SSD - Huge problems, cannot do anything, format, install xp

[newty]

Hi,

I am at my wits end with this new sandisk sata ssd 32gb laptop drive I have bought.

I installed XP and it worked perfectly

Then, while installing the sp2 there was an error.

PC rebooted and gives me "unmountable_boot_volume" with a BSOD

I have tried every single tool I can think of to try and access this drive.

DOS

win 98 dos tools - gives me full access to the drive, lets me do anything I want. Then I reload the drive and nothing has changed. I tried formatting etc and it was successful, but when i load up the HD, windows is still on there

xp recovery - examines HD, but cannot partition, delete partition or new install. - also cannot use fdisk, format, fixmbr, fixboot etc.


In Windows

Whenever I attach the SSD drive my whole PC slows down. I can barely do anything. I managed to see where the drive should be in the disk management in xp, however, it says there is a problem seeing the disk.


All this seem kind of strange, as its a fairly new SSD and I doubt its just failing. It must be something to do with the XP install I did, because I havent been able to rescue it since. I think it may have been caused by a Virus.

If anyone has any thoughts I would really apppreciate them.

I am going to try Active Kill Disk now, however I am not holding out much hope!

[Patrick]

Actually, it does sound like its a bad disk. You may have gotten a lemon.

[newty]

strange thing is it was working fine until blimmin service pack 2 screwed it up.

Is there any way to low leve format a ssd drive, completely wipe it etc?

[Les]

It sounds to me like you neglected to slipstream the AHCI driver on installation of XP. Is that possible? I ask because it is the sole reason your drive is unmountable as it is not recognized without the Hard Disk manager (AHCI driver)

[newty]

I will check this AHCI thing out because I dont know much about it. Thanks for the tip.

Its strange, when I load the drive with winxp it loads fine but dies half way through with "unmountable_boot_volume" error.

If I try to do a fresh xp install, the xp OS that is on there isnt recognised (usually I can see C:\windows) and xp setup just takes me straight to the partition . I try to delete and it gives me an error and only leaves me with f3 option to quit.

[Les]

Yes... I am not an xp fan but know that it has to be installed prior to the XP installation for the ssd to be recognized. Perhaps one with this specific knowledge could jump in.

[newty]

It sounds to me like you neglected to slipstream the AHCI driver on installation of XP. Is that possible? I ask because it is the sole reason your drive is unmountable as it is not recognized without the Hard Disk manager (AHCI driver)

Does this also mean that I can format the SSD SATA drive using a USB extended SATA hard drive enclosure?

Its weird, its like I dont have any write access to the drive, I can read it, but cannot format, write to it etc. Partition Manager shows the drive, but contains errors on all the functions.

Some software like Active Kill Disk can work over a USB - might this work?

[Les]

I cannot answer that as I have not done so. The ssd is no diffferent than a normal harddrive that requires AHCI to be recognized and function properly.

I am sure if you search the threads you will find proper direction on this.

My advice...dump XP. (eheheh)

[richarddd]

A usual way to install XP on any sata drive (ssd, hdd, whatever) is to set the bios to compatibility (or ide) mode, install xp, install sata drivers, then set the bios to ahci (or sata) mode. Otherwise, xp can exhibit the problems you describe.

[newty]

I have changed my bios to AHCI and still not working.

There is a raid driver for my mboard, however no sata driver. As far as I know on my laptop "Clevo D901C" SATA drivers are not needed.

On this Clevo I dont have a floppy so I have no idea how to install the Raid drivers, should I need to use them, let alone the sata drivers on the winxp f6 bit.

The HD booted up fine 3 times at the beginning with a fresh install of winxp. I installed the service packs 1 and 2. Then I find I have the error "unmountable_boot_volumes" with the BSOD. If this is the case, how can AHCI help me, if it was working already with the bios set to normal rather than AHCI?

At first is appeared the HD had become read only. I could see files/folders but not delete, install over them. However, now it has turned into a full blown "cannot find the disk" situation.

recovery takes me to c:/ and i run check disk and it tells me "no valid drives found"

Tried win98 setup tools, to fdisk the drive, doesnt work either

tried partition manager doesnt work, finds a ton of errors.

I thought SSD drives were supposed to be unbreakable, this one is only a few weeks old.