Vista 64 no boot if storage drive attached

[Dozer]

I have a "storage" drive (seagate sata 3.0gb, 320gb) with lots of files which
was previously used (as a storage drive) with my xp pro 32 install, and after
that, with my linux system via fuse+ntfs-3g. This drive is mountable in linux
still, and all files appear to be intact.

I would like to share this storage drive between my dual boot Vista
Ultimate/Debian Etch (both 64) system, but if it is connected while trying to
boot vista, vista will stop after the "loading" screen, and rest eternally on
a black screen, before any welcome logo or logon screen.

Without this drive connected, vista boots fine. Without my linux drive
connected, and with the storage drive connected, vista still will not boot.

Vista even sees my linux drive and all its partitions, but will not boot
with the storage drive attached.

I've tried booting and *then* connecting the drive, but it doesn't show up
anywhere at all (my computer, device manager, disk management).

I've searched EVERYWHERE for the last several months (ever since i bought
vista near the end of september '07) and have found absolutely Zero clues as
to why this is happening or how to fix it.

 

[Colin Barnhorst]

Is the connection usb or eSata? If usb, you might want to look at
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=941600.

 

[Dozer]

Is the connection usb or eSata?

it's regular SATA 3.0gb, it's an internal drive.

 

[Colin Barnhorst]

That was not the question. Is the connection to the computer usb or SATA?
If it is usb did you check out the link in my post? It is possible that the
rollup includes a fix for your issue.

 

[Dozer]

it is definitely SATA. I've never heard of an SATA drive having any USB
connection... if they do, then i'll be more specific:

it is an internally connected seagate 320gb "SATA 3.0gb" drive with an SATA
connection and is connected directly to the SATA plug on the motherboard,
which has 6 total SATA connections.

other info i forgot to include in 1st post:

fx-62
asus crosshair
4x1gb ballistix
evga 8800gt 512 "SC"
1. 80gb hitachi (debian etch 64)
2. 160gb WD (Vista Ultimate 64)
3. 320gb seagate (storage, in xp's version of ntfs format)
pcp&c 750w silencer
nec FD
toshiba cd/dvd/r/rw/+/-/etc...

 

[Colin Barnhorst]

OK. The reason I asked is that external enclosures for SATA drives do
commonly include both SATA and usb ports on the back of the enclosure and
can be connected to the computer by either usb or SATA cables.

 

[Dozer]

update:

I found a program called "TestDisk" which is supposed to be useful in many
drive-recovery-type situations, including when the MFT or boot sector of an
ntfs drive gets corrupted... but i either didn't do it right, or the real
problem was, and still is, Vista in the first place... "repairing" the MFT
didn't help at all, and that's the only thing i know to try, except *MAYBE* i
can put this drive in the other PC, which is still running xp home... and
maybe it will be able to run chkdsk or something...

I think multiple months is plenty long enough for SOMEONE in THE WHOLE WORLD
to have seen and solved this problem at least once. But so far i'm the only
one i know of to ever have THIS problem with Vista.

All i can hope is that somehow M$ loses its stranglehold on the media
market, so that all software companies will start developing all software in
linux compatible fashion, so i can finally dump windows.

 

[Dozer]

just for S&G, i unplugged my linux drive, moved vista back to 1st slot, left
storage drive connected, inserted Vista disk, booted from disk, and instead
of a black screen, i got a pretty vista style screen... but it still just sat
there, with no options or buttons or ANYTHING except a fully functional mouse
cursor... with which i could do nothing, because there was nothing available.

so then i removed vista disk, shutdown, removed storage drive, booted, and
BAM... right into windows as if nothing was ever wrong... so WTF is wrong
with Vista that it refuses to boot with this one drive connected? LINUX can
do it!

so the entire debate comes down to this:

Vista has DX10! Linux allows use of extra drives.
who wins?

 

[PCAssistNW]

Although you sound to me like you have been disillusioned with MICROSOFT (I
really hate that whole "M$" stuff...), I'd still be happy to help you get
this problem resolved, although I used to be an MS employee.

Most likely this problem is NOT related to Vista, and is why nobody has had
this issue.

If you have IDE drives mixed with SATA drives, then the problem is most
likely a BIOS boot order issue. In my BIOS, I can set which drives are used
as boot devices, and I can specify when I want my IDE (PATA) drives or my
SATA drives to boot first. So, it sounds to me like your BIOS is configured
to boot from the SATA drive first. If an SATA drive is not found, then the
primary boot disk is an IDE ATA drive. Your SATA drive probably doesn't have
a valid boot partition, so if your computer tries to boot from that drive,
you get a black screen.

If you do NOT have IDE drives, then think back to when you installed Windows
XP. Did you have your external drive plugged in when you installed? Or was
your external drive ever a boot disk? If so, then possibly some of the BOOT
code is still on the external drive and is interfering with the boot process
when it is plugged in.

To fix either problem, you will probably want to backup the contents of your
external drive, zero out the drive with a drive manufacturer utility, then
copy your files back to the external drive. That should do the trick. I'm
pretty sure there is a utility that will allow you to just zero out the boot
sector, but I can't think of what it is at the moment. If I find it or come
across it, I'll repost for you.

Good luck!

 

[Dozer]

Although you sound to me like you have been disillusioned with MICROSOFT (I
really hate that whole "M$" stuff...), I'd still be happy to help you get
this problem resolved, although I used to be an MS employee.

Most likely this problem is NOT related to Vista, and is why nobody has had
this issue.

If you have IDE drives mixed with SATA drives, then the problem is most
likely a BIOS boot order issue. In my BIOS, I can set which drives are used
as boot devices, and I can specify when I want my IDE (PATA) drives or my
SATA drives to boot first. So, it sounds to me like your BIOS is configured
to boot from the SATA drive first. If an SATA drive is not found, then the
primary boot disk is an IDE ATA drive. Your SATA drive probably doesn't have
a valid boot partition, so if your computer tries to boot from that drive,
you get a black screen.

If you do NOT have IDE drives, then think back to when you installed Windows
XP. Did you have your external drive plugged in when you installed? Or was
your external drive ever a boot disk? If so, then possibly some of the BOOT
code is still on the external drive and is interfering with the boot process
when it is plugged in.

To fix either problem, you will probably want to backup the contents of your
external drive, zero out the drive with a drive manufacturer utility, then
copy your files back to the external drive. That should do the trick. I'm
pretty sure there is a utility that will allow you to just zero out the boot
sector, but I can't think of what it is at the moment. If I find it or come
across it, I'll repost for you.

Good luck!

Sorry if "M$" is offensive to some... it seems somehow appropriate to me.

Thanx for the reply

I have only SATA drives, no IDE drives (except my cd/dvd/r/rw/etc...)
In bios, i had my drives in the same order as the sata ports are numbered:
1. Linux, 2. Vista, 3. Storage. Bios is set to boot from 1) floppy, 2) cdrom,
3) hard drives. Bios sees all my stuff... and apparently vista was "seeing"
it as well, since it would only refuse to boot if the offending drive was
connected prior to booting.

And No, my storage drive was never set to boot. XP was already installed
before i obtained the drive.

At the current stage of development of this problem, i've already xferred as
much of my data off the disk as i could, used the Debian install DVD to
format the drive, aborted installation, and then Vista booted with the drive
attached, and was able to re-format the drive ntfs again.

So while linux was able to use the data and the drive, Vista completely
choked under the pressure of a possibly corrupted MFT/MBR (not really sure
which it was), and i lost a bunch of data.

And this is why i wish all software companies (read: Game/media developers)
would start making a linux alternative to all their products. Vista is only
for games!