Windows 7 boots to recovery and freezes

Hello,

MSP tech here.

I have a weird issue with a client’s system I support. I have two brand new Lenovo desktop PCs. I also have two WD USB drives. They are:

  • WD My Passport Ultra (WDBMWV0020BBK-05)
  • WD My Book (WDBBGB0060HBK-NA)

When the My Passport is plugged into PC #1 and the system is rebooted or cold booted, the system automatically attempts to boot Windows 7 to the system recovery partition, and then freezes after the second animated progress bar is full.

  • I’ve left the system for hours, but it stays frozen and I have to restart or shut down the PC, but it repeats the issue.
  • If I unplug the My Passport and reboot/power cycle PC #1, it boots to Windows 7 fine (after I choose to boot normally from the repair menu that comes up).
  • Subsequent reboots/cold boots with the USB drive disconnected boots Windows 7 normally
  • The Passport works normally in Windows 7 when connected after a reboot/cold boot

PC #2 does not exhibit this behavior when the My Passport is connected and the system is rebooted/cold booted.

I had my client purchase the My Book, but it exhibits the exact same behavior.

I tested rebooting PC #1 with a Verbatim USB drive connected, and it boots normally.

  • So the issue appears to be a compatibility issue between PC #1 and WD USB drives.

At first, I didn’t install any of the WD software.

I’ve since installed the SES device driver and WD Utilities, and attempted to flash firmware, but it didn’t change the issue.

Does anybody have any ideas? I apparently cannot contact WD without registering these products, but the products belong to my clients and I’m just looking to see if the community here can provide a quick answer before I go through the tedious method of creating their account for them.

Some background:

  • A drive needs to be connected 24/7 because automated backups are run every night
  • The client is not technically knowledgeable so I want to make sure they follow as few steps as possible to facilitate the backup
  • I selected a USB drive instead of a My Cloud device because USB 3.0 is faster than Ethernet/WLAN.

I think I’ve covered all my troubleshooting points, but any advice or suggestions would be appreciated.

Cheers,

Hann

I have the same problem!
It apparently has been reported previously.
I do not see a resolution noted from WD. That stinks.