[SOLVED] Problem making new SSD my boot drive!! Please help

[Dollop99]

I’m trying to install Windows 10 onto an SSD to use as my primary boot drive, but would like to keep my current HDD for storage. I am unable to clone the HDD to the SSD as the data on the HDD is greater than the total storage on the SSD.

So, I downloaded a windows media creation tool and set it up on my external hard drive. I then manage to install windows onto the SSD via booting through the external hard drive, but after than I am unable to boot the PC from the SDD. I have played around with almost every setting in the BIOS and retried installing windows 10 and the whole process countless times but it never works. I’ve tried using cmd and diskpart to make sure everything is formatted correctly but I can never boot to the SSD and it’s really making me frustrated!!

Any help would be much appreciated and if anyone has any questions I’d be glad to answer, thank you!!

 

[lvt]

Did you try to remove the HDD and use the SSD as the only disk?

 

[Unolocogringo]

Windows 10 has a nasty habit of putting the boot partition on any drive besides the one with windows with it.
Best option is to install from a USB drive with only the SSD installed.
After windows is installed connect your other drives and move data around as necessary.

 

[SkyNetRising]

Any help would be much appreciated and if anyone has any questions I’d be glad to answer, thank you!!

Install windows with only new SSD connected.
Clean the drive before installing windows onto it. Use diskpart clean method.

 

[Dollop99]

Did you try to remove the HDD and use the SSD as the only disk?

Yes, and I tried to specifically select to boot from the SSD in the BIOS

 

[Dollop99]

Windows 10 has a nasty habit of putting the boot partition on any drive besides the one with windows with it.
Best option is to install from a USB drive with only the SSD installed.
After windows is installed connect your other drives and move data around as necessary.

I’ve tried this!

 

[Dollop99]

Install windows with only new SSD connected.
Clean the drive before installing windows onto it. Use diskpart clean method.

I’ve tried this, no luck

 

[SkyNetRising]

Are you able to boot into windows from external drive?
Can you show screenshot from Disk Management?
(upload to imgur.com and post link)

 

[Unolocogringo]

In your original post you stated you installed from an external USB hard drive not USB memory stick.
Notice the words USB hard drive as in windows may have put the boot partition on the external hard drive.

 

[Dollop99]

Are you able to boot into windows from external drive?
Can you show screenshot from Disk Management?
(upload to imgur.com and post link)

Not from the external drive but I can from the HDD, I will upload disk management screenshot later on

 

[Dollop99]

In your original post you stated you installed from an external USB hard drive not USB memory stick.
Notice the words USB hard drive as in windows may have put the boot partition on the external hard drive.

Potentially, but I am still able to boot to the usb hard drive to the windows install and then install it onto the SSD

 

[SkyNetRising]

Not from the external drive but I can from the HDD

That means - you installed windows on ssd with hdd still connected.
HDD has to be physically disconnected. It contains botloader.

When you install windows and there is bootloader already present on some other drive, new bootloader on ssd will not get created.
SSD doesn't get made bootable then.

 

[Dollop99]

I definitely

That means - you installed windows on ssd with hdd still connected.
HDD has to be physically disconnected. It contains botloader.

When you install windows and there is bootloader already present on some other drive, new bootloader on ssd will not get created.
SSD doesn't get made bootable then.

I definitely unplugged the power cable to the HDD, when installing windows onto the SSD, although I did leave the SATA cable connected

 

[Dollop99]

Are you able to boot into windows from external drive?
Can you show screenshot from Disk Management?
(upload to imgur.com and post link)

I've uploaded my Disk Management screenshot to imgur. Disk 1 is the old HDD, Disk 2 is the new SSD supposedly with Windows 10 installed, and Disk 3 is the Hard Drive I used to install windows

Heres the link for the image:

https://imgur.com/a/lFP82KA

View: https://imgur.com/a/lFP82KA

 

[SkyNetRising]

BTW - data on HDD is less than capacity of SSD. It is possible to clone.

Anyway ..
Assign letter H: to 300MB EFI System partition on Disk 2.
execute from elevated command prompt:

bcdboot D:\windows /s H:​

Scow screenshot from command output.

If there are no errors, then

reboot into BIOS and​

set Windows Boot Manager on 1TB drive as first in boot order.​

It may be necessary to disable secure boot also.

How to open a Windows 10 Elevated Command Prompt

This tutorial will explain how to open an Elevated Command Prompt in Windows 10. You can use this Command Prompt to type commands that will be executed with Administrative privileges.

www.bleepingcomputer.com

 

[Endre]

P

I’m trying to install Windows 10 onto an SSD to use as my primary boot drive, but would like to keep my current HDD for storage. I am unable to clone the HDD to the SSD as the data on the HDD is greater than the total storage on the SSD.

So, I downloaded a windows media creation tool and set it up on my external hard drive. I then manage to install windows onto the SSD via booting through the external hard drive, but after than I am unable to boot the PC from the SDD. I have played around with almost every setting in the BIOS and retried installing windows 10 and the whole process countless times but it never works. I’ve tried using cmd and diskpart to make sure everything is formatted correctly but I can never boot to the SSD and it’s really making me frustrated!!

Any help would be much appreciated and if anyone has any questions I’d be glad to answer, thank you!!

Please follow these steps:

1. Save your personal files on an external drive.
2. Download Windows 10 and make a bootable USB flash drive using Media Creation Tool.
3. Insert the bootable flash drive in a USB 2.0 port.
4. Enter BIOS menu (using “Delete” key).
5. Select as the #1 boot priority - the flash drive. Also, disable all the other drives as boot options.
6. Restart.
7. Windows is installing. Choose the clean install (not the upgrade one).
8. Delete the partitions located on the SSD (you should know which ones are by their size).
9. Re-create partitions.
10. Format the partition that you want to use as your boot drive (future Local Disk C).
11. Continue setup.

I understand that there are many steps listed here. But that’s how you do a clean Windows re-install.

 

[Dollop99]

BTW - data on HDD is less than capacity of SSD. It is possible to clone.

Anyway ..
Assign letter H: to 300MB EFI System partition on Disk 2.
execute from elevated command prompt:

bcdboot D:\windows /s H:​

Scow screenshot from command output.

If there are no errors, then

reboot into BIOS and​

set Windows Boot Manager on 1TB drive as first in boot order.​

It may be necessary to disable secure boot also.

How to open a Windows 10 Elevated Command Prompt

This tutorial will explain how to open an Elevated Command Prompt in Windows 10. You can use this Command Prompt to type commands that will be executed with Administrative privileges.

www.bleepingcomputer.com

You are correct but I would prefer to use a clean install anyway.

For some reason the bcdboot command didn't seem to work, this was the result:

https://imgur.com/a/cb7MmjW

View: https://imgur.com/a/cb7MmjW


Again, I appreciate your time and help!

 

[SkyNetRising]

For some reason the bcdboot command didn't seem to work, this was the result:

Are you sure, you assigned drive letter H: to a correct partition? Did you assign it at all?
You have to assign it to EFI system 300MB partition on Disk 2
(not to 300MB Recovery partition on Disk 1).

Can you show current screenshot from Disk Management?

If you did assign drive letter correctly, then execute following from elevated command prompt:
(if you get any errors, then stop immediately)

diskpart​

list disk​

select disk 2​

(select 928GB disk)​

list partition​

select partition 1​

(select 300MB EFI system partition)​

format fs=fat32 quick​

assign letter=H:​

(this one may fail, if drive letter is already assigned to some other partition)​

exit​

bcdboot D:\windows /s H:​

​

Show screenshot from command output.

 

[Dollop99]

Are you sure, you assigned drive letter H: to a correct partition? Did you assign it at all?
You have to assign it to EFI system 300MB partition on Disk 2
(not to 300MB Recovery partition on Disk 1).

Can you show current screenshot from Disk Management?

If you did assign drive letter correctly, then execute following from elevated command prompt:
(if you get any errors, then stop immediately)

diskpart​

list disk​

select disk 2​

(select 928GB disk)​

list partition​

select partition 1​

(select 300MB EFI system partition)​

format fs=fat32 quick​

assign letter=H:​

(this one may fail, if drive letter is already assigned to some other partition)​

exit​

bcdboot D:\windows /s H:​

​

Show screenshot from command output.

Doing this gave me a 'BFSVC Error'.

See image:

https://imgur.com/a/1w2SBof

View: https://imgur.com/a/1w2SBof


Also had to assign it to M: instead of H:

 

[SkyNetRising]

I don't think windows is properly installed on D: partition.
It uses only 10.43GB of disk space. That is way too little.

 

[Dollop99]

I don't think windows is properly installed on D: partition.
It uses only 10.43GB of disk space. That is way too little.

Is there a way of manually making a boot media through an ISO file instead of the windows media creation tool?

 

[Dollop99]

I don't think windows is properly installed on D: partition.
It uses only 10.43GB of disk space. That is way too little.

And how can I reset the SSD to try to reinstall windows?

 

[SkyNetRising]

Is there a way of manually making a boot media through an ISO file instead of the windows media creation tool?

Yes. Use rufus.

Rufus - Create bootable USB drives the easy way

Rufus: Create bootable USB drives the easy way

rufus.ie

And how can I reset the SSD to try to reinstall windows?

Clean it using diskpart clean method (post #4).

 

[Dollop99]

Yes. Use rufus.

Rufus - Create bootable USB drives the easy way

Rufus: Create bootable USB drives the easy way

rufus.ie

Clean it using diskpart clean method (post #4).

Thanks, I’ll give it a go

 

[Dollop99]

Yes. Use rufus.

Rufus - Create bootable USB drives the easy way

Rufus: Create bootable USB drives the easy way

rufus.ie

Clean it using diskpart clean method (post #4).

I’ve tried, and still no luck.

I tried both an MBR version and GPT version, formatting the disk to each one and still not booting into windows. I can see what I open the files on the SSD that the windows files are installed but there is no windows boot manager in the BIOS and when I boot through the SSD it doesn’t load anything.