Question Setting up new Boot NVMe SSD Issue

[Lopz0r]

Hello fellas, sorry if this question has been asked, but i have so far tried everything i could find, and wasnt able to solve my issue.

I've been using my regular SATA SSD for a while, and i decided to get a new NVMe drive. Apart from the current SSD and the new NVMe, there is also an empty HDD.

The first thing i did was to pop the NVMe, and run the regular SSD with my Win10 on, opened up Disk Management, and set the new NVMe disk as GPT (Also tried MBR, but i'll get back to that later). Used the Windows media creator tool, set up a usb stick with the installer, and got everything set up.
Started the computer, booted up my BIOS, set up CSM to read UEFI, and picked the USB stick as primary boot. Went through the windows installation, and it all worked smooth.

However, when i enter my BIOS post installing the system, i know have the following boot options:
Windows Boot Manager (M.2_1)
M.2_1
SATA_5: HDD
SATA_6: SSD

My main issue is that, whenever i pick the M.2_1 as a boot drive, the system fails to recognise it and boots from the secondary option (the SSD) instead.
However, if i pick the Windows Boot Manager, it boots from the new NVMe drive.

Would it be possible for me to get that Windows Boot Manager to go away, and have it just show my boot options for the three actual storage drives i have, and have the system actually boot from the M.2_1? Or is the fact that it's using Windows Boot Manager not an issue, and i should just keep using it as main boot option?

I have tried changing CSM to both UEFI and Legacy, i have tried disabling it, i have tried completely erasing the windows copy, deleting every partition in the new NVMe, setting it up as a blank unallocated drive as MBR (which, after the windows installation, became a GPT drive).

I'm up to any kind of solution, even if i have to reinstall everything for a fourth time.

Im using an i5-10400F on a z490 Asus motherboard.

I appreciate any help, i've been trying to get this sorted for hours now!

Both the Windows Boot Manager and the M.2_1 drives on the boot options show the 1000GB capacity.
When looking at the Disk Management inside windows i see that the NVMe is partitioned into 3 different volumes: 1: 100MB Healthy (EFI System Partition). 2: 930gb NTFS Healthy (Boot, Page File, Basic Data Partition. 3: 499MB NTFS Healthy (Recovery Partition)

 

[USAFRet]

The problem lies in having more than one drive connected when you did the install on the new drive.
Further compounded with the fact that the old drive already had an OS and boot partition on it.

The install on the new drive merged those.

Redo the install on the new drive, with ONLY the new 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

Reconnect other drives later.

 

[Lopz0r]

The problem lies in having more than one drive connected when you did the install on the new drive.
Further compounded with the fact that the old drive already had an OS and boot partition on it.

The install on the new drive merged those.

Redo the install on the new drive, with ONLY the new 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

Reconnect other drives later.

Alright, i'll just disconnect the SATA cables for the old SSD and the old HDD, and start new with the USB Installer and just the NVMe connected.
Before i do that i'll run Disk Management from the old SSD and delete all the current partitions, making the new NVMe just one big unallocated disk, but do i set the NVMe in Disk Management as GPT or MBR?
And upon restarting, in BIOS, do i use CSM as UEFI or Legacy to load the USB Stick, or does that not matter?