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    Potential problem with ssd boot drive

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    • K
      Kekkaishi last edited by

      I have an 8 year old gaming computer which is holding unexpectedly good considering its age.
      That being said, I did have to replace my power supply less than a year ago, and I also replaced my ssd boot drive 2-3 years ago.

      I come home from work today to find that my monitor shows the pre boot screen (bios?) which says that an error has occurred. Upon pressing enter, after some seconds I get an error like:
      "An operating system was not found....". I restarted the PC using ctrl-alt-del and the same message appeared - twice

      Only after I turned off my PC and turned it on again, did I see my operating system (windows 10) loading successfully

      What could be the problem? and should I be wary of any early signs?
      What would you recommend I do?

      thanks.

      E 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
      • E
        eobox91103 @Kekkaishi last edited by

        @Kekkaishi said in Potential problem with ssd boot drive:

        What could be the problem? and should I be wary of any early signs?
        What would you recommend I do?

        There are others on here who are more IT-savvy than I am, but I would suggest immediately backing up everything that you have--to two different places just to be safe. (Hard drives are super cheap these days.) If the problem is with your SSD, another glitch might prevent you from getting any data that's on that drive.

        Two additional thoughts:

        • I find that when I have boot problems, it helps to completely power off the machine (even unplug it) and let it soak for a few minutes in a dead state, then reboot into safe mode. It sounds like this also worked for you.

        • At eight years of age, your computer might not be ready for recycling, but in the next few years will be. I find that a really good machine with a lot of capability will last longer than a big-box store sale model. The computer I'm using right now is a high end desktop workstation that I got in 2013, and it's doing just fine. I have replaced both the power supply and graphics card (both had failed cooling fans), but otherwise it has all the capability I need. It was born with Windows 7 (64 bit), and is now happily running Windows 10.

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        • bi4smooth
          bi4smooth last edited by

          I am a computer professional with over 30 years experience. I owned a computing services company that included desktop support, and I asked one of my old techs about this... his comments are (summarizing):

          • 8 years is a longer-than-expected lifetime for the motherboard, CPU, and RAM components - the "main 3" that make your computer go, save for the storage)
          • SSD drives DO fail, but unlike spinning drives, they seldom do so slowly with "resets" prevailing to "fix" them - so it is far more likely that your system "glitched" and the motherboard's SATA interface was hosed. That would ONLY be reset with a "hard reboot" (power cycle) - which you indicated you did try, and it worked.
          • Given the age of your other components, you should consider upgrading - but there is no need to get the bleeding-edge, latest & greatest, fastest thing out there! You pay a heavy premium for that! Instead, try something like the Dell refurbished system site. Look for systems that are 1-2 generations old (Intel Core i-series CPUs are on their 12th generation! So, any say Core i5 model that starts 10 or 11 (vs 12 or 9) is likely to be a "sweet spot" for price/performance.)
          • Your hard drive should be fine, but if you aren't doing backups, you're risking ALL of your data every moment of every day - and eventually, it WILL catch up to you! A recommended cloud backup solution is Code42.com. They encrypt your data at your site, so they have no idea what you're storing, and they have a really good restore process if you do eventually lose the whole system. It's not a bare-metal install - you shouldn't need that, you can get new copies of Windows EASILY - but all of your essential, irreplaceable data will be saved (if you use the program correctly!)
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          • K
            Kekkaishi last edited by

            Thank you both for replying
            All of my important files are backed up to the cloud. other files and folders are located at different hard drives. Basically I keep the ssd for the operating system and installed programs, so I should be find in that regard (for the most part)

            I will however do as @eobox91103 suggested and turn off the computer and unplug it for a few minutes.

            @bi4smooth To your point about upgrading the computer, I don't do that. I actually tried to assemble a new computer a few months ago, but due to components shortages I couldn't assemble my desired pc build. (covid)

            I may do a fresh install of the os, it's just a pain in the butt....

            bi4smooth 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
            • bi4smooth
              bi4smooth @Kekkaishi last edited by bi4smooth

              @Kekkaishi said in Potential problem with ssd boot drive:

              Thank you both for replying
              All of my important files are backed up to the cloud. other files and folders are located at different hard drives. Basically I keep the ssd for the operating system and installed programs, so I should be find in that regard (for the most part)

              I will however do as @eobox91103 suggested and turn off the computer and unplug it for a few minutes.

              @bi4smooth To your point about upgrading the computer, I don't do that. I actually tried to assemble a new computer a few months ago, but due to components shortages I couldn't assemble my desired pc build. (covid)

              I may do a fresh install of the os, it's just a pain in the butt....

              I'm sorry, but my tech is adamant that this isn't likely a software issue, but rather a hardware one - the reason is because the restart didn't fix it (which resets all of the software), but a reboot/power cycle did (which resets the hardware).

              If you still suspect an OS issue, rather than do a re-install, open an elevated command prompt (CMD or PS) and run the command "sfc /scannow" - it tells MS Windows to scan all of the installed OS files for corruptions.

              Oh, and we (my tech and I) were not suggesting you upgrade components - only someone reasonably experienced with computer hardware should do that. No, we were suggesting a "new" (not brand new) system entirely. Because an 8 y/o motherboard that has been powered on for most of those 8-years is VERY likely to have bulging capacitors, which affects the voltages on the MB. And if you're going to replace the MB, you should consider that 8 y/o RAM is likely DDR3 at best, so upgrading the whole package makes more sense. So long as you're not paying top-dollar for CURRENT tech, when "last year's tech" is a fraction of the price, and only marginally less powerful.

              Just saying...

              And I'm not saying you NEED to do this - it's just that you asked for an expert's opinion - and that's my guy's opinion, and he's making $125k/yr fixing desktops today!

              K 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
              • K
                Kekkaishi @bi4smooth last edited by

                @bi4smooth I understand what you're saying. But the problem I see here is that I'm not one to invest on a new computer unless I absolutely must. I have no problem buying a brand-new computer (I also have the means), but as I already mentioned, it's very difficult for me to assemble my "dream" computer right now (shortages), and as it seems for the foreseeable future as well. So unless this computer dies beyond repair, I will not buy "old-new" computer

                " when "last year's tech" is a fraction of the price, and only marginally less powerful "
                can you suggest me a powerful build that I can most likely buy right now? I am not that tech savvy, but I know the enough imo.
                as I mentioned before, money is not an issue, and I will consider it - go wild - only if you want to of course

                But thanks for the concern. as long as my files are backed up, I really don't care (but somewhat do) what happens to the computer physically

                bi4smooth 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                • bi4smooth
                  bi4smooth @Kekkaishi last edited by

                  @Kekkaishi said in Potential problem with ssd boot drive:

                  @bi4smooth I understand what you're saying. But the problem I see here is that I'm not one to invest on a new computer unless I absolutely must. I have no problem buying a brand-new computer (I also have the means), but as I already mentioned, it's very difficult for me to assemble my "dream" computer right now (shortages), and as it seems for the foreseeable future as well. So unless this computer dies beyond repair, I will not buy "old-new" computer

                  " when "last year's tech" is a fraction of the price, and only marginally less powerful "
                  can you suggest me a powerful build that I can most likely buy right now? I am not that tech savvy, but I know the enough imo.
                  as I mentioned before, money is not an issue, and I will consider it - go wild - only if you want to of course

                  But thanks for the concern. as long as my files are backed up, I really don't care (but somewhat do) what happens to the computer physically

                  If it were my system, I'd probably wait to see if it glitches again... depending on the UPS you have your system plugged into, it could also have been caused by power fluctuations... or a dozen other rare things... without a system log, or the ability to visually inspect the MB, it's all conjecture (this is me talking, not my tech)

                  Believe me, I LIVE by the mantra: if it AIN'T broke, DON'T fix it! 🙂

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