Bootup Takes Two Tries  

gregrocker said:

Have you tried entering Device Manager during install to disable erring devices until after install finishes? Device Manager - Access During Windows 7 Installation - Windows 7 Help Forums

Where did you get the installation media? How is it burned to disk or stick? Have you tried the alternate method?

I didn't think about Device Manager, except in passing. I could try that tomorrow. Lappy's in partial dismantlement, so not so much work.

I was on the beta of Windows 7 and somewhere along the line, I got a download free copy of RTM. I've burned several copies of Win 7 to DVD and I tried at least three of the burns. I've also used the DVD to install Win 7 at least a couple of times, since I have several licenses. I also have a Windows 7 Ultimate Commemorative Edition, but it's an upgrade, although there was a mix-up and it should have been a full copy. Se la vie . . .

Thanks for the idea on Device Manager.

Saltgrass said:

I think I would take out all drives, except for the DVD and try booting to the Windows 7 DVD. You said earlier it would double boot even to a DVD. Maybe one of the SATA controllers or even a physical connection is having the problem.

I have had each of the three drives (original SATA drive, SSD Drive, new SATA drive) on the same SATA drive bay, Saltgrass. I had no trouble installing Windows 8 on the original drive or Windows 10 on the SSD drive. I also now have the Windows 8 (original drive) back on the computer and it's behaving itself. Well, except for bootup taking two tries, that is.

I will try removing the drive and booting to the Windows 7 DVD, though.

Thanks for the idea.

Saltgrass said:

I think I would take out all drives, except for the DVD and try booting to the Windows 7 DVD. You said earlier it would double boot even to a DVD. Maybe one of the SATA controllers or even a physical connection is having the problem.

That didn't work, Saltgrass. I just got the message that there was no hard drive in the computer. I tried several times and always got that message. Guess this laptop won't do what it's supposed to.

gregrocker said:

Have you tried entering Device Manager during install to disable erring devices until after install finishes? Device Manager - Access During Windows 7 Installation - Windows 7 Help Forums

Where did you get the installation media? How is it burned to disk or stick? Have you tried the alternate method?

I tried the link you provided and once I got to the reboot, I pressed F8 as instructed and the installation started over. Sigh . . .

gregrocker said:

Try taking out the media.

I think I'm done for now. The BIOS are updated to F.49 and I don't actually need Windows 7 any more. It's too slow for me now that I've had a taste of the speed of Windows 8 and 10.

And, no, I didn't like 8 when I first installed it, but now I can live with it. I will continue to test Windows 10 because I like that better (even with its flaws) than Windows 8.1.

Windows 10 is back in the laptop for now.

Ok, Win10 is on the SSD and that is the only drive in the laptop now?
If the Win8 HD is still connected, please remove that for now.

BIOS is up to F.49 - have you confirmed that? System information will do the trick.

Last ditch effort - physically remove and disconnect the Optical drive. I think I posted instructions from the Service manual before.

At this point, only the SSD is connected - no other devices (no USBs, no smart cards, no Optical drive, and no HD).

Make sure your boot order is Disk, Optical, USB, Network (you might even try disabling Optical, USB, and Network - leaving only the Disk (SSD))

Slartybart said:

Ok, Win10 is on the SSD and that is the only drive in the laptop now?
If the Win8 HD is still connected, please remove that for now.

So far, I've only ever had one hard drive at a time on the laptop. Just the other day found the second drive bay.

Slartybart said:

BIOS is up to F.49 - have you confirmed that? System information will do the trick.

Confirmed that BIOS is up to F.49. First thing I did.

Slartybart said:

Last ditch effort - physically remove and disconnect the Optical drive. I think I posted instructions from the Service manual before.

At this point, only the SSD is connected - no other devices (no USBs, no smart cards, no Optical drive, and no HD)..

Yeah, I've removed an Optical CD drive and replaced it with an Optical DVD drive.

Slartybart said:

Make sure your boot order is Disk, Optical, USB, Network (you might even try disabling Optical, USB, and Network - leaving only the Disk (SSD))

1. Disabled Optical Drive. Network was already disabled. Forgot to disable USB, but I don't think that will make a difference.

2. Boot still took two tries.

3. Physically removed the Optical Blue Ray DVD drive.

4. Boot still takes two tries.

5. Reinstated everything and Windows 10 is running, albeit requiring two tries to boot. Sigh . . .

One hail Mary left

Reset BIOS to defaults, - I know you said you did before, but humor me (we both could use a laugh about now)
Turn off VT,
save and exit

Double boots? When you say that, it's still acting as though the DVD drive is first in the boot order?
Press any key to boot from DVD (1st flashes by quickly, but 2nd boot you can read it)

A thought just occurred - what happens if you hit a key?

Saltgrass mentioned a possible HW issue - what if you placed the SSD in the 2nd bay. That would change the port it is connected - it should still boot.

There's not much else
- reseat memory
- reseat Wifi/Bluetooth card.
- try booting with the battery removed

That's all I have - this is a stumper issue.

Bill
.

A while back Greg suggested running Startup Repair, you asked about running it on Win10 since Greg's reference was to the Win7 repair process.

Here's the Win8 process (Win10 is Win8.1 update 2 - or was until build 9860)
Automatic Repair - Run in Windows 8

To get to the Advanced Startup Options follow OPTION THREE in
System Recovery Options - Boot to in Windows 8

When the system restarts,
press Troubleshoot
press Advanced Options
press Automatic Repair

Run the automatic repair 3 times, booting between executions.

The process will be the same as in Win8 and you're certain to be using Win10 programs to do the repair.