rotate forever.
- SSD Drive connected via SATA 3 (same as when it boots Win 7)
- Windows PE on thumb drive, USB 3.0
- Also booted on same PC with USB 2.0 socket
Scenario #3
- If I remove this SSD drive from SATA3, and connect it to a SATA -> USB mounting cable,
- Then connect SATA -> USB to another PC already running a FULL copy of windows 10.1909 64 bit
- That computer becomes very sluggish.
- No drive is ever mounted
- If I am running Disk Management BEFORE inserting the drive, that utility window NEVER refreshes while USB drive is connected.
- Sometimes I can get system to behave after I unplug the SATA -> USB,
- Other times I must force reboot that Win 10 system
Scenario #4
- I have cloned the misbehaving SSD to another SSD, using a within-windows 7 cloning tool
- I then remove the 2nd SSD
- I then shutdown Win7 normally
- I remove the 1st SSD and connect the 2nd SSD in place of the first SSD
- I boot the system – no problems – win 7 boots
- I shutdown/reboot
- I put the Win 10 PE bootable thumb drive into system and boot from that
- Scenario #2 again
- the windows “4 box ” logo appears and the circling dots rotate forever.
- I shutdown system and remove 2nd SSD drive
- I repeat Scenario #3 with 2nd SSD and SATA -> USB cable.
- Other computer with Win10 becomes very sluggish. No drive is ever mounted
Scenario #5
- I then shut down the second computer (win10)
- I connect the 2nd SSD drive via SATA cable (not original win7 PC cable) to motherboard of Win 10 PC
- I boot system and make sure in BIOS correct Win 10 drive is boot drive
- I attempt to complete the BOOT of fully Win10 PC, with 2nd SSD (clone) attached via SATA
- the windows “4 box ” logo appears and the circling dots rotate forever.
- Repeat with original SSD drive – same
Scenario #6
- Attempt Windows 10 update to 10.2004.x64 (win7 is already 64)
- Remove antivrus
- SFC /Scannow and other preparations for Win 7 to Win10 update.
- Mount the ISO file for 10.2004.x64
- Run win 10 setup (as I have done dozens of times)
- First stage completes 0-100% – computer will be rebooting soon
- the windows “4 box ” logo appears and the circling dots rotate forever.
These scenarios prove the following statements.
It is not a physical problem with the SSD drive. Cloned drive behaves the same.
It is not data access problem or NTFS problem. Windows 7 has no problem with either drive. Chkdsk passes with no reported problems for either drive. Both the C: partition and the “System reserved” partition (which to check I assigned a temporary drive letter)
Both partitions (System reserved and C:) are aligned on 1 Meg boundary.
Any suggestions/ideas?
