[SOLVED] Boot partition is on different drive to C: partition ?

[Bongert]

I somehow managed to put my boot partition on a different drive than my C: partition meaning i have to have both drives installed in my PC to be able to boot into windows. I understand that i have to use BCDBoot to create a new boot partition on the drive with the C: partition on but i have no idea how to do it. I have already created a WindowsPE bootable stick but after that im at a loss as to what to do.

 

[USAFRet]

Is this a brand new install?
If so, just redo it, with only the single drive connected.

Otherwise, @SkyNetRising can probably assist in getting the boot partition on the desired drive.



This happened because you have more than one drive connected when you did the OS install.

 

[Bongert]

Is this a brand new install?
If so, just redo it, with only the single drive connected.

Otherwise, @SkyNetRising can probably assist in getting the boot partition on the desired drive.



This happened because you have more than one drive connected when you did the OS install.

its not a fresh install so i cant just redo it.
i heard somewhere else as well that having multiple drives installed was the issue but why is that? when doing the OS setup its asking which drive to put the OS on. why would just choose a different drive for the boot partition?

 

[USAFRet]

its not a fresh install so i cant just redo it.
i heard somewhere else as well that having multiple drives installed was the issue but why is that? when doing the OS setup its asking which drive to put the OS on. why would just choose a different drive for the boot partition?

The Windows install, in its infinite wisdom, just does that.

I believe it is a semi protection mechanism.
But it is really really dumb.

They way to prevent that is to follow the best practice of having only ONE drive physically connected when you do the install.
That way, there is no possibility of the install doing something else.

 

[SkyNetRising]

I understand that i have to use BCDBoot to create a new boot partition on the drive with the C: partition on but i have no idea how to do it.

Execute following from elevated command prompt, to create bootloader on OS drive. Regular command prompt will give error on last step.
If you get any errors, then stop immediately.

diskpart​

list disk​

select disk x​

(select disk containing partition C: . x is probably 0, but macrium is showing it as disk 1. You can verify correct disk numbers with Disk Management.)​

list partition​

(If you have selected correct disk, then only 2 partitions should be listed)​

select partition 2​

(select 931GB partition)​

shrink desired=500​

create partition efi​

format fs=fat32 quick​

assign letter=M​

(assign a free/unused drive letter)​

exit​

bcdboot c:\windows /s M: /f UEFI​

Last message should be "Boot files created successfully".

After that,

shutdown,​

disconnect 870 evo,​

adjust boot priority, to boot from Windows Boot Manager on 980 Pro,​

should be able to boot into windows.​

Later you can reconnect 870 evo and delete 100MB EFI system partition from it (old bootloader). It is not necessary anymore.

https://www.computerhope.com/jargon/e/elevated.htm

 

[TerryLaze]

its not a fresh install so i cant just redo it.
i heard somewhere else as well that having multiple drives installed was the issue but why is that? when doing the OS setup its asking which drive to put the OS on. why would just choose a different drive for the boot partition?

The Windows install, in its infinite wisdom, just does that.

I believe it is a semi protection mechanism.
But it is really really dumb.

They way to prevent that is to follow the best practice of having only ONE drive physically connected when you do the install.
That way, there is no possibility of the install doing something else.

The bios has its own list of drives and will only boot from the one that is first on that list, if windows would install the bootloader on any other drive except the one that bios sees as the first, then windows would not be able to start until you would change the settings in the bios.

 

[Bongert]

Execute following from elevated command prompt, to create bootloader on OS drive. Regular command prompt will give error on last step.
If you get any errors, then stop immediately.

diskpart​

list disk​

select disk x​

(select disk containing partition C: . x is probably 0, but macrium is showing it as disk 1. You can verify correct disk numbers with Disk Management.)​

list partition​

(If you have selected correct disk, then only 2 partitions should be listed)​

select partition 2​

(select 931GB partition)​

shrink desired=500​

create partition efi​

format fs=fat32 quick​

assign letter=M​

(assign a free/unused drive letter)​

exit​

bcdboot c:\windows /s M: /f UEFI​

Last message should be "Boot files created successfully".

After that,

shutdown,​

disconnect 870 evo,​

adjust boot priority, to boot from Windows Boot Manager on 980 Pro,​

should be able to boot into windows.​

Later you can reconnect 870 evo and delete 100MB EFI system partition from it (old bootloader). It is not necessary anymore.

https://www.computerhope.com/jargon/e/elevated.htm

it worked perfectly. thanks!
but while i now have the boot partition, what about the recovery partition? do i strictly need that or can i just ignore it?

 

[SkyNetRising]

what about the recovery partition? do i strictly need that or can i just ignore it?

Ignore.
After next major windows update - recovery partition will be created automatically.

All the recovery environment functionality you can get by booting from windows installation media instead.

 

[Bongert]

Ignore.
After next major windows update - recovery partition will be created automatically.

All the recovery environment functionality you can get by booting from windows installation media instead.

aight, thanks a bunch