Windows boots from my HDD but my OS is on my SSD

[afrydman2010]

Hey everyone! First time poster here, but I have been a long time lurker. To make this short I will cut right to the chase.

I just finished upgrading my case, so I swapped all my components out and into the new case. Running Windows 10, and I have 5 storage drives. 2 SSDs, the Intel one has my OS on it. The other 3 hard drives are combinations of western digital drives, 2 of which are Velociraptor drives.

When I booted up for the first time the computer wouldn't boot so I went into the BIOS and changed the boot sequence to boot off my Intel SSD. I restarted and still the same issue. I then thought maybe I plugged the SATA cable into a different port since I know Windows does not like that. After trying all the ports and different combinations I still had no luck. I cleared the RTC RAM with the jumper and that did not help at all. I didn't know what to do. So I went back in and tried booting from various drive because I was curious. I was able to boot from one of my Velociraptors into Windows 10, but there's no OS on this drive...

When looking under the file explorer it shows that Disk C: is my intel and has the windows symbol showing that its my boot drive, and even in computer management under disk management it shows drive C: as the boot drive.

Am I missing something? Why wont Windows boot off my SSD but it will off my HDD, even though there is no OS on there? That kind of seams impossible...

Any insight would be awesome!

Thanks everyone!

 

[USAFRet]

1. Please show us a screencap of your Disk Management window

2. Did you have more than one drive connected when you installed the OS?

 

[afrydman2010]

Here is the disk management window https://ibb.co/hsFynH

I do believe there have always been multiple drives installed when the OS was installed, whenever that was.

 

[USAFRet]

Here is the disk management window https://ibb.co/hsFynH

I do believe there have always been multiple drives installed when the OS was installed, whenever that was.

The E and G partitions are on a 60GB HDD?
That E partition is where your boot partition lives.
Or possibly the F partition, which we can't see in that screencap.


As happens when there are more than one physical drive connected when you install the OS.

Your OS (C partition) is on a 64GB SSD?

 

[afrydman2010]

Partition E and G are on a OCZ Agility SSD. That drive just has a few games on it and such. The D and L drives are my 2 500gb/600gb HDDs.

The F and H partition are on a 500gb HDD as well. All these drive letters are crazy I know.

And yes the OS (C partition) is on a 60gb Intel SSD. That is the only drive with any Windows folder in the directory.

Does this mean if I ever take out one of these drives I won't be able to boot?

 

[USAFRet]

Partition E and G are on a OCZ Agility SSD. That drive just has a few games on it and such. The D and L drives are my 2 500gb/600gb HDDs.

The F and H partition are on a 500gb HDD as well. All these drive letters are crazy I know.

And yes the OS (C partition) is on a 60gb Intel SSD. That is the only drive with any Windows folder in the directory.

Does this mean if I ever take out one of these drives I won't be able to boot?

Test:

Disconnect everything except the 60GB Intel SSD and the 500GB HDD
Power up
Does it boot correctly?

If so..
Power down
Disconnect the 500GB HDD, leaving only the 60GB Intel SSD connected.
Power up.
Does it boot correctly?

 

[afrydman2010]

This is kind of what I did earlier. I tried booting with just the SSD and nothing else connected, and it did not boot.

I tried to boot with all the drives connected and boot from the SSD in the BIOS but it did not boot.

The only way it booted was with all the drives connected, but choosing the 500gb HDD to boot from in the BIOS. Then when I check disk management it says my boot drive is my SSD, but I didn't boot from there. Unless there's some sort of hidden files for the boot sequence on the HDD.

 

[USAFRet]

This is kind of what I did earlier. I tried booting with just the SSD and nothing else connected, and it did not boot.

I tried to boot with all the drives connected and boot from the SSD in the BIOS but it did not boot.

The only way it booted was with all the drives connected, but choosing the 500gb HDD to boot from in the BIOS. Then when I check disk management it says my boot drive is my SSD, but I didn't boot from there. Unless there's some sort of hidden files for the boot sequence on the HDD.

Yes...the System Reserved partition. The F partition. (and it should not have a drive letter)

Possible fix.
Assuming you have a Win 10 install USB or DVD:
Disconnect ALL drives except the Intel SSD.
Boot from your Win 10 install DVD or USB, and run the Repair function.
This may fix it, and allow booting from the SSD by itself.