Question NVMe SSD vanished from Boot Priority
Question NVMe SSD vanished from Boot Priority
I had been operating my desktop smoothly until suddenly it crashed during a game. The PC froze and couldn't restart, displaying an error about 'winload.efi missing'. When I accessed BIOS, the NVMe SSD was absent from the Boot Priority list. After learning about problems when CSM was off, I turned it back on and managed to boot into Windows again. A screenshot taken with CSM enabled shows the Windows Boot Manager on an EVO 250GB SSD.
https://imgur.com/a/iflF6D1
I'm highly likely that Windows is installed on the NVMe drive. With CSM disabled, my desktop stopped booting into Windows. When CSM was active, setting it to boot from the NVMe resulted in a 'no boot device' error.
Right now, I can still boot into Windows with CSM enabled and everything appears normal. I'm trying to figure out what originally caused this problem. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!
Elevated command prompt is used. Running regular prompts will cause errors on the final step. If issues arise, stop immediately and display a screenshot. Execute diskpart commands to manage disks and partitions. Delete the recovery partition to free space, then create a new EFI partition with fat32 format and assign it to letter H. Complete the installation by booting from bcdboot C:\windows /s H: /f UEFI. Final message: "Boot files created successfully".
I'm nearly sure Windows is already running on the NVMe SSD. Did the operating system get installed while the CSM was active? Were all drives disconnected except the 840 Evo during the OS installation process? Or was the OS drive moved from a previous system without a full reinstall?
Display a screenshot of Disk Management.
If the bootloader was active on the NVMe drive previously, it might be damaged.
In such cases, the bootloader on the NVMe drive will require repair or recreation.
Can't confirm with certainty, but I'm sure all drives were connected and visible during setup. I attempted to match each drive to the volume listed in the installer. I might consider updating the BIOS, though I usually wait until other solutions are explored. The 840 EVO dying is a possibility. It's over ten years old, but I suspect Windows wasn't originally installed there (refer to the attached screenshots).
Seasonic FOCUS GX-850 80+ Gold, bought in 2021
https://imgur.com/a/kXQSDru
Attached 2 images: first is Disk Management, second shows Windows-recognized drives with the WD Black label. Based on size and speed, it's likely an NVMe drive. If you have a more definitive method, I'd appreciate trying it.
This seems to match what's been observed, though I've never encountered something similar before. How can I recreate the bootloader? Are there steps I can take to prevent this from happening again or reduce the risk?
Thank you both for your help!
Only the bootable disk with 250GB EVO is available. That's the sole device with the bootloader (100MB EFI system partition). No other drives have ever been accessible for booting. You never connected a NVME drive to start Windows. Remember, the Windows drive and the bootloader drive are distinct. It's perfectly acceptable to have the bootloader on one drive while Windows is on another. However, if the bootloader drive fails, you'll lose access to Windows.
Elevated command prompt execution begins here.
Standard prompt will trigger failure at the final stage.
If issues arise, halt immediately and display a screenshot.
diskpart
list disk
select disk 3
(select 1TB OS disk)
list partition
select partition 3
(select 737MB recovery partition, we will remove it to release space)
delete partition override
create partition efi
format fs=fat32 quick
assign letter=H
exit
bcdboot C:\windows /s H: /f UEFI
Last message should read:
"Boot files created successfully".
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