PC will not boot up if external HDD is attached

erkme73

I've done plenty of searching and found several other threads with people who suffered with similar problems, but none of them seem to have found a solution (other than unplugging the offending peripheral until boot is complete).

 

I have both the TC-603 and TC-605, both are brand new (to me, factory reset) running W8 and W8.1.  Both get stuck on the post screen - just after the BIOS detects two SATA drives (the internal HDD and the DVD).  Then, nothing.  It just sits there forever.  I have to power it off, unplug the HDD, then power it up - wait for the Windows startup flag, and then plug it in. 

 

This is fine if I am the one initiating the power-cycle, and I'm home to do it.  But both of these PCs are part of a security network video recording system and they are ciritical.  If they power cycle, and I'm not home, they go off line permanently.

The drives are 4TB, varying brands.  I've verified I have the most recent BIOS, chipset firmware, and checked the drives for errors.  Nothing is working.

 

Going into the BIOS to set boot order is pointless, as the HDD is listed as "windows boot manager".  I can choose removable media or LAN boot as well, but nothing that specifically forces the internal HDD to be selected as the first attempt like it did with older previous BIOS versions (non-EUFI).

 

I've turned off secure boot.  I've enabled Launch CMS.  I've disabled legacy USB suport.  I've tried virtually every option in the BIOS, and can't get this PC to ignore the connected HDD.

 

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Snuffy

Yep i understand you have an issue, but then it is like ANY REBOOT, and if your EXTERNAL are 4GB, Im sure they are good, and Im sure they are FREE or *****, but still they (the HDDs must be scanned and then allow to show) i always turn off my EXTERNAL HDD. before reboot.... Im sure you do continue if you disable search imager on both external, then disable any AV - and Windows Defender... (and possibly Safe Boot). (faster to unplug or turnoff). safer also...