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My SSD is not showing up as bootable device anymore

4K views 34 replies 3 participants last post by  crjdriver 
#1 ·
Hi please I need some help here, I'm beyond frustrated at this point

I've recently built my first pc and it went well...less than perfect, but I got to install Windows and a bunch of games and game on it for a while.
However I did encounter some issues like the occasional blue screen with CPU Fan Error upon boot which I learned was due to using an AIO and sometimes getting that super annoying "error code 0xc00000e" which I've understood a lot of people are experiencing and not able to fix with the suggested fix since they're also getting "access denied" when attempting to "bootrec /fixboot" in the command prompt using a windows installation media. (it's the only fix I can find online and it's everywhere, but I read comments saying they have this same issue as me)

I also had an annoyance regarding the pc making me have to select which volume of Windows I wanted to use every time I booted up, but I found a guide showing me how to make that actually remember my preferred volume so I wouldn't have to select it every time.

But that made me think the "error code 0xc00000e" issue might have to do with the system still thinking there was an OS stored on my other SSD (I used one brand new one which I installed Windows on and an "old" one I salvaged from my Acer Predator Helios 500 laptop and formatted using the Windows Installation Software before installing Windows on my new SSD).
So I went ahead and downloaded the Utility Tool from the manufacturer of that SSD (Toshiba) and used it to erase everything on that SSD (even tho I had already done that earlier with the Windows Installation software I read that it's recommended using a software from the manufacturer to completely erase everything).

Here is when the real problem occurred because now my pc is not recognizing any of the drives as bootable devices!
Not even the new SSD which I've installed Windows and a bunch of games on!

This is where I've gotten beyond frustrated, they are showing up under the PCIe Storage Configuration menu in my BIOS, but not in the "BOOT" menu, however if I have a USB stick plugged in it is showing up.

I've tried the automatic startup repair tool on the Windows Installation Media Software, it doesn't work.

Should I use the Windows Installation Software from a USB stick I've made into a Windows Installation Media in order to format the SSD I've installed everything on and try to install Windows again or is there something else I should try first?

Please help me here, I am getting so frustrated with this and I don't know what to do.
 
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#2 ·
installing Windows on my new SSD).
Your post raises MANY questions

1. What is the OS

2. What type of SSD make and full model

3.
installing Windows on my new SSD).
From where did you install Windows to this SSD and what was used to install it

4. Reference to the above - how did you install it - by deleting all partitions, so that the installation then creates automatically the GPT partitions on the drive, necessary for a install on a UEFI firmware.

5. You should uninstall the other SSD before you install Windows on the selected SSD
A common mistake with 10 is to make your installation USB the wrong way and then install in MBR mode, which a UEFI system will not then see as a boot device

When you reply I am sure we will be able to make progress
 
#3 ·
Your post raises MANY questions

1. What is the OS

2. What type of SSD make and full model

3.
From where did you install Windows to this SSD and what was used to install it

4. Reference to the above - how did you install it - by deleting all partitions, so that the installation then creates automatically the GPT partitions on the drive, necessary for a install on a UEFI firmware.

5. You should uninstall the other SSD before you install Windows on the selected SSD
A common mistake with 10 is to make your installation USB the wrong way and then install in MBR mode, which a UEFI system will not then see as a boot device

When you reply I am sure we will be able to make progress
1. Windows 10 Pro

2. There are two M.2 SSDs, the one I salvaged from my laptop is a 512GB Toshiba THNSN5512GPU7, that one is completely empty, but it was the one I did a clean erase using the Toshiba Utility Tool software right before this issue occurred. The SSD that I installed Windows and everything else on is a Western Digital Black 500GB one listed as WDS500G2X0C-00L350.

3. I installed Windows using a USB Installation Media I made using this link:
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows10

4. I used the Windows Installation software to "Format" the drive I salvaged from my laptop (Toshiba) before installing Windows to the new drive (WD).
PS: Idk what UEFI firmware is.

5. If I have to reinstall Windows I'll make sure to remove the Toshiba SSD before doing so this time, but I have been able to boot many times from the WD SSD so I don't think this was the issue.

I'm getting some help from the LTT forum as well, but his method seems overcomplicated making me download some weird Gparted software which I then can make a bootable device with using some other weird Rufus software. And then I have to make a partition on the SSD (which I've understood basically means splitting it up) and format it using that software....idk man....my heart is pumping thinking about this ****, it seems sooo overcomplicated and stupidly unnecessary....why isn't the damn SSD just working as it should? -.-

Btw earlier when I wrote I can see the disks in the PCIe Storage Configuration menu I meant the "NVMe Configuration" menu under Advanced in the ASUS BIOS.
 
#4 ·
1. When you reply - please do so by typing in the box that appears on the topic when you return to it
Do NOT please reply by clicking reply on my post, that as you can see, quotes back all have typed.

2. Please see this
https://support.wdc.com/knowledgebase/answer.aspx?h=p2&ID=17144&lang=en&p=1804
you should check on your motherboard site for the Asus, as to what is required if anything for that motherboard with the NVMe drive as you can see from the above link, often a chipset update or indeed other update is required. IF the installation of Windows sees the drive, then that is OK but after the install you should immediately install the updated chipset driver, and it may be necessary to update the BIOS

3. UEFI is the Unified Extensible Firmware Interface and is the modern equivalent of BIOS
Firstly you must ensure you are installing to UEFI mode
When you make the USB using the tool on the Microsoft site it will make the USB so that you may install in either UEFI or in MBR
If you have the firmware set for UEFI then the USB will boot UEFI
If you have altered settings and you have firmware set MBR the USB will boot MBR

I am signing off for tonight as I am in the UK and it is 0049

Presuming that you have nothing on the WD drive that you need to save a clean install is the easiest

THIS is how
https://www.tenforums.com/tutorials/1950-clean-install-windows-10-a.html

You follow from Section 13 UEFI

However note the caution at 2 with reference to my comment regarding the other drive.
ALSO please note that you must have all partitions deleted and then following the guide you must check to make sure you have the four partitions shown as if you do NOT you are not installing in the correct mode

Also see the sub link booting from the USB
which I have put here separately for you
https://www.tenforums.com/tutorials/21756-boot-usb-drive-windows-10-pc.html
so that you can check that you are booting that USB UEFI mode

As I said I am signing off, but will wait 15 minutes in case you have immediate questions
 
#5 ·
I'm not sure that I have all partitions deleted as there is an additional partition of 16MB when I run the Windows Installation software from the USB, maybe that is what caused the problem?

Maybe somehow it made a partition from the Toshiba SSD which was needed to run the OS on my WD SSD and when I ran the clear erase from Toshiba Utility Tool it removed everything on the partition as well which is why it is no longer working?

I tried to click "Delete" on the partition that is 16MB, but it'st still there....how do I remove it?

I may have created it using the Command Prompt from the Windows Installation USB thing while trying to follow guides on how to fix that error code I mentioned earlier.
 
#7 · (Edited)
Before I deleted the 16MB drive/partition it said MSR (I think) under "Type"
I though you said you could not delete it
If that is the case at the installation
Press shift and F10
cmd prompt
then type
diskpart
list disk
then select disk
make sure you select the SSD and not the USB you are installing from
then when you have the message disk0 (it should be) is the selected type clean

NOTE as you say the 16MB is the Microsoft reserved partition
then type exit

and proceed as per the first link for the clean install
See here for diskpart
http://knowledge.seagate.com/articles/en_US/FAQ/005929en

I am signing off - good luck with it - back about 1800UK time
 
#8 ·
Yeah I'm not able to delete it, but before I clicked the "Delete" button while having it selected then I guess :p

Something happened when I did that, but it just got wiped or something I guess, it's still there tho.

I've done the diskpart part, unfortunately I managed to clean the usb too, but no problem, I'll just make a new one :p

Thing is tho that the 16MB disk is still there :(

I'll attempt doing a clean install and see what happens, thank you very much for helping me so late into the night!
 
#9 · (Edited)
unfortunately I managed to clean the usb too, but no problem
No damage done, but I did warn you
make sure you select the SSD and not the USB you are installing from
This diskpart cmd will delete the MSR partition
  1. Type diskpart
  2. Type list disk.
  3. Note the number of the disk - it will as before be 0 I think
  4. Type select disk n (Replace n with the disk number with the partition you wish to remove).
  5. Type list partition.
  6. A list of partitions will be displayed and hopefully you should see one called Reserved partition and it is the same size as the one you wish to remove. 16MB
  7. Type select partition n (Replace n with the partition you wish to delete).
  8. Type delete partition override.
 
#10 ·
Upon reinstalling with only the WD SSD installed I saw only 1 disk, the 16MB disk was gone, I've got a bunch of games installing on the pc right now, but either after those are finished or more likely tomorrow I will attempt to install the Toshiba SSD as well and see how it goes.

Btw my ASUS ROG Z390-F Gaming motherboard comes with an AI overclocking function, but whenever I enable that it freezes during the loading screen with the ASUS logo when trying to reboot :(
I guess I'll dive into manual overclocking, but I've read that this AI function is supposed to be really, really good and overclock the CPU within 1-2% of maximum what you might achieve manually and be completely stable.
 
#11 ·
I am completely confused
I thought after my recommendation to uninstall the Toshiba drive, before making a clean install of Windows to the WD drive, you had done so and still reported on the attempted install that you had a 16MB MSR partition.

I now think, although I will of course stand corrected , that you had ignored my advice and left the Toshiba in place as you say
Upon reinstalling with only the WD SSD installed I saw only 1 disk, the 16MB disk was gone
and if that is correct then all my time spent advising you on diskpart was wasted time.

Good luck with it, I am not the person to advise you on overclocking, perhaps someone who has knowledge of that board and setup may come in to help
 
#12 ·
First my goal was to avoid having to clean out the SSD, but when I understood I probably had to do that anyways I noticed there was a third drive showing during the windows installation.

I tried deleting it and it wouldn't go away, that is where the diskpart came in....I tried doing the diskpart commands, but it still wouldn't go away, not until I removed the Toshiba SSD and only had the WD SSD installed while going through the Windows Installation guide did the 16MB drive disappear.

I'm sorry if there was some misunderstanding between us, but anyways thanks a lot for your help, at least you gave me some stuff to try and even tho I ended up having to just do a complete reinstallation anyways I appreciate you taking the time to try and help me out, merry christmas :)
 
#13 ·
Cheers
Hope the original problem of the boot device issue is now sorted.
As I said overclocking is not my forte.
I do not game or use anything that requires overclocking
Although on the equipment of today overclocking is very much safer than it was and of course automated to some extent with the facilities such as the A1 Tweaker menu you mention, it is still full of dangers to the inexperienced.

As I said perhaps someone will come in on the topic to advise you
 
#14 ·
I was asked to look at this thread in regard to overclocking.
Before giving any tips on overclocking, post ALL of your exact system specs ie exact pw supply, exact ram, etc. Do not post "16gig of ram" Post the exact brand and model# of the ram; do that for ALL of your parts.

I am NOT a fan of any type of auto overclocking. IMO all overclocking settings should be manually in the bios then checked for stability using either prime95, OCCT, or realbench.
 
#15 · (Edited)
Another issue has now occurred, I did a fresh install on the WD SSD and all is fine, but when I reinstalled my Toshiba SSD it's not showing up under My Computer -.-

I've tried to uninstall it in the Device Managed, shut down, remove it, reboot, shut down, reinstall it, reboot, initialize using Acron True Image, but still it's not showing up, nor do I see it in the place where most fixes I find online say you can fix this issue, please see screenshot in attachment.

Regarding the overclocking, my setup is as follows:

Motherboard: ASUS ROG STRIX Z390-F GAMING
GPU: MSI RTX 2080 Gaming X Trio
CPU: Intel i5 9600k
AIO: Cooler Master ML240L RGB
RAM: Corsair Vengeance LPX 3000MHz (2x8GB)
PSU: Corsair TX750M 80+ Gold
SSD: 500GB WD Black NVMe M.2 SSD "WDS500G2X0C-00L350"

Non-functional SSD: 512GB Toshiba NVMe M.2 SSD "THNSN5512GPU7 TOSHIBA"
Wi-fi network card: Asus PCE-AC88 AC3100 PCI-E Adapter
Cabinet: Fractal Design Define R6 + an extra Fractal Design 140mm fan

https://www.asus.com/Motherboards/ROG-STRIX-Z390-F-GAMING/specifications/
https://www.msi.com/Graphics-card/GeForce-RTX-2080-GAMING-X-TRIO
https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/products/processors/core/i5-processors/i5-9600k.html
http://www.coolermaster.com/cooling/cpu-liquid-cooler/masterliquid-ml240l-rgb/
https://www.corsair.com/eu/en/Memory-Size/vengeance-lpx-black/p/CMK16GX4M2B3000C15
https://www.corsair.com/us/en/Power/txm-series-2017-config/p/CP-9020131-NA
https://www.wd.com/products/internal-ssd/wd-black-nvme-ssd.html#WDS500G2X0C

https://www.cnet.com/products/toshi...d-state-drive-512-gb-pci-express-3-1-x4-nvme/
https://www.asus.com/no/Networking/PCE-AC88/
https://www.fractal-design.com/home/product/cases/define-series/define-r6-black

Also regarding the overclocking, I think I've made some headroom in the BIOS.

So far all my changes are:

- Change Monitor settings on CPU fan to ignore since it was causing an error on boot due to using an AIO cooler.

- Change the "AI Overclock Tuner" to "XMP I" profile in order to get the full 3000 MHz out of my RAM, otherwise I only got 2133 MHz.

- Change "CPU Core Ratio" to 49 on all cores as 50 wasn't stable, the AI Optimized overclocking wanted to set it to 52 tho, my SIL Quality is 94% and cooler score over 200.

- My DRAM Voltage is set to 1.35000, not sure if that is something I did or the XMP I profile did that.

Regarding the GPU I've downloaded MSI Afterburner where I've made the following changes:

- Dragged Power and Thermal limit all the way to the right side (109% and 88 degrees)

- Increased Core Clock by 106 MHz

- Increased Memory Clock by 707 MHz

I've ran both the Time Spy demo, Heaven Benchmark and the MSI Kombuster stress tests several times and it seems stable, but it feels like a lot to test all this for every little change, maybe you could help make this process a bit more efficient?
 

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#20 · (Edited)
I will leave the OC issue to my colleague, who agreed to kindly have a look at the matter for you. He is something of an expert at this. I as I said know nothing about OC
The only comment I would make is that impatience and attempts at OC do not go well together

In respect of this
Another issue has now occurred, I did a fresh install on the WD SSD and all is fine, but when I reinstalled my Toshiba SSD it's not showing up under My Computer -.-
is it showing in disk management. I cannot see your screenshots attached the images are to me unreadable.
If it is showing in disk management what does it show in respect of the capacity and the file system

ANY CHANCE that socket for Toshiba is set SATA mode in firmware setup
https://www.cnet.com/products/toshi...d-state-drive-512-gb-pci-express-3-1-x4-nvme/

section 3-19 of manual and 3.6.12 on section 3.20

If it is not that my guess is that it is the file system on the drive.
 
#16 ·
I should have included in my first post. There is NO safe overclock; ALL overclocking entails some degree of risk. Do not overclock with parts you cannot afford to replace.
If you are comfortable with the above, then and only then attempt to overclock your system. It looks like you have decent parts. Have you tested your overclock with a stress test program. If not, do so. Watch your temps with the asus monitoring software [dual intelligent processors] Download this from the support page for your board;
https://www.asus.com/Motherboards/ROG-STRIX-Z390-F-GAMING/overview/
As for your drive not showing up, I would really work on one problem at a time ie either overclock the system OR attempt to fix the drive however not both.
 
#18 ·
I forgot to mention I've already updated BIOS to latest version, same with all the drivers for my parts.

I know there is some risk to overclocking, but as far as I've understood there are just a few things you must avoid such as drastically increasing voltage on system agent stuff....generally drastically increasing voltage seems to be what you want to avoid.

I've tested the system, but I've read it's recommended to test for like at least 1 hour...I'm way too impatient to do that for every little change I make ^^

The SSD issue is annoying, but I don't see why it would have to stop me from overclocking my other components while trying to fix it, they shouldn't really affect eachother afaik?
I appreciate your concern, but I still wanna do what I can to optimize my PC even tho this Toshiba SSD is acting up :p

I can't find the monitoring software you are referring to, I think it might be outdated tech.
 
#19 ·
As long as you are comfortable with the fact that you may fry parts, then you can overclock. As I said there is NO safe overclock.
The SSD issue is annoying, but I don't see why it would have to stop me from overclocking my other components while trying to fix it
When you work on anything; car, home theater, whatever, it is best to make one change at a time. If you start messing with multiple problems, it is easy to get confused as to what changed what.
Up to you however the very first thing I would do would be to get a benchmark of your temps at stock speed. Once you know how hot the system is getting, then attempt to up the cpu multi by 1~2 ie from say 45 to 47 and test with prime95 for at least 10 min. If there are no errors and temps stay within limits up the multi again and repeat.
I would really set either an offset vcore or set a fixed vcore. With the cpu voltage on AUTO, the motherboard tends to use too much voltage and gets hotter than with a fixed or offset voltage.
There is no magic formula for overclocking it is a LOT of trial and error to find the lowest vcore that allows you to run without errors.

BTW many boards disable a M.2 socket if a pci slot is in use and or a sata port. Carefully read your manual to see if this might be causing your issue with the second M.2 drive.

Most people with intels overclock with the multi only however you can also overclock by upping bclk freq. I do this on my intel system [7600k overclocked to 4.5gig] Note this also overclocks the ram as well; again there is no magic formula; you have to try what works for your hardware.
 
#21 ·
It doesn't seem like temperature is an issue for me at all, I'm running 3 x 140 mm exhaust fans, 1 in the back and 2 at the top as well as 1 140 mm intake fan at the bottom front of the case in addition to the 2x 120 mm fans mounted to the 240 mm 1 inch radiator in the front.
The AIO is of course hooked up to the CPU and my GPU got triple fan cooling with a pretty beefy heatsink so it feels like I got pretty awesome cooling :cool:

Idk why it's not stable at 5 GHz, but when I change the multiplier to 50 instead of 49 it just freezes upon boot, maybe I need to adjust some other setting too like upping the voltage?
Undervolting is just to lower the temps right? But if I want more performance and I got sufficient cooling then maybe I should up the voltage?
Idk what voltage setting to up tho so I'm a bit scared to do that without knowing exactly which setting in my BIOS I should adjust and how much I should try to adjust it.
Or maybe I need to up some sort of power setting to let it take more juice from my power supply?

I'm very new to this overclocking business, but I've tried to do a lot of research on it....still haven't found the perfect guide I guess....seems they are so different from one motherboard to another, even from the same manufacturer.


I can't see anything regarding any of the M.2 slots being lost from using the PCIe brackets, only SATA ports, but the only storage I have are those two M.2 NVMe SSDs....also the SSD worked before with the exact same components installed in the same slots.


The Toshiba SSD is showing in the Disk Management, but only at the bottom of the image there as "Disk 1" and it's unallocated.
It's showing 476,81 GB capacity which seems to be correct.
When I right click my only options really are to convert it to Dynamic Disk or MBR/GPT depending on what I set it to.
I've initialized it using the Acron True Image software trying both as MBR and GPT.

Maybe I need to do some CMD stuff to allocate the disk?
 
#22 ·
Wen you right click WHERE it says unallocated as against right clicking where it lists it as disk1
what options do you get there.
Do the options include new simple volume
if so select that and then assign drive letter - not C of course as that is the system drive - an unallocated letter
 
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#24 ·
Pleased to have helped as I said before
I presume now you have no problem with the - lack of boot device etc.
Presuming that is the case, I will leave you with my colleague
Hope all works out for you
Any problems - do not hesitate to come back to us.
 
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#25 ·
There is no exact guide; as I said a successful overclock is a LOT of trial and error. You need to understand that the stock speed of your processor is 3.7gig with a max turbo speed of 4.6gig. While getting it to run at 4.6gig or slightly higher as a normal speed should be attainable. I would start by setting the multi to 47 and test. Let your stress test run for a minimum of 10min. If you do not have problems [either temp or errors] up it again to 48. You mentioned that it worked at 49 however did it pass a stress test?

No overclock is worth anything unless it is a stable overclock. Once you find the highest stable overclock, I usually back-off the multi by one and test for at least 1~2hr. Most motherboards up vcore for you when the voltage is set to AUTO however if you have a fixed vcore, you can try upping it slightly and see if you can get a stable OC at 50 multi.
Again just because it boots into windows does NOT mean you have a stable overclock. When I install a board in one of my systems, it usually takes the better part of a day to attain a stable OC so do not be in a hurry.
 
#26 ·
I just ended a 36 minute stress test using Prime95 and it had no errors or warnings, I was monitoring the temps using XTU and could see that it slowly grew to 89 degrees where it peaked and I assume the fans kicked into overdrive or something because then the temps dropped down to mid/high 60s before slowly rising to 89 again, repeatedly...I think it peaked on average about every 10 minutes, never dropped below 4.91 GHz, I've set the Processor Cache Ratio to 4.60 in XTU as I'm unsure how to set that in the BIOS, 4.60 is the highest it will go no matter what I set it to so I assume that is the max for the CPU.

So I feel pretty confident that 4.9 GHz on all cores are stable, maybe I should try to change BCLK to 101 and see if that works?
But then I'm wondering how it will affect my RAM as that is boosted to 3000 MHz, but maybe that as well can be overclocked beyond factory speeds without necessarily running into issues?
Or/and maybe I'll try to do a per core overclock and only boost the first 2-3 cores to 5 GHz to see if that works?
What other settings can I try to adjust?
 
#27 ·
The intel tuning utility is useful for stress testing and monitoring temps. IMO ALL overclocking settings should be done manually in the bios. Each bios [and sometimes even each bios update] has different menus/options. Giving you exact instructions is next to impossible unless I have the exact same motherboard in front of me.
As I explained earlier, most people overclocking intels do so with just the multi however IF you want to up bclk, that can be done also. In order to adjust multi and or bclk, you generally have to enable manual overclocking in the bios. Again read your manual; the manual will have detailed instructions on bios settings.

Yes, upping bclk will up your ram speed as well. On my ryzen system, it runs a ryzen 1700X at slightly over 3.9gig [multi is set to 38 and bclk is set to 104] Vcore is set to a max of 1.35V
The ram ends up running @3150 or so [3000 ram]
 
#29 ·
#31 ·
Cheers
Good luck with it
 
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