120gb 510 ssd will not boot , why?

[nkame2]

background, my computer was functioning normally. I decided to do some maintenance: virus scan, junk deletion, registry scan and repair, etc.

the intel ssd tool indicated that the ssd was healthy and working normally.

I then shut down the computer. on the next power on, the boot would only get as far as the asus logo screen (I have an asus mb). I couldn't even get to the bios.

I then unplugged every sata device inside the computer save the ssd, and only connected the usb keyboard on the external usb ports.....same problem.

next, I unplugged even the ssd, and then could get into the bios and make changes, of course I couldn't get into the windows.

next I tried connecting the ssd via an external hard drive enclosure via usb, again the computer would hang at the asus logo screen. furthermore, if I get into the bios where all the sata are unplugged, and then connect the ssd via the external hdd enclosure everything freezes up. I connected the external hard drive enclosure with the ssd to a laptop, all the files were shown and the ssd was working normally.

if only the cd drive is plugged in, the computer will recognize a rescue disk, I can do various tests on the cpu and ram, both test ok.

note , the asus screen includes a message to hit "DEL" to enter the bios, but that and all other buttons fail to do anything.the computer is stuck

final bit of info, this same problem has happened twice before, went through all the steps above, and finally, for some unknown reason, after a week the computer started working. I am hoping it will self correct again.

I also recall that there is some intel software that is supposed to be used with ssd's, but cannot recall precisely (not the firmware). does a ssd , at least operating as the main drive, require special software for a sata connection? if so, how to get it operating?

bottomline, if the ssd (main drive, with windows 7 operating system) is plugged in at anytime , the computer will freeze.

any ideas?

[Jose_H_Intel1]

I am really sorry to know about your issue.

The software you are writing about is the Intel® SSD Toolbox; while it is not necessary to be installed for a normal operation of the drive it can be used to run diagnostic tests and to check S.M.A.R.T. readings, among other features. The only thing to consider when using this software is that it will only recognize the drive when connected to a SATA port.

In this case you may try updating your system BIOS, test the Intel® SSD in a different SATA port/controller or even running a secure erase (low level format); a data backup may be needed before this last step.

You can use Diskpart if you decide to go for a low level format. To use this tool, you can either open up a command prompt window within Windows, or boot from the Windows* installer CD, allow it to load the files, and get to the part where it allows you to choose the drives and partitions after the license agreement; at this part press Shift-F10 this will load a DOS environment.

Type the following and hit enter after every line:

• Diskpart (it will display information in regards to the tool)
• list disk (it will show a list of your available disks with a number next to)
• select disk # (replace the "# " with the number representing the drive you wish to clean)
• clean all (after this it will stay at a blinking cursor during about 15 minutes for a 80GB drive)

[nkame2]

well, i fixed the problem, sort of.....

i am guessing that during my maintenance the drive was corrupted somehow (virus scan, defrag of hdd?, ccleaner, etc). my number one suspect is that i may have enabled the boot registry to be defragged, and it was this that was interfering with the boot process. i reformatted the drive and reloaded a back up image....now it is working... total time to fix, about 6 hours! i will be very careful next time

ssdtools indicates that the drive is healthy.