Unable to start from the M.2 Samsung 970 SSD drive.
Unable to start from the M.2 Samsung 970 SSD drive.
I built a new PC for my sister and connected a Samsung 970 M.2 SSD to the motherboard. I installed Windows using an USB drive. The system launched with two installs: one from her old Kingston SSD and another from the new M.2 SSD. When we booted both drives together, a blue screen appeared asking which drive to start from. It suggested the M.2 SSD should work. Now, after moving data from the old Kingston SSD to the new M.2, I removed the old one to use it elsewhere. The issue persists—when I try to boot from the new M.2 SSD, it won’t unless I connect the old Kingston drive again. In BIOS, I switched from UEFI to CSM, but the M.2 still doesn’t boot. My disk manager shows the Kingston SSD formatted, yet the system refuses to recognize it.
I believe that's the solution now. I set up a 50GB partition on the M.2, reinstalled Windows there, took out the old Kingston SSD, and it started booting without issues. The M.2 appears in the boot order, which resolved the problem. However, I still prefer using the Windows I installed on the main partition of the M.2, including everything we moved and updated yesterday, instead of relying on the new test partition. One issue fixed, another appears.
It's not possible to simply transfer the bootloader to fix an existing partition issue.
I just reinstalled Windows on the M.2 drive, connected just the USB, and it functioned properly. Thanks!