Help! Login has disappeared when I boot

ship69 · 01 Apr 2017

OK so I got the Samsung laptop to boot from the memory stick, [I shall resent Kingston for some time for that time waster!] but I am no further forward. It still can't see the SSD.

I have downloaded Minitool Partition Wizard. But when I try to copy it onto my memory stick it gives warnings about there being properties that will be lost if I copy it (WTF?). And now when I try to run it, it says:"This version of c:\pw10-free.exe is not compatible with the version of windows you're running. Check your computer's system information and then contact the software publisher."

EDIT01
"Install now" fails to see the SSD.
But what I don't understand is when I go to "Repair your computer" ==> "Troubleshoot" ==> "Command Prompt", it puts me into a directory called "X:\Sources>"

Is that my SSD ??!!!

Because there is another load of suff on the C: drive, which appears to contain "PW10-free.exe"

I am now totally confused.

alphanumeric · 01 Apr 2017

Sources is a folder on the install media, your thumb drive. If your install media can't see the drive Partition Wizard won't either. Your in what is referred to as Windows PE. Windows Preinstallation Environment. A mini Windows OS if you will. It's not a full Windows environment which may explain why PW won't run. At this point I would normally suggest removing the drive and slaving it in another PC to recover files and erasing it etc. Being mSATA though that's not so easy. Why Windows can't see it I don't know? Do you have another drive you could swap in, just to rule out a failed drive?

ship69 · 01 Apr 2017

No I don't have another drive I can swap in.

To get clear X: is Windows PE and it lives in the PC's RAM does it?
It certainly seems to be different from C: which appears to be the memory stick.

EDIT:
OK, I have just found the 128GB original SSD. I am only semi-technical and I'm not sure I want to open up the Samsung laptop. But I think the entire contents of that SSD were copied over to the 512GB one and may no longer work. Also, even if I get the 128GB SSD working it could be that the 512GB SSD will still require a different storage controller driver, no?

alphanumeric · 01 Apr 2017

Windows PE launches from and runs from the thumb drive. It may use RAM, not sure. Nothing is running from the hard drive at that point. Windows PE lets you setup the hard drive and copy over the Full Windows OS. On the first reboot you switch to what's on the hard drive and boot from it. Setup finishes and then you do one more reboot to the finished installed Windows.

The storage driver isn't for the drive. Hard drives don't need drivers. The driver is for the electronics on the motherboard that the drive plugs into. The install media has drivers for IDE and SATA, mSATA too I would have thought? When you boot from the thumb drive do you still get that "no signed driver found" message? If no, that means it was looking for a USB driver for your optical drive, not a driver for mSATA. If you swap drives and the 128 shows up, its not a driver issue, its likely something is wrong with the 512 gig drive. If the 128 doesn't show up were back to square one and trying to sort out why?

ship69 · 01 Apr 2017

Crikey well I have never done this before. I guess I could unscrew the back of the Samsung PC and see if I can find the 512GB SSD and stuff the 128GB SSD in, and turn the power back on.

Is there much more to it?

f14tomcat · 01 Apr 2017

ship69 said:

Crikey well I have never done this before. I guess I could unscrew the back of the Samsung PC and see if I can find the 512GB SSD and stuff the 128GB SSD in, and turn the power back on.

Is there much more to it?

Make sure you're grounded. And pull the battery out while you're working, then put it back in. Don't zap something.

alphanumeric · 01 Apr 2017

Who swapped it the first time? I just assumed it was you. If your worried about damaging something then don't do it. There is no guarantee we'll be any further ahead. It was just something to try if you were comfortable with doing it.

alphanumeric · 01 Apr 2017

If you boot up from your thumb drive, and then select Custom install, does it show any partitions or drives?

ship69 · 01 Apr 2017

It looks possible but not exactly trivial to get the back off the laptop.How to Open Up Samsung Series 7 Ultra for Upgrades - YouTube

Also I think the battery may not be removable but it looks like there is some way to disconnect the battery using a paperclip - although I'm not sure how you know when you have succeeded.

I don't really want to take the laptop back to digicare.co.uk who put the 512GB SSD in, in the first place, if I can avoid it, because that will cause a long delay and cost me untold money.

alphanumeric said:

If you boot up from your thumb drive, and then select Custom install, does it show any partitions or drives?

Yes, I *can* see a drive. It says "Drive 0 Unallocated Space"
Total size 0MB
Free space 0MB

Below it says "Windows cant be installed on this drive". If I click on details I get "This partition is too small"

Of the menu options:
- "Format" does literally nothing
- "New" only allows me to create maximum of 7MB
- "Load driver" looks more promising, but if I point it to the memory stick I get "No signed drivers were found"

So it all comes back to needing a storage controller driver, no?

Samsung are being UTTERLY unhelpful. Their webchat support was totally useless. And their email says take it up with your system manufacturer!

alphanumeric · 01 Apr 2017

I think the drive has failed? Can you take a picture of that screen and post it here please?