[SOLVED] Formatted my NVMe and made it Win10 bootable; success, however;

[Shiftydot]

I removed the data cable from the HDD, so it was clearer which was the NVMe in the BIOS > Boot sequence, and so placed that at #1, and figured that would be fine, but for whatever reason (The reason I'm posting here, really) it prefers to boot to the HDD , well I say prefers, it just does boot to the HDD, so "prefer" isnt really the best word for it.

Couple of things I realised post-migration/ when the problem arose)

1. Both the NVMe and the HDD are singularly partitioned, and both are labelled "C". I know how to change drive letters, but I also got the ambiguous warning of: (paraphrased) "Some programs that rely on paths [You mean... all programs, to some extent?] may not function as intended." That warning came from the 'Disk Management' program (Where drive names are changed). The next warning is a direct quote from Docs.Microsoft.com
   
   1a) See page this quote is from (Again, sourced from www.docs.windows.com)
   "Important
   If you change the drive letter of a drive where Windows or apps are installed, apps might have trouble running or finding that drive. For this reason we suggest that you don't change the drive letter of a drive on which Windows or apps are installed."
   
   Again.. It just seems like a convoluted way of saying "Only use it formatted drives". I said "Vague warnings" earlier, and these two quotes are what I meant, I mean, I understand they can't say exactly how ALL programs ever made/ on your drive will react, but they will know precisely how windows will react, and likely could give some insight into how they will react badkt,, Does it mean bricking tthe PC, does it mean copious error messages from every program, or somewhere in-between)
   
   
2. Also kind of related to 1 now that I think about it, but anyway, both drives contain a Windows install on them, which I thought potentially could have some unintended consequences (And maybe this is one of them?)

TL;DR: I wanted the NVMe to be the bootdrive - not the HDD. Success, however, I moved all my data onto the HDD , but cannot get the HDD to be a secondary drive, so without being able to have both of them running at the same time, I cant move files back onto the NVMe. I have suspicions of what the issue could be (See bulletpoints), but don't know for sure.

Whether your able to help or not, genuine thanks for taking the time to try to help

-shifty

 

[rgd1101]

can't be both c.
when you have both ssd and hdd connected. go to diskmanger to see which one is c

 

[USAFRet]

Where did you install the OS?
On the HDD, the NVMe, or both?

They won't be the C drive at the same time. Whatever drive and OS it boots from will see itself as the C.

Please show us a screencap of your current Disk Management window.
(more questions to follow)

 

[Shiftydot]

can't be both c.
when you have both ssd and hdd connected. go to diskmanger to see which one is c

I'm going to replug the data cable and restart now, the following screenshot is JUST with my NVMe plugged in.

Where did you install the OS?
On the HDD, the NVMe, or both?

They won't be the C drive at the same time. Whatever drive and OS it boots from will see itself as the C.

Please show us a screencap of your current Disk Management window.
(more questions to follow)

Screenshot inbound (And as said to RGD, this screenshot will be with JUST the NVMe drive plugged in. I know I can hotplug but that doesn't do anything seemingly, though I think about it I'm not sure if I've ever hotplugged the HDD and THEN checked Disk Management


However I've also just got the point where I might just move all data to an external drive, I believe I have a 120GB one which will do for most things, my steam collection for instance isn't necessary to move, or advisable as I'd have to manually change the paths for each game, so I just reinstalled it on the NVMe

Screenshot #1 = Just NVMe plugged in ;

https://imgur.com/KDTQC9O

View: https://imgur.com/KDTQC9O

Oh I dont think direct attachment is supported, brb, Imgur'ing.

Screenshot #2 = NVMe with HDD hotplugged (Which I'm about to see for the first time also) = Oh it's the exact same, shocker 🙄 I wont bother posting another screenshot, literally it's just the same as the first.

Okay Re-booting with the HDD plugged in and "subservient" for lack of a better word to the NVMe (AKA lower down in the boot sequence), though I will quickly check the boot sequence upon reboot and place it at #2 if it isnt already. If it "overtakes" the NVMe in boot sequence that will be quite the surprise, and if so it seems like the sort of thing there could be a fix for in the BIOS, maybe some setting to preferentially boot to HDD if there is one?

Anyway, enough chit-chat, rebooting, will post again in but a moment.

(Thank for the help by the way)

 

[Shiftydot]

Wooah, I would love to take credit for this, but I just booted up and the formerly C: HDD, is now a secondary drive, labelled E: 🤔

See:

https://imgur.com/a/WciqQNl

View: https://imgur.com/a/WciqQNl


Thank you.... Windows? And you guys too, of course

If anyone knows why this happened, or how, I guess, please, indulge me. I'm going to look into if Windows 10 has some auto label-reassignment if there's a clash, or something, but that will just be an out of interest thing, because for all intents and purposes, the problem is fixed.

Thank y'all again =]

x

 

[USAFRet]

Which drive is 1TB and which is 2TB?

The HDD is 2TB?

This type of confusion results from having 2 identical bootable OS's in the same system.
Clean off that HDD completely.

Again, whichever drive and OS it boots from will see itself as the C.

 

[Shiftydot]

I'll actually make a secondary post instead of editing so this doesnt get missed, but it will be safe now to delete the Windows+ Users folders in E: won't it, as you can see in the screeenshot above, it isn't designated as a boot drive. (Of course I will move anything I want to keep before doing so)

Edit before posting: In reply to ESAFRet;

The NVMe Is 1TB, the HDD is 2TB. this setup is exactly what I was aiming for. =]

 

[USAFRet]

I'll actually make a secondary post instead of editing so this doesnt get missed, but it will be safe now to delete the Windows+ Users folders in E: won't it, as you can see in the screeenshot above, it isn't designated as a boot drive. (Of course I will move anything I want to keep before doing so)

Edit before posting: In reply to ESAFRet;

The NVMe Is 1TB, the HDD is 2TB. this setup is exactly what I was aiming for. =]

It is better if you move ALL data from the old drive you wish to keep, and wipe it completely.
Rather than trying to piecemeal the deletion.

Steam games can be moved easily.
Steam games location
In the steam client:
Steam
Settings
Downloads
Steam Library Folders
Add library folder

To move an already installed game
Games library
Right click the game
Properties
Local Files
Move Install Folder