Odd boot problem after failed HDD installation

[Pavel_14]

So I found an old HDD and plugged it into my current PC for 2 extra TB. When I turned on my PC it wouldn't boot and gave me the message "Reboot and Select proper Boot device or Insert Boot Media in selected Boot Device and press a key." When I looked up how to fix this I came across an article where the persons final solution which worked was reinstalling Windows. So I throw the windows tool on to a flash drive and book up my PC. I get through alright until I hit the point asking to install the advanced or normal version. Knowing I wanted all my personalizations. Here I came across the problem; Not enough space. This left me with one option, format. So I format the SSD (which really annoyed me that I had to do this just because of an HDD) and when I then tried to put it there since I had space it said it was a GPT drive. I don't even know what the hell that is! I tried restarting my PC and going into my bios to see if it was still in UEFI because it always worked before now (because this is how I first got my windows) and everything was fine. I leave bios and it boots to my flash drive where once I get into the windows install it doesn't get past the purple screen and stays there. I don't know how the hell I got to this because all I did was put in a HDD and this happened. Some help would be greatly appreciated, and fast because I need it up and running soon. Thanks a lot!
More about : brain dead

 

[LukeFatwalker]

It's either a result of a faulty ISO file or Windows is checking your Hard Drives and encountering issues.

De-attach all your Drives (expect one that contains your ISO) and try booting from it again. If you are able to get into setup now then re-attach your Hard Drives again.

Also, what are you using to create the USB? You might want to try Rufus.

You should be backing up your data in the event that something like this happens again. Recommend a disk imager like Macrium Reflect or a snapshot tool like Rollback Rx.