On Tuesday, November 19, 2013 1:31:17 AM UTC+8, RayLopez99 wrote:
RL
Thanks to all replies. I'm pretty sure after double checking that it's a hardware problem.
See below on some interesting USB bugs, and apparently Win8 fixes USB 3.0 a bit.
RL
The Doc
has seen motherboards that
lost track of the boot drive
because a USB drive was
inserted
Maximum PC, Holiday 2013 edition
Missing Boot Sector;
RAID 0?
One day I came home as nor-
mal, started up my comput-
er, and it turned up a black
screen, with nothing on it but
the words "Missing Operat-
ing System." What could
have caused this? I have my
OS (Windows 7) loaded onto
a 120GB SSD. My computer
still recognizes the drive,
however, it can't find the OS.
I doubt it was caused by a
virus (I run MSE every time I
start my system) and I hadn't
downloaded or installed
anything recently. The first
time this happened, I shut
down and disconnected/
reconnected the drive, and it
worked. But that only worked
once. I tried it again the next
day, and I couldn't get it to
start. I have no idea what
could be wrong.
I was going to boot the
installation disc, and run the
"Repair my computer" option.
Would this work, and save
my data? I don't have much
important data on my SSD,
(most is on my HDD) but I still
don't want to lose it.
Also, I'm running out of
room on my SSD, so I bought
an identical SSD to RAID 0
with my current one. Howev-
er, I did not realize how much
trouble it is to move an OS
between drives. What do you
think is the best way to RAID
0 my SSDs while still keeping
my OS the way it is?
—Jackson Gray
The DocTor responDs:
Take the path of the least
resistance. First, disconnect
any external USB storage
devices you have—USB
keys, USB hard drives—any
external devices that may
have confused the boot. If
that doesn’t work, go into
the UEFI/BIOS and check
the boot order to make sure
it hasn’t changed. The Doc
has seen motherboards that
lost track of the boot drive
because a USB drive was
inserted. After that, running
the "Repair my computer"
option from the installation
disc is a good next step; if
you have a problem with your
boot sector, that'll identify
it and hopefully fix it. If not,
it could be a problem with
your SATA connection. Try
replacing the cable with a
different one. Finally, the
worst-case scenario is a
failure of the SSD itself. SSDs
are resistant to vibration and
shock but their long-term
reliability is proving to be the
same as a hard drive. Many
people make the mistake of
believing that SSDs are infal-
lible and forego backups.
Oftentimes, the actual con-
troller on the SSD will fail.
Data can be recovered but it’s
usually left to professional
data-recovery services. Let’s
hope it’s not that and you can
see the drive. If you can't
repair the boot sector using
Windows’ “repair” option, try
booting your computer from
a live CD to see if the drive
itself shows up. If so, copy as
much of the data off of it as
you can.
As for running out of
room, you're probably better
off skipping the RAID and
just adding the new SSD to
your computer as a separate
drive, especially if you're
having problems with your
first one. To get your cur-
rent image onto your RAID,
you'd have to write an image
of your whole disk, includ-
ing boot sectors and hidden
partitions, to an external
drive, set up the RAID, and
write that image back to
the RAIDed drives. Keep in
mind that any problems with
either of the drives renders
your whole RAID a bust, so
the Doc suggests you cut
your losses and just add the
second SSD as a separate
volume, at least until you pin
down the problem with your
first SSD.
The DocTor responDs: As we noted
in our review (
http://bit.ly/PCitPe),
"Windows 8 performance is generally the
same as Windows 7, with a performance
edge in anything that uses the Windows
Media Foundation and likely anything
that is heavily multithreaded. USB 3.0 is
also markedly improved." You can see
a more detailed explanation in the link
above. Because Win8 is built on the same
code base as Win7, nearly all hardware
and software that works in Win7 should
work in Win8. We haven't seen too many
instances where something suddenly
stopped working in Win8, but if there are
specific programs and hardware you rely
on, you should check the manufacturer's
website before upgrading.
As for the Maximum PC staff, they're
split down the middle. Three editors
use Win7, and three use Win8, although
two of those use Classic Shell (www.
classicshell.net) to bring back the Start
Menu