Computer Boot Question

d3k0yd3k0y Loveland, OH Icrontian
in Hardware

So I have been having an annoying issue as of late. It happen infrequently, but it is worrisome when it does happen.

I currently run 3 harddrives; 1 SSD which I use for boot and other standard programs, 1 large harddrive I use mostly for standard storage and gaming, 1 (old) drive I am planning on setting up specifically for backups.

Now most of the time, hitting the power button will take around 14-15 seconds to get to my desktop. Through BIOS, then loading Windows. But every so often, BIOS takes around 30 seconds or so to load, then as soon as Windows attempts to load, it gives me a big error saying something about unable to load Windows, insert install/repair disk, blah blah blah.

Currently my old drive still has an old install of Windows 7 (professional vs enterprise on my SSD). So I have to pick which version I want to boot up. This still happens when the BIOS is going slow. To me this means the issue is less of a drive failure, and more of a Windows corruption, or BIOS issue.

I don't have the install disk for Enterprise, though it is a legit copy, and my old Professional version (also legit) won't work as a repair disk. I had thought about trying to burn a DVD of an Enterprise install and use that as a repair tool, though I have never tried burning a DVD before, so I don't know if there are tricks to making it usable as a boot drive. I also have never (successfully) flashed the BIOS.

Suggestions? Thoughts? Tricks? Tips?

Comments

  • TushonTushon I'm scared, Coach Alexandria, VA Icrontian
    edited November 2015

    You can get installation ISO (disk image) from Technet, and there is nothing special to make it bootable. Just hit DEL or F12 or whatever is appropriate for your BIOS and choose to boot from CD/DVD instead of HDD.

    http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/evalcenter/evaluate-windows-8-1-enterprise (links for 8.1 and 10).

    Regarding BIOS: you should be able to download and create a bootable USB using Rufus or another tool of your choice after getting the BIOS image from your vendor. Make sure you check for an revision information. Those windows ISOs can also be pushed to a USB instead of DVD.

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