OK, did that (inactive). Then I added Disk 0 (the OS drive) to the boot sequence (first choice - and got an invalid partition table error. Removed Disk 0 from the boot sequence and I booted as before - waiting until the "press any key to boot from CD or DVD" and it booted into Windows 10 as I described before. I'll try to disengage Drive D tomorrow or the day after. Thank you....
Is it possible to disable drive D (disk 1) in the BIOS without actually disconnecting it........thereby forcing a boot attempt from disk 0 only?
Run MiniTool Partition Wizard, as before.
In the Partition Wizard GUI, right-click on the disk name shown in the blue area above its list of partitions. *
* Note: The Windows disk name may not match Partition Wizard's disk name. On my system, Disk 0 in Windows is Disk 1 in Partition Wizard. You will recognize the correct disk by the first partition listed, which is System Reserved.
Examples -
Windows Disk Management
Partition Wizard
You've right-clicked on the disk name in the blue area.
Select Rebuild MBR.
Click Apply in the lower left hand corner, as before.
Reboot.
Enter the BIOS and make sure the disk is again the first device in the boot list.
Continue with booting.
Report the result.
That's it...have a good night.
Last edited by OldNavyGuy; 03 Nov 2020 at 00:12.
I did set drive D (data drive) as inactive using Mini-Tool Partition Wizard. Thank you. I apologize for taking so long to follow your instructions - but I haven't been well.
- - - Updated - - -
OK, I have a fresh image of my OS drive, I have set my data drive (D) as inactive using Mini-Tool Partition Wizard and I reset my boot sequence so that my OS drive is first in line. The, I re-booted and I received the error message "Invalid Partition Table." This is the problem I've been having for months. I then de-selected the OS drive in my boot sequence so that only my CD/DVD drive was 2nd and USB storage was third. Also, there was a DVD is the drive. When I rebooted, I received the message to Press Any Key to boot from CD or DVD and I didnot press any key. The light blue windows then showed with two options:
1. Windows 10
2. Macrium Recovery
This is what should show with the OS drive first in the boot sequence. Just as a reminder, I have refreshed my BIOS after all this began to happen a few months ago. The ONLY thing I haven't done yet (that I know of) is to open my laptop and physically disconnect my D drive. I'm not sure, but I don't recall a cable connecting the D drive to the motherboard. I believe it docks to the motherboard. I'm feeling better now, so I'm ready for the next steps if you're willing to continue to help me. This has been a very strange issue. Thank you so much.
Run MiniTool Partition Wizard, as before.
In the Partition Wizard GUI, right-click on the disk name shown in the blue area above its list of partitions. *
* Note: The Windows disk name may not match Partition Wizard's disk name. On my system, Disk 0 in Windows is Disk 1 in Partition Wizard. You will recognize the correct disk by the first partition listed, which is System Reserved.
Examples -
Windows Disk Management
Partition Wizard
You've right-clicked on the disk name in the blue area.
Select Rebuild MBR.
Click Apply in the lower left hand corner, as before.
Reboot.
Enter the BIOS and make sure the disk is again the first device in the boot list.
Continue with booting.
Report the result.
That's it...have a good night.
The instructions I gave you in post #75 were your next steps in addressing the Invalid Partition Table.
How do I prove my CMOS is defective?
The Invalid Partition Table error message wasn't mentioned until post #71.
One potential fix for that is to rebuild the Master Boot Record, which is addressed in post #75.
We'll see how that goes.
Thanks for all the help. I want to mention that this workstation cost me over $5,000 (some years ago) and I can no longer afford to replace it (retirement budget). It still works fine as long as I boot it as I explained with a DVD in the drive. My fear is that, one of these days, it will no longer boot since there's something wrong with it. As for a competent computer repair shop, I'm new in a city where I don't know anyone. I'm thinking I could easily be taken for as ride trying to choose a repair shop. Plus, I'm stubborn and believe that the right hint will allow me to correct this issue. I'm certainly not happy with the situation but I'm willing to struggle some more - hoping to find someone who can help me. All my diagnostics are perfect and I do have a working computer for now. You folks on this forum are the best on the planet and, hopefully, someone reading about my situation will be able to solve the problem before my computer dies for good. The Master Boot Record should be fine since I've rebuilt it several times. Wish I could read it to see if that's where the problem is. The only other thing I can think of is to disconnect my data drive to see if that solves my issue. Guess I'm going to have to do that. Thanks again for the help!!!
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