Weird problem on startup

[Hazardous Pain]

Hello everbody,

Well I did not really know where to post this topic, it is not really obvious if it a hardware problem or a software glitch!

First, here is my rig:

Motherboard: MSI G31M||CPU: Q6600 @ 2.4Ghz||CPU-Cooler: Zalman CNPS9900NT||RAM: samsung 4GB DDR2 667Mhz Dual Channel||GPU: Twintech 9800GT 1024MB GDDR3||HDD: Western Digital 500GB Caviar SE16 + Western Digital 500GB Caviar Blue + Western Digital 750GB Caviar Green ||PSU: OCZ Mod-XStream 700W||OS: Windows 7 Ultimate x64||Aerocool Vx-e Pro Case||LCD: 22" wide Cibox||SOUND: 5.1 Microlux Surround System

This problem appears to be random, it happened on the 27th and 31st of July and today!

the WD750GB is the C: the WD500GB SE16 is he D: ( this is the older HDD that had vista on it) and the WD500GB Caviar blue is the E: and I do not have RAID, every disk is a sata

Windows is stuck in the "windows starting" screen, and the HDD light is off most of the time but lights up once in a while.

I tried startup repair but I am always left with the windows 7 setup background and that's it, it does not advance

I tried to launch the installation CD, this one shows the "windows is loading files screen" then jumps right to the normal "windows starting" startup screen

Then I unplugged the E: and started the pc and it did start normally! I shut down the pc and replugged the E: and started the pc, it also started normally, in the previous times it asked for a startup chkdsk for the E: ( the 3 steps one not the 5 steps) but today it asked for nothing so I will do a manual one just in case! (the first time I removed the D: and it started then asked for an E: chkdsk)

I find this very weird!

I do not think it is the PSU because I just changed it on the 11th of july!!

Help is much appreciated!

[azspeedbullet]

this is a glitch caused by your hard drives. Your old vista might still have vista bootloader on it, and there is a conflict with loading the normal c/win7 bootloader and the bootloader it found on the other drive.

I had the same problem and what i had to was back up my other hard drive, do a full format to remove any old bootloaders/partition and put my back back on it. This has solved the problem for me and i no longer have this problem before

[Hum]

1. Replace the hard drive cables

2. Replace the bad hard drive

3. Rescue the personal files from the failing hard drive, by plugging in an external drive case

[Hazardous Pain]

this is a glitch caused by your hard drives. Your old vista might still have vista bootloader on it, and there is a conflict with loading the normal c/win7 bootloader and the bootloader it found on the other drive.

I had the same problem and what i had to was back up my other hard drive, do a full format to remove any old bootloaders/partition and put my back back on it. This has solved the problem for me and i no longer have this problem before

Thanks for your reply, I just have one remark:

This system with the 3 HDDs has been working normally for more than one year now, why is starting to have this problem now? Yes the vista files are still there but they are on The D: not the E: but it never acted up before, and in the boot sequence I removed the two secondary HDDs, I have the 750GB as first boot device then the DVD rom!

[Hazardous Pain]

1. Replace the hard drive cables

2. Replace the bad hard drive

3. Rescue the personal files from the failing hard drive, by plugging in an external drive case

Thanks for the reply!

Can a faulty cable do something similar? I've never heard about it!

How can I be sure that the HDD is failing because buying a new one here in Tunisia is easier said than done, a 500GB seagate (barracuda I think) costs around $110