F5F Stay Refreshed Hardware Desktop Problem encountered with PC setup, system indicates no bootable drive available.

Problem encountered with PC setup, system indicates no bootable drive available.

Problem encountered with PC setup, system indicates no bootable drive available.

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iTz_x_Joesephs
Member
162
08-08-2022, 01:15 AM
#1
You just assembled your first computer and are feeling a bit lost. You considered using parts from your old machine, but the new one doesn’t see them as bootable drives. However, it does recognize them. You learned that both drives needed to be connected together for Windows to start. Here’s a quick overview of the components you mentioned:

- Motherboard: H81M-E34
- Old PC Hardware: Samsung Evo 870 1TB Seagate HDD
- New PC: 1TB Seagate HDD
- New PC Storage: Asus ROG Strix B660-A

Make sure the drives are properly connected and try booting again.
I
iTz_x_Joesephs
08-08-2022, 01:15 AM #1

You just assembled your first computer and are feeling a bit lost. You considered using parts from your old machine, but the new one doesn’t see them as bootable drives. However, it does recognize them. You learned that both drives needed to be connected together for Windows to start. Here’s a quick overview of the components you mentioned:

- Motherboard: H81M-E34
- Old PC Hardware: Samsung Evo 870 1TB Seagate HDD
- New PC: 1TB Seagate HDD
- New PC Storage: Asus ROG Strix B660-A

Make sure the drives are properly connected and try booting again.

B
BriannaJ16
Member
123
08-08-2022, 05:08 AM
#2
There seems to be a new BIOS rootkit threat linked to Asus and Gigabyte H81 motherboards, primarily affecting devices in Asia. The exact purpose remains unclear, but it's believed to have been active since around 2016. It likely targets boot sectors to prevent successful installations on other systems. I don’t know the full compatibility details of the H81—whether the SSD uses M.2 or standard SATA, if it’s formatted with FAT32 or NTFS, and whether it uses a partitioned GPT or MBR. These specifics could influence its behavior.
B
BriannaJ16
08-08-2022, 05:08 AM #2

There seems to be a new BIOS rootkit threat linked to Asus and Gigabyte H81 motherboards, primarily affecting devices in Asia. The exact purpose remains unclear, but it's believed to have been active since around 2016. It likely targets boot sectors to prevent successful installations on other systems. I don’t know the full compatibility details of the H81—whether the SSD uses M.2 or standard SATA, if it’s formatted with FAT32 or NTFS, and whether it uses a partitioned GPT or MBR. These specifics could influence its behavior.

P
papercut3
Member
221
08-09-2022, 07:51 PM
#3
The SSD uses standard SATA connections, and I’ll clarify the details and get back to you.
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papercut3
08-09-2022, 07:51 PM #3

The SSD uses standard SATA connections, and I’ll clarify the details and get back to you.

C
citroPvP
Member
185
08-10-2022, 02:04 AM
#4
Perhaps it's not the main concern, but I've heard about cases where Windows could store some boot files on separate drives within the same system. If that's the situation, it's possible that changing the connection order might stop the system from starting. I think this was more related to RAID setup.
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citroPvP
08-10-2022, 02:04 AM #4

Perhaps it's not the main concern, but I've heard about cases where Windows could store some boot files on separate drives within the same system. If that's the situation, it's possible that changing the connection order might stop the system from starting. I think this was more related to RAID setup.

C
CamaroKingz
Junior Member
20
08-17-2022, 10:16 AM
#5
It looks like your new board includes an Intel rapid storage feature. Check the BIOS settings and ensure it’s disabled. This issue occurred with me too—neither of my SSDs was recognized or available to be set as a boot drive. It seems you didn’t modify the previous SSD/HDD and simply added it to the new PC. If that’s the case, you’ll likely need to install a fresh Windows operating system. I had two SSDs during setup; one already had Windows 10 from another machine, while the other was blank. The new OS won’t boot with the old one because hardware and drivers differ, so a clean installation is necessary to match the new hardware requirements. Given your older board is quite outdated compared to the newer B660M board, you probably can’t reuse the existing drivers. Therefore, I recommend creating a fresh drive or partition and preparing a bootable USB for Windows installation before proceeding with the new OS.
C
CamaroKingz
08-17-2022, 10:16 AM #5

It looks like your new board includes an Intel rapid storage feature. Check the BIOS settings and ensure it’s disabled. This issue occurred with me too—neither of my SSDs was recognized or available to be set as a boot drive. It seems you didn’t modify the previous SSD/HDD and simply added it to the new PC. If that’s the case, you’ll likely need to install a fresh Windows operating system. I had two SSDs during setup; one already had Windows 10 from another machine, while the other was blank. The new OS won’t boot with the old one because hardware and drivers differ, so a clean installation is necessary to match the new hardware requirements. Given your older board is quite outdated compared to the newer B660M board, you probably can’t reuse the existing drivers. Therefore, I recommend creating a fresh drive or partition and preparing a bootable USB for Windows installation before proceeding with the new OS.

M
moni9432
Member
134
08-17-2022, 10:22 AM
#6
You’d likely need a replacement SSD or HDD for this task, but you can also try installing the new operating system directly onto your existing SSD.
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moni9432
08-17-2022, 10:22 AM #6

You’d likely need a replacement SSD or HDD for this task, but you can also try installing the new operating system directly onto your existing SSD.

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TdmFan92
Senior Member
602
08-18-2022, 12:54 AM
#7
You can upgrade to the latest operating system by installing it on the existing SSD. Make sure you allocate a minimum of 70GB of empty space. When using the bootable USB installer, you can set up the new partition for the OS before beginning the installation. There are many helpful tutorials available from Google.
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TdmFan92
08-18-2022, 12:54 AM #7

You can upgrade to the latest operating system by installing it on the existing SSD. Make sure you allocate a minimum of 70GB of empty space. When using the bootable USB installer, you can set up the new partition for the OS before beginning the installation. There are many helpful tutorials available from Google.