[SOLVED] OS Being Loaded onto D drive

[Flamebrander]

Hello, I have a 500 gig boot ssd, which I have windows 10 pro installed on. I also happen to have a 2 terabyte hard drive for videos and stuff, but it shouldn't have any windows related things. The thing is that one day I unplugged the hard drive because it was vibrating really loudly, (unrelated issue, loose screw) and I tried to boot up my PC, it said Boot Drive not found. That obviously isn't right because I have all my boot files on my 970 Evo. After plugging the hard drive in, I see on it that there are some files made by windows like program files and stuff on it, so why did this happen? And is there anything I can do to fix it?

 

[rgd1101]

Sound like when you install windows 10. you have the hdd plug in with the ssd.

 

[Flamebrander]

Sound like when you install windows 10. you have the hdd plug in with the ssd.

So your saying that Windows 10 installed on my hard drive somehow instead of my ssd?

 

[rgd1101]

boot partition is on the hdd. c drive is on ssd
you can check in disk management

 

[Colif]

Windows will just sort of use blank space if it finds it. My PC shouldn't have any Windows files on the hdd either but I can see a Windows10Upgrade folder on C that contains the image file of the last windows version update. I know its not exactly the same. But it was sure a surprise.

screenshots of disk management would help as there are ways to fix it without reinstalling windows or anything like that. we can create the boot files on the ssd so it won't need the hdd in to boot. You want it this way anyway in case you remove hdd or it stops working.

Did hdd ever have windows on it? as if windows found a boot partition already in place when installed onto ssd, it would just add itself to it.

 

[Flamebrander]

Windows will just sort of use blank space if it finds it. My PC shouldn't have any Windows files on the hdd either but I can see a Windows10Upgrade folder on C that contains the image file of the last windows version update. I know its not exactly the same. But it was sure a surprise.

screenshots of disk management would help as there are ways to fix it without reinstalling windows or anything like that. we can create the boot files on the ssd so it won't need the hdd in to boot. You want it this way anyway in case you remove hdd or it stops working.

Did hdd ever have windows on it? as if windows found a boot partition already in place when installed onto ssd, it would just add itself to it.

https://imgur.com/a/vEbavwJ

View: https://imgur.com/a/vEbavwJ
That's the link. I've never installed Windows on the Hard drive before, and everything checks out and looks to be in order.

 

[Colif]

The partition that has System in brackets is the boot partition.
It is somewhat confusing cause C is marked as Boot, but I think that just means that is where windows is. I don't have MBR right now so I can't just check my drive - GPT drives don't have system partitions but C is still marked as Boot there, so i think I am right.

I am not sure how to create the boot partition on the ssd but @SkyNetRising knows the steps needed to do it. You will need to remove the hdd during the process and afterwards remove it from the boot order.

 

[SkyNetRising]

And is there anything I can do to fix it?

Sure. You can fix it.
Bootloader partition is currently located on HDD (small System Reserved partition).
You'll have to create bootloader partition on SSD and delete it from HDD.

Execute from elevated command prompt (regular command prompt will give error on some steps).

How to Open the Command Prompt as Administrator in Windows 10

Much of the time, opening the Command Prompt as a regular user is all you need. Sometimes, though, you’ll need to open the Command Prompt as an administrator so that you can run commands that require administrative privileges.

www.howtogeek.com

(if you get any errors, then stop immediately)

diskpart​

list disk​

select disk 1​

(select 465GB disk)​

list partition​

select partition 2​

(select 505MB partition, we're going to delete it to free up some space)​

delete partition override​

create partition primary​

format fs=ntfs quick​

active​

assign letter=H​

exit​

bcdboot c:\windows /s H:​

Now shutdown, disconnect HDD and try to boot from SSD alone.

If boot from SSD is successful, then you can delete bootloader partition from HDD.
Shutdown, reconnect HDD, boot from SSD and execute.

diskpart​

list disk​

select disk 0​

(select 1863GB disk)​

list partition​

select partition 1​

(select 50MB partition, make sure, you select correct partition)​

delete partition override​

exit​

​

Done. Profit.

 

[Flamebrander]

Sure. You can fix it.
Bootloader partition is currently located on HDD (small System Reserved partition).
You'll have to create bootloader partition on SSD and delete it from HDD.

Execute from elevated command prompt (regular command prompt will give error on some steps).

How to Open the Command Prompt as Administrator in Windows 10

Much of the time, opening the Command Prompt as a regular user is all you need. Sometimes, though, you’ll need to open the Command Prompt as an administrator so that you can run commands that require administrative privileges.

www.howtogeek.com

(if you get any errors, then stop immediately)

diskpart​

list disk​

select disk 1​

(select 465GB disk)​

list partition​

select partition 2​

(select 505MB partition, we're going to delete it to free up some space)​

delete partition override​

create partition primary​

format fs=ntfs quick​

active​

assign letter=H​

exit​

bcdboot c:\windows /s H:​

Now shutdown, disconnect HDD and try to boot from SSD alone.

If boot from SSD is successful, then you can delete bootloader partition from HDD.
Shutdown, reconnect HDD, boot from SSD and execute.

diskpart​

list disk​

select disk 0​

(select 1863GB disk)​

list partition​

select partition 1​

(select 50MB partition, make sure, you select correct partition)​

delete partition override​

exit​

​

Done. Profit.

I have no clue what any of that means, but I'll try it once I get home. Should I do a system backup in case something goes wrong while doing this?

 

[Flamebrander]

Sure. You can fix it.
Bootloader partition is currently located on HDD (small System Reserved partition).
You'll have to create bootloader partition on SSD and delete it from HDD.

Execute from elevated command prompt (regular command prompt will give error on some steps).

How to Open the Command Prompt as Administrator in Windows 10

Much of the time, opening the Command Prompt as a regular user is all you need. Sometimes, though, you’ll need to open the Command Prompt as an administrator so that you can run commands that require administrative privileges.

www.howtogeek.com

(if you get any errors, then stop immediately)

diskpart​

list disk​

select disk 1​

(select 465GB disk)​

list partition​

select partition 2​

(select 505MB partition, we're going to delete it to free up some space)​

delete partition override​

create partition primary​

format fs=ntfs quick​

active​

assign letter=H​

exit​

bcdboot c:\windows /s H:​

Now shutdown, disconnect HDD and try to boot from SSD alone.

If boot from SSD is successful, then you can delete bootloader partition from HDD.
Shutdown, reconnect HDD, boot from SSD and execute.

diskpart​

list disk​

select disk 0​

(select 1863GB disk)​

list partition​

select partition 1​

(select 50MB partition, make sure, you select correct partition)​

delete partition override​

exit​

​

Done. Profit.

Thanks man couldn't have done it without you really appreciate it!

 

[SkyNetRising]

I have no clue what any of that means, but I'll try it once I get home.

If you want to know, what it does, you can check out diskpart command reference.

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-server/administration/windows-commands/diskpart