Secure boot prevents Windows from starting.
Secure boot prevents Windows from starting.
The Aorus A520 Elite motherboard runs Windows with a legacy BIOS. Disabling CSM allowed Secure Boot, but after saving and restarting, Windows wouldn't load. After checking, it showed only an NVMe M.2 drive with Windows 10. When I switched back to Secure Boot, the boot sequence changed and everything worked. Please let me know if you want to keep Secure Boot enabled.
You can divide your storage to create areas for saving your files, then transfer them as needed. During a Windows EFI reinstall, choose a custom setup and remove other partitions carefully so you don’t lose the one with your moved files. Proceed with the installation, then return those files and reinstall any programs.
Begin by launching Disk Management on your system. You can do this by clicking the Start menu icon and choosing "Disk Management" or using the search bar in Windows to find it and select "Create and format hard disk partitions." In the manager, choose your main hard drive—typically labeled "C:"—click it and click "Shrink Volume." Input the desired size in megabytes; for example, 100GB converts to 102,400. This generates a fresh, unallocated partition. Right-click it and create a "New Simple Volume," then assign a drive letter and name. Transfer any essential files to this new volume via File Explorer, similar to backing up to an external drive. Restart Windows using UEFI mode and boot from the USB drive you prepared. Proceed with the installation process. When prompted for a custom install, select it. On the subsequent screen, remove all partitions except the newly created one, then click "Next." After setup finishes, you may need to reinsert the partition in Disk Management before proceeding. Installing software directly is better than merely copying files.
Yes, that's correct. You place the files on a separate hard drive, activate secure boot, and then follow the remaining steps.