Question MSI Pro Z690-A DDR4 Motherboard only recognizing one partition

[mcaulfield09]

Hi all,

Today I got the final pieces I needed to do my CPU, Mobo, and Storage upgrade and put it all together. The components I am upgrading are my CPU and Motherboard, and I've added an M.2 drive. I've updated the BIOS and am now trying to boot into Windows. However, it seems that the BIOS is only recognizing one of my bootable partitions on my drive and I can't for the life of me figure out how to get it to see the Windows partition (what it sees now is a very old, abandoned Linux partition that I don't know the password to anymore). My old Mobo's BIOS had a list of all of my drives and partitions for boot order but MSI's only shows a bar where I can click and drag things to order them and it only shows one bootable partition in that list. Is there anything I can try short of taking the entire thing apart, putting the old CPU & Mobo back in, praying that will boot into Windows, and then deleting the Linux partition from there?

My current (post-upgrade) CPU and Mobo are:
CPU: Intel i5-12600K
Motherboard: MSI Pro Z690-A DDR4

My previous CPU and Mobo were:
CPU: Intel i5-8400
Motherboard: Asus Maximus X Hero

 

[USAFRet]

This is an OS and drive from a different system?

 

[mcaulfield09]

The only things that are new in this system are the CPU, Motherboard, and an empty M.2 drive. The partitions are on a Sata SSD I have been using for years.

Edit for clarity: Both the Linux partition that I see and the Windows partition that I cannot see in the BIOS are on the same SSD.

 

[USAFRet]

The only things that are new in this system are the CPU, Motherboard, and an empty M.2 drive. The partitions are on a Sata SSD I have been using for years.

Edit for clarity: Both the Linux partition that I see and the Windows partition that I cannot see in the BIOS are on the same SSD.

New motherboard == "new PC".

Usually, and as it is in this case, a fresh OS install is needed.

Which drive are you wanting the new OS on?

 

[USAFRet]

How To - Windows 11 clean install tutorial

Windows 11 Clean install tutorial This tutorial is intended to help you, step by step, to perform a clean install of Windows 11, version 23H2 or newer but can be equally applied to earlier versions which may have some basic differences in the screens you see but will largely remain similar in...

forums.tomshardware.com

 

[mcaulfield09]

I was hoping to stick with Windows 10 and not have to reinstall everything, especially because I do not have a list of all of my installed programs from the old C drive, but I do want to move my Windows install to the new M.2 drive anyways. Will installing Windows to the new drive make that drive show up alongside the Linux partition in my BIOS? And will I be able to get my old installed programs off of my old C drive somehow?

Also, out of curiosity, if new "system" means new OS install, why is it able to see that old Linux partition?

 

[USAFRet]

I was hoping to stick with Windows 10 and not have to reinstall everything, especially because I do not have a list of all of my installed programs from the old C drive, but I do want to move my Windows install to the new M.2 drive anyways. Will installing Windows to the new drive make that drive show up alongside the Linux partition in my BIOS? And will I be able to get my old installed programs off of my old C drive somehow?

Also, out of curiosity, if new "system" means new OS install, why is it able to see that old Linux partition?

Windows is NOT as modular as we'd all want.

Moving a drive+OS to a new system, there are 3 possible outcomes:
1. It works just fine
2. It fails completely
3. It works, but you're chasing issues for weeks/months.

You seem to be in #2.

No, you can't extract your applications from the old drive.

And for your last question, Linux is very different than Windows. Linux is far better with new hardware.


When you install the OS on the new M.2, have ONLY that drive connected.

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

 

[mcaulfield09]

Windows is NOT as modular as we'd all want.

Moving a drive+OS to a new system, there are 3 possible outcomes:
1. It works just fine
2. It fails completely
3. It works, but you're chasing issues for weeks/months.

You seem to be in #2.

No, you can't extract your applications from the old drive.

And for your last question, Linux is very different than Windows. Linux is far better with new hardware.


When you install the OS on the new M.2, have ONLY that drive connected.

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

Will I need a new Windows Activation Key, or will it recognize my old one once everything is booted up?

 

[USAFRet]

Will I need a new Windows Activation Key, or will it recognize my old one once everything is booted up?

Where did the license originally come from?

It is linked to your MS account?

 

[mcaulfield09]

Where did the license originally come from?

It is linked to your MS account?

To be completely honest, I don't remember and I'm not sure. Should I just assume that I may need to purchase a new Activation Key?

 

[USAFRet]

To be completely honest, I don't remember and I'm not sure. Should I just assume that I may need to purchase a new Activation Key?

Do you have an account at MS?

If so, you can look to see if it is linked to that account.
If it is, you can almost certainly apply that license to this new system.

 

[mcaulfield09]

Do you have an account at MS?

If so, you can look to see if it is linked to that account.
If it is, you can almost certainly apply that license to this new system.

You mentioned I'd have to reinstall other programs - is this true even if they were originally installed to a different drive? Or will those installation paths be retained in those other drives? Is there a way to scan your computer for installed software once you install Windows?

 

[mcaulfield09]

Do you have an account at MS?

If so, you can look to see if it is linked to that account.
If it is, you can almost certainly apply that license to this new system.

Also - once I've installed Windows, is there anything I need to do prior to hooking all my drives back up? The tutorial doesn't mention anything regarding any drives you unplugged prior to the clean install.

 

[USAFRet]

You mentioned I'd have to reinstall other programs - is this true even if they were originally installed to a different drive? Or will those installation paths be retained in those other drives? Is there a way to scan your computer for installed software once you install Windows?

When an application is installed, it makes dozens/hundreds of entries in the Registry and elsewhere. Your new OS install knows nothing about them.

Some few applications may work, but in general, reinstall.

 

[USAFRet]

Also - once I've installed Windows, is there anything I need to do prior to hooking all my drives back up? The tutorial doesn't mention anything regarding any drives you unplugged prior to the clean install.

If any were a past OS drive, you probably want to look to wiping them clean.
And not just a Format in File Explorer. If it were the old OS drive, that wouldn't remove the old boot partition.

Commandline function diskpart, and the clean command will do it.

After you get them connected, post a screencap of your Disk Management window here, and we can suggest a way forward.