Unable to delete the old hard drive—Windows 11 won’t launch without it
Unable to delete the old hard drive—Windows 11 won’t launch without it
Current specs of my PC are listed in my profile if required. My discussion focuses on three different SSD models: Samsung 960 Evo 1TB, Samsung 970 Evo Plus 1TB, and Samsung 970 Evo Plus 2TB. This setup is what I’m explaining. I’ll use abbreviated names for the SSDs in this post—Samsung 960, Samsung 970, and Samsung 970. Last year I upgraded to a new system with an i5-12600KF and RX 6700 XT, using my 960 as the boot drive. In 2022 I added a larger 970 2TB for more space. Recently I bought a 970 2TB to expand capacity further. My plan was to switch from the old 960 to the newer 970 1TB, keeping the 960 for my older PC. During the switch, I moved all data from the 970 1TB to the 970 2TB, erased it, and installed Windows 11 on the 970 1TB via USB. This allowed dual booting between Windows 10 and 11, as Windows 10 remained on the 960. I then copied necessary files from the 960 to the 970 1TB (in Windows 11 I didn’t boot into Windows 10). Afterward, I deleted the rest of the 960’s contents by removing its volume in Disk Management, but couldn’t delete the EFI partition. Recently I tried removing the 960 and reinstalling it, but my current PC only boots to BIOS. When I reinserted it, Windows 11 launched again. I attempted the Windows repair tool from the installer USB, but it didn’t detect any problems. I’m unsure how to research this issue further, so I’m sharing this here. Here’s a screenshot of my drives in Disk Management—Disk 2 holds the 960. Thank you for reading.
Your boot/EFI drive remains on the 960. Windows 11 behaved oddly during installation on the 970. It’s recommended to delete the 960 before upgrading to Windows 11, or clone it first and then upgrade.
Certainly! The best approach would be to back up vital information from the 970 1TB drive, erase it completely, and then reinstall everything fresh without any additional storage devices.