[SOLVED] Windows 10 suddenly stopped booting from an Intel 660p SSD

[xzahn]

Hi folks,

A couple of weeks ago I updated an old build. I got a new B450 Tomahawk Max motherboard alongside an Intel 660p SSD. I had an old Win 10 flash drive which I used to install the OS and which ended up to be a 1703 version. I figured it would update eventually to 2009 but then I read that I need at least 1903 to be able to update to 2009. Not quite sure about that, so correct me If I'm wrong. I also have a couple of really old HHDs that I want to keep for backup but I don't really need them most of the time so I'm trying to figure out a reliable way to turn them off and on when I need to, from the OS.

TL;DR

That said, the Windows worked fine for a couple of weeks although I noticed the BIOS took around 15 seconds to boot which is much higher than my laptop which takes 4 seconds. I tried to fiddle with the BIOS settings and I found that I somehow installed it using the Legacy bios option (I remember I had to use UEFI when I installed the one on my laptop) and when I switch to UEFI it wouldn't recognize any of my drives. I left it on Legacy since 15 seconds really isn't that slow. Today I unplugged the power cables to the HDDs since they are always on, even though I'm not using them for anything and they're quite loud. And when I turned on the PC, the Windows won't boot. The BIOS still recognizes the SSD drive and I've set it as a first boot option but for some reason, it stopped booting. I plugged back in the HDDs but it still would not boot.

The strange thing is that during the POST I would normally see all three drives (including the SSD) for a second before Windows loads up. But when I disconnect the HDDs I do not see any drives, and the SSD should be there. Any ideas why that may be?

Also, can I just create another flash stick with a newer Win10 version, use UEFI, and override (or repair) the old windows (without deleting anything else) that is currently installed on the SSD?

Thanks!

 

[Colif]

I figured it would update eventually to 2009 but then I read that I need at least 1903 to be able to update to 2009.

nope, you can clean install 20H2 and not do any previous steps.

Also, can I just create another flash stick with a newer Win10 version, use UEFI, and override (or repair) the old windows (without deleting anything else) that is currently installed on the SSD?

I don't think that will work. As that just does an in place upgrade and I don't think it recreates the boot partition
what you need to do is create the boot partiton but its a lot of fun to do without a screenshow of disk management.
can you
boot from installer
on screen after languages, choose repair this pc, not install.
choose troubleshoot
choose advanced
choose command prompt
type diskpart and press enter
type list disk and press enter
this will show the discs currently install, select the ssd by typing
select disk X (X being number of disk you want)
type list partitions
can you show us a screen shot of this and we see what we can do - upload to an image sharing website like imgur and show link here


is there anything on C you want to save?
boot from installer
on screen after languages, choose repair this pc, not install.
choose troubleshoot
choose advanced
choose command prompt
type notepad and press enter
in notepad, select file>open
Use file explorer to copy any files you need to save to USB or hdd


You could start afresh? might be fastest way.

remove all hdd & set bios to UEFI boot method
only have the ssd plugged in
boot from installer
follow this guide: https://forums.tomshardware.com/faq/how-to-do-a-clean-installation-of-windows-10.3170366/

once PC happily boots off the ssd, turn it off and put hdd back in. Look in boot order in bios and make sure hdd not included although since they are legacy, they shouldn't boot in UEFI mode anyway.

the reason it stopped booting was, when you installed win 10 on it, the other 2 hdd were also in the PC at the same time. Well, win 10 put its boot details onto one of those 2 drives, so when you took them out, it couldn't boot anymore. That is main reason you remove the other drives when you install it, to stop it sharing itself around. It was just trying to be helpful, it saw the boot partition from a previous install and added itself instead of making a new one.

since your boot partition has been on one of those drives the last few weeks, you should notice a speed boost now its just booting off the ssd.