[SOLVED] HDD's needed to boot SSD?

[Rickz6]

Hello, recently bought a 2tb SSD to replace my 128gb. I have Windows 10 installed on there, and the plan was to migrate everything over to the new SSD via Samsung's migration software. Well, when I unplugged my HDDs (just games and random data), my SSD will not boot up anymore. Looking on these forums, I learned that Windows 10 installs crucial boot up data in the HDDs? Despite having plenty of room left in the primary SSD? How do I fix this? I do not want to wait until the day these HDD's fail and my machine won't boot anymore. I still want to migrate my C drive over to the bigger SSD, but I do not want this dependency on the HDD's to boot up. Here's a pic of my Disk Management, clearly showing that S:/ (aptly named), has a "System" tag.

 

[Gam3r01]

Unplug every drive except for the one you want windows on, install windows, then plug the drives back in.
If any HDDs are present during the install windows may choose to include them as part of the OS.

 

[JohnBonhamsGhost]

I learned that Windows 10 installs crucial boot up data in the HDDs?

only if you allow it by not properly configuring the system for the initial OS install.

How do I fix this?

look up how to transfer all system partitions to your main OS drive.
there are threads with tutorials here on Tom's and articles found through regular internet searches of how to accomplish it via cmd prompt.

personally, i would just start over with a fresh OS install.
remove all drives but the one you plan on using for Windows and:

How To - Windows 10 clean install tutorial

If you are looking for the Windows 11 Clean install tutorial, you can find that here: Windows 11 Clean install tutorial (Click here) Otherwise, welcome to the Windows 10 Clean install tutorial This tutorial is intended to help you, step by step, to perform a clean install of Windows...

forums.tomshardware.com

 

[Rickz6]

Thank you sir! I was dreading having to redo this and reinstall a bunch of stuff but it seems like it's the most clean and effective way.

 

[USAFRet]

Thank you sir! I was dreading having to redo this and reinstall a bunch of stuff but it seems like it's the most clean and effective way.

How To - Windows 10 clean install tutorial

If you are looking for the Windows 11 Clean install tutorial, you can find that here: Windows 11 Clean install tutorial (Click here) Otherwise, welcome to the Windows 10 Clean install tutorial This tutorial is intended to help you, step by step, to perform a clean install of Windows...

forums.tomshardware.com