windows wont boot after graphics card upgrade

[scythe_god]

my computer was working perfectly today. i went out and bought a geforce 560 to swap over from my old 9800 GTX. i then installed all the windows updates as the computer was shutting down. this is the last time it has booted. i then swapped over the cards.

Now when i start the computer it loads the bios fine but instead of loading windows i get the error message
"reboot and select proper boot device
or insert boot media in selected boot device and press a key"
i have made sure all the boot device priority settings in the bios are correct.
when i load from my windows disk i can go into my C: drive and look at all my files, which makes me think the HDD isnt broken, but windows no longer recognises that it is installed for some reason.
i dont know how changing a GPU could have caused this so i think it must have been the automatic updates?
i dont have any image backups to restore my system to.

what can i do to fix this? can i use my windows disk to remove the update or do something to make it boot again? please help

written on my iPhone

[rjfvillarosa]

Have you tried putting the old graphics card back in?

[SARGE]

I'd boot into safe mode F8 as boots. See if both drivers for both cards listed. Uninstall it/them and reboot. Windows should load using a generic driver til you install new driver.. Next time uninstall drivers, shut down, install new card boot and follow instructions

[rjfvillarosa]

I was thinking the same thing Sarge and I don't think, reading his post, that he has installed the second set of drivers. I have seen this situation before if the person doesn't uninstall the old card drivers first.

[glc]

Kinda hard to get it into safe mode when the hard drive now appears to be unbootable.

Assuming Windows 7, boot it with the Windows DVD and do a startup repair.

[SARGE]

Another reason to do things right first time,i.e., uninstalling software turning off and remove card. I have visions knowing windows, of running updates with 2 cards showing and locking horns. Who knows what happened exactly

[glc]

I don't think it's graphic card-related. A 560 should run on any Nvidia driver.

[scythe_god]

i just tried putting the old graphics card back in. i still get the same message.
tried running the startup repair, but that also had no effect.

my only guess is that maybe i knocked my HDD while changing over the cards, or one of the windows updates isnt playing nice (it has been over a year since i installed any, i dont know why i started now). but since i have no backups i am now just going to reinstall the OS. hope this helps and the HDD isnt damaged.

thanks for the help guys i appreciate it

edit: i tried going into safe mode with F8 aswell, but it doesnt work either as it doesnt recognise there is an OS installed at all, for some reason.

[glc]

I would run manufacturer's diagnostics on the hard drive before wasting any more time. Did you try reseating the hard drive power and data cables?

[scythe_god]

Yes i ran the diagnostics on the hard drive. It came up with no errors and that it was working perfectly. I also changed the SATA and SATA Power cables and made sure they had proper connections. None of this worked.

I installed windows again but kept the old install so as to keep all my files, now it is working perfectly again. I still don't know what went wrong, but my new graphics card is working fine so it had nothing to do with that.

thanks for the help everyone.

[rjfvillarosa]

Just a guess, but I would say that you have knocked a cable to the harddrive loose when you changed the card.

Originally Posted by scythe_god I installed windows again but kept the old install so as to keep all my files,

How did you do the new install? new harddrive?

[scythe_god]

windows 7 ult gave me the option to install windows again on the same hard drive. I now have my old install in my C: drive under Windows.old

[rjfvillarosa]

Can you access the old installation?
Are all your files safe?

[SARGE]

Originally Posted by rjfvillarosa Just a guess, but I would say that you have knocked a cable to the harddrive loose when you changed the card. How did you do the new install? new harddrive?

Looking back, that sounds the most plausible. We can tend to make things more complicated & overlook or forget the obvious