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Problem: Dell PC stops booting from the SSD.

Background: 2013 Dell Precision Tower with Xeon processor and HHD. Over a year ago, cloned HHD to Samsung SSD EVO 850, no problems. Then updated from Windows 7 to 10, no problem. Left HHD as 2nd drive.

Today, restarted PC and getting BSOD. Got message that can't boot from SSD.

Here's what I tried: I opened it up, unplugged the HHD (thought maybe it died and screwed up the BIOS somehow) and tried booting up, still no dice.

Took out the SSD, plugged into different PC with USB adapter, shows up perfectly, everything looks fine with the SSD. All files are there. But Samsung Magician didn't detect it as valid for some reason (maybe cuz through USB).

Anyway, I put it back in my PC, put in a Windows Installation Media DVD, and tried repairing.

  1. Startup Repair - didn't work.
  2. System Restore gave me the error message:

    To use System Restore, you must specify which Windows Installation to restore.

    Restart this computer, select an operating system, and then select System Restore.

But I can't select an OS

  1. System Image Recovery also didn't help
  2. Neither did "Go Back to Previous Version"

  3. So, I opened the command prompt from there:

    a. Tried using bootrec per this article. /fixmbr and /fixboot both gave me an error that The system cannot find the path specified.

    b. I also tried chkdsk but it gave me an error that it can't run disk checking on this volume because it is write protected.

    c. Edit: forgot to mention, I also tried SFC /scannow, also didn't work.

What should I do? I'm at my wits end. I have a feeling this may have been caused by malware but not sure how that helps me. Not even sure how I can do a factory reset in this situation. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

Edit 2: I connected the SSD to another PC and ran diskpart, here's a screenshot: Diskpart Screenshot

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  • Whether you in correct path. I mean x:\sources\ for example
    – Techie Gossip
    Sep 13, 2017 at 19:16
  • @Techie Gossip Not sure what you mean, yes I am in the x:\sources\
    – Josh D
    Sep 13, 2017 at 19:28
  • SFC /scannow command will help u.
    – Techie Gossip
    Sep 13, 2017 at 19:30
  • At which point did you determine this was a "can't boot" issue that needed the type of repairs you are trying? You said the system is blue screening on startup. That is not a boot problem. What is the actual error you receive during boot?
    – Appleoddity
    Sep 13, 2017 at 19:31
  • @Appleoddity good point, forgot to mention. Originally there was the blue screen with the message that boot device didn't load, then when I took out the HHD it just shows a black screen with the message in white that No bootable devices
    – Josh D
    Sep 13, 2017 at 19:33

1 Answer 1

Reset to default
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Try to boot from USB. The drive locked it seems.

  1. Copy all the files from your downloaded ISO you've used to install Windows 10 to a USB stick. Make it boot able using Rufus tool.

  2. Boot from that USB stick and press Shift+F10 when Windows 10 setup WinPE shell starts. It enter cmd prompt

NOTE: Make sure c: is your boot drive with your OS by running

x:\>diskpart

DISKPART> list disk

DISKPART> select disk 0

DISKPART> list volume

DISKPART> exit

3. In the command prompt type:

x:\>chkdsk /f /v /r /b /offlinescanandfix c:
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7
  • Thanks. I did DISKPART > list disk and it says "There are no fixed disks to show"
    – Josh D
    Sep 13, 2017 at 20:03
  • You told you have conncted tat ssd to other system.. what did u see there?. did u see your partitions? Any partitions is having is files?
    – Techie Gossip
    Sep 13, 2017 at 20:05
  • Sorry, I wasn't clear. I booted using SSD and Windows Media, launched command prompt from Troubleshooting menu, and did DISKPART which yielded nothing. Should I try connecting the SSD to a different PC through USB and do DISKPART there?
    – Josh D
    Sep 13, 2017 at 20:07
  • When u connect the ssd to different system.. what u see in disk management.. can u see the disk and it's partitions
    – Techie Gossip
    Sep 13, 2017 at 20:09
  • Thanks. I did it, see screenshot in my original question, I added an edit
    – Josh D
    Sep 13, 2017 at 20:17

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