Question New build M.2 and SSD mistake

[Mrpars]

I installed windows 10 on my M.2 while having my old SSD plugged in with windows 8 on it. Now I can't delete or reformat the SSD. I have to chose between windows 10 and windows 8 when logging in.
Is reinstalling windows the only way to fix this? If so will I have to reinstall my MB drivers ?

 

[Aeacus]

Are you sure you installed Win 10 on another drive other than the Win 8 drive? Since what you describe indicates both OSes being on the same drive.

To test that, pull the drive with Win 8 from the system, boot up and look if you still get the same choice between both OSes.

If the Win 10 and Win 8 would be on separate drives, wiping the Win 8 would be easy. Just log in to Win 10, go to disk management and format the drive which has Win 8 on it.

To answer your other question, if you reinstall Win, then yes, you need to reinstall MoBo drivers as well.

 

[davidgirgis]

In Windows 10, right-click on the start button.
Select Disk Management.
From there, you may right-click on the old drive and quick format.

There's another way too...

Control Panel\System and Security\System\Advanced System Settings\Advanced\Startup and Recovery\Settings
From there, select your "default operating system"

There are other more advanced options there too...let us know.

 

[Mrpars]

To test that, pull the drive with Win 8 from the system, boot up and look if you still get the same choice between both OSes.

It will not even boot without the SSD. Goes straight to bios.

If the Win 10 and Win 8 would be on separate drives, wiping the Win 8 would be easy. Just log in to Win 10, go to disk management and format the drive which has Win 8 on it.

Says windows cannot do that.

There's another way too...

Control Panel\System and Security\System\Advanced System Settings\Advanced\Startup and Recovery\Settings
From there, select your "default operating system"

Windows 10 is the default OS . I selected 1 sec to chose OS instead of 30 sec which was by default, makes it less annoying.
Looks like a do over on the windows install is the best way to clean that drive?

 

[davidgirgis]

nothing wrong with a do over...

You can also delete one of those lines under "Default Operating System"
It's a text file called Boot.ini

Are you sure you can't format the SSD from Disk Management?

 

[Aeacus]

If your PC doesn't boot without SSD then you have both OSes on the same drive. Unless you haven't set the boot priority to M.2 drive from BIOS when 2nd SSD is pulled from the system.

What's your full system specs?

 

[davidgirgis]

Also...

Boot from your installation media, then select "repair your computer", then "command prompt"
Type: bootrec /FixMbr

Source: https://neosmart.net/wiki/bootrec/
Section: Bootrec in Windows 10

Careful!

 

[Mrpars]

What's your full system specs?

OS Name Microsoft Windows 10 Home
Other OS Description Not Available
OS Manufacturer Microsoft Corporation
System Manufacturer Gigabyte Technology Co., Ltd.
System Model Z390 AORUS PRO WIFI
System Type x64-based PC
Processor Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-9700K CPU @ 3.60GHz, 3600 Mhz, 8 Core(s), 8 Logical Processor(s)
BIOS Version/Date American Megatrends Inc. F5, 9/5/2018
SMBIOS Version 2.8
BIOS Mode Legacy
BaseBoard Manufacturer Gigabyte Technology Co., Ltd.
BaseBoard Product Z390 AORUS PRO WIFI-CF
Secure Boot State Unsupported
PCR7 Configuration Binding Not Possible
Windows Directory C:\Windows
Boot Device \Device\HarddiskVolume1
Installed Physical Memory (RAM) 16.0 GB
Total Physical Memory 15.9 GB
Available Physical Memory 12.9 GB
Total Virtual Memory 18.8 GB
Available Virtual Memory 13.5 GB
Device Encryption Support Reasons for failed automatic device encryption: TPM is not usable, PCR7 binding is not supported, Hardware Security Test Interface failed and device is not InstantGo, Un-allowed DMA capable bus/device(s) detected, TPM is not usable
Hyper-V - VM Monitor Mode Extensions Yes
Hyper-V - Second Level Address Translation Extensions Yes
Hyper-V - Virtualization Enabled in Firmware Yes
Hyper-V - Data Execution Protection Yes
Looks like I may have installed windows on the wrong drive. I have to chose the ssd as boot device.

 

[Aeacus]

According the info you gave about your PC, you only have 1x storage drive in it.

Next time when installing Win 10, pull all other drives from the system, leaving only the drive you want the OS on in the system (M.2 drive). This way, you can't select wrong drive when installing Win 10 from bootable flash USB drive or DVD.

 

[Mrpars]

Thank you all for the help. I installed windows on the M.2 last night and it's looking good.