Windows 8 freezing after switching off TomTom 930.

[bellagio]

Hi, I've just upgraded from Windows 7 64bit to Windows 8 64bit Professional. Now everytime I switch my TomTom Go 930 off it freezes Windows 8 for 60 seconds then reboots Windows saying inaccessible boot device.

I've read it's where Windows 8 thinks my TomTom Go 930 drive is a 'Windows to Go' USB drive but have no idea how to disable this.

If I switch the TomTom back on straight after switching it off it unfreezes Windows. This only happens on my TomTom Go 930 and not on my XL. I also tried a clean install of Windows 8 and TomTom Home software but it does the same. Any help appreciated.

 

[alfie67]

Hi and welcome to TTF!

Starting to see these kind of issues with Win8 pop up on the internet.

I'd suggest try running Home in XP compatible mode, but I don't believe Win8 has that option.

I have recently operated a friend's computer on which he had installed Win8; it had "dual-boot" between 7 & 8. When booting up there was a start-up menu that gave a choice between Win7 and 8, which definitely seemed the way to go while Win8 gets sorted out.

 

[canderson]

Umm.. are you using the proper 'disconnect' method from TomTom Home before pulling the plug on your unit (always a good idea in any case)? Or is it the disconnect using Home that is causing the reboot?

 

[Andy_P]

... or even if you're not using Home, you still need to use "Safely Remove hardware" from the system tray (next to the clock) BEFORE you turn the TomTom off or unplug it.

 

[bellagio]

Thankyou for your replies. It freezes Windows 8 as soon as I click the safely remove button. It then stays frozen until I restart the tomtom and click on connect to computer. I've tried formatting the tomtom and it still does it with no data on the tomtom. I've tried formatting it to fat and fat 32 but still no luck. I've now restored it to an old restore and it still freezes as soon as it disconnects. Windows will then restart and it will then warn me not to disconnect my Windows To Go drive. I didn't even think Windows Pro 8 had Windows to go built in! I've also noticed that in Windows Explorer it will crash explorer if I right click on the tomtom drive and try to select properties. Please note that it works absolutely fine in windows 7.

 

[canderson]

Windows is clearly misidentifying your TomTom as a USB2GO device - it certainly isn't one of those. When it is connected, does your TomTom appear properly as an external storage device (like a thumb drive) and can you view its contents with Windows?

 

[Andy_P]

Clutching at straws here, have you got an "Enterprise" version of Widows 8?

Wikipaedia says:

Windows To Go is a feature in Windows 8 Enterprise that allows Windows 8 Enterprise to boot and run from mass storage devices such as USB flash drives and external hard disk drives.[1] It is a fully manageable corporate Windows 8 environment.
It is intended to allow enterprise administrators to provide users with an imaged version of Windows 8 that reflects the corporate desktop and as such is aimed at enterprises. Creation of Windows To Go drives is not supported by other Windows 8 editions.[2] However, flash drives set up by Microsoft were distributed to those who attended their BUILD developer conference held in September 2011.

 

[bellagio]

Yes when connected I can view the contents of the TomTom internal drive when in Windows Explorer but if I right click and try to view properties it crashes and restarts Windows Explorer. In disk management it shows as a removable drive. I downloaded the Windows 8 upgrade for £24.99 directly from Microsoft and it says it's the Pro edition. I've even formatted my drive and done a clean install. I just need to find out how to tell Windows it's not a USB2GO drive. Another thread I read said that the TomTom and my internal C: drive may be getting the same ID number and confusing Windows. If I do switch the TomTom off then back on my PC will unfreeze but TomTom Home won't load properly and freezes.

 

[bellagio]

I think I solved this by following: http://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/en/W8ITProWTG/thread/af05f60a-4cb0-4561-b49f-71938dad6853
Basically the TomTom and my PC drive had the same unique ID so had to give the TomTom a new ID using diskpart.exe (after backing up TomTom first) then format it then copy the TomTom data back onto it. Hope this helps someone as whether its a TomTom or USB stick it should work the same. Thanks for everyones help.

 

[canderson]

Wow - that's just strange. Gotta love Windoze, don't you?

One comment was certainly on target:

"How in the world does Windows 8 wind up thinking that the internal drive and the USB drive have the same Unique ID??? That kinda seems like a MASSIVE flaw"

For anyone else who sees this Windoze2GO behavior, here is method that Microsoft specifies to check the ID of both the drive and device. What you do NOT want to find is that they match!:

1. Open diskpart.exe
2. Type "list disk" to determine the disks in the system.
3. Type "select disk #", to select a disk.
4. Type "unique disk", to view the unique ID of the selected disk.

Not that this explains how these machines are suddenly coming to think they're 2GO machines to begin with, which is another problem altogether (a bit of a double whammy for the user).

What I don't like, but suppose we'll have to live with for now, is that it takes some work with REGEDIT to kill the 2GO feature of the machine. Here's what Microsoft had to say about dealing with that, and also about the modification of the ID for the TomTom device (I have swapped the phrase "USB Disk" for "TomTom" in each case):

Follow these steps to delete the Windows To Go registry value:

• Open regedit.exe
• Browse to: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control
• Delete this value: PortableOperatingSystem

You will most probably notice that the issue reappears when you connect a particular TomTom to the PC. Subsequent removal of that TomTom will cause the PC to crash. This is happening because the unique IDs of the TomTom and the internal HDD are the same. The easiest way to fix this issue is to "clean" the TomTom. A clean will destroy all data on the disk, so back it up first.

1. Open diskpart.exe
2. Type "list disk" to determine the disk number of the TomTom.
3. Type "select disk #", where # is the disk number you determined.
4. Type "clean".
5. Type "exit".

Restart your PC.


Of course, we would also insist that the user make a full backup copy of the device before doing any reformatting!!! Consult our tutorial here https://www.tomtomforums.com/t17864-how-backup-contents-your-unit-computer-how-restore.html before you even start that procedure!

I doubt you will be the last to report this, so we'll keep that link you left us at the ready.

 

[bellagio]

In the end I didn't need to alter the registry. I just backed up my TomTom in Windows Explorer then selected the TomTom disk in diskpart.exe then used the diskpart.exe clean command (to clean my TomTom) then used the command: uniqueid disk id= 00000005 (to assign the tomtom 00000005). After that I created the TomTom partition using Disk Management in Windows then reformatted it using FAT32 then restored it from my backup.
I still don't know how Windows and my C: Drive had the same ID. I do remember when I first upgraded to Windows 8 it asks you to remove any USB drives (I had a USB stick attached so removed it) but the TomTom was just sat in it's cradle charging (but switched off) so it must have somehow detected it? I did also notice that the SD card reader (as opposed to the internal memory) on my TT930 has the ID00000000. My Windows 7 laptop on the other hand has a complete random string of numbers and letters for it's unique ID so not sure why Windows 8 decided to use the same number as my TomTom!