New SSD, is the MBR broken? DISK BOOT FAILURE

windows-7 boot ssd mbr

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This could be a motherboard BIOS issue. Have you attempted to update your motherboard to the latest BIOS? What make and model motherboard are you using?

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Shevek

I am a .Net developer by profession but have been in tech support in previous incarnations. Interesting fact - back when I used to work tech support for Microsoft there were only 4 of us providing support for every Microsoft Apple Mac product for the whole of the UK. But that was back in the OS 9 days.

Updated on November 19, 2022

Comments

Shevek over 1 year

I've been running Windows 7 on a WD 500gb SATA single drive, single partition setup for some time with no issues.

I've just installed a new Kingston V Series 64gb SSD and performed a clean install of Win7 to it, deleting the partitions on the 500gb and using that as a data drive.

All was well for a few reboots but then I started to get "DISK BOOT FAILURE, INSERT SYSTEM DISK AND PRESS ENTER" messages. If I put the Win7 install DVD back in the drive it boots fine.

Tried a clean install again, after replacing SATA cables and swapping SATA ports, with a complete partition wipe of both drives. Again, rebooted fine a few times then back with the "DISK BOOT FAILURE" error.

Looked on the web and found some discussions about it so I then started from scratch again.

This time I wiped the MBR on both drives using MBRWork, disconnected the 500gb and reinstalled to the SSD. Removed the install DVD and installed all the drivers which involved many reboots, all with no problem. To make sure I also did a few cold boots as well. Reconnected the 500gb, initialised, partitioned and formatted it. Copied data to it and did some more reboots and shutdowns. All was ok.

Then out of the blue comes another "DISK BOOT FAILURE" and again, if the Win7 install DVD is in the drive it boots fine.

So, is the SSD a bad'un?

TIA

UPDATE:

It was a BIOS issue! I found a hidden away option for HDD boot order, which was separate from the usual HDD/CDRom/FDD boot order option. The WD was set to boot before the SSD... Swapped them round and all is well. Still don't understand how it worked at first though... Thanks Solaris
Admin over 14 years

hah, that would be nice... but it is an Abit :-/ If it was BIOS related then wouldn't it not work at all?
Admin over 14 years

Actually, just had a look at the Abit website and there is a later version BIOS for my mobo (AB9 QuadGT) but I can't download it :-/
Admin over 14 years

It was a BIOS issue! I found a hidden away option for HDD boot order, which was separate from the usual HDD/CDRom/FDD boot order option. The WD was set to boot before the SSD... Swapped them round and all is well. Still don't understand how it worked at first though... Thanks Solaris