F5F Stay Refreshed Hardware Desktop Windows boot manager, need assistance.

Windows boot manager, need assistance.

Windows boot manager, need assistance.

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warmtheguy
Member
71
05-10-2021, 06:13 PM
#1
Hey there... I'm trying to figure out a problem I haven't seen before. I have three NVMe drives installed—two on Windows 11 and one on Windows 10. When I removed the Windows 10 drive, the bootloader just shut down completely and didn<|pad|> to show up at all. I found some guides about disabling the bootloader, but mine doesn't look like the usual blue recovery mode. I'm worried I might lose everything if I just change it. I don't have screenshots of the issue, but I can take a picture if that helps. Anyone else had something similar? Thanks! Any advice would be super welcome.
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warmtheguy
05-10-2021, 06:13 PM #1

Hey there... I'm trying to figure out a problem I haven't seen before. I have three NVMe drives installed—two on Windows 11 and one on Windows 10. When I removed the Windows 10 drive, the bootloader just shut down completely and didn<|pad|> to show up at all. I found some guides about disabling the bootloader, but mine doesn't look like the usual blue recovery mode. I'm worried I might lose everything if I just change it. I don't have screenshots of the issue, but I can take a picture if that helps. Anyone else had something similar? Thanks! Any advice would be super welcome.

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LolaLouie
Senior Member
742
05-18-2021, 07:58 PM
#2
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LolaLouie
05-18-2021, 07:58 PM #2

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Asianbv
Member
61
05-19-2021, 03:46 AM
#3
To resolve this, you might need to set up a new partition on the Windows drive with a backup. This approach is similar to removing the old drive and reinstalling Windows on the new one while keeping your files. The process you mentioned could differ, letting you maintain the current Windows installation without a bootloader. It’s unclear if future updates will avoid this issue, but you may be able to prevent it by adjusting settings now.
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Asianbv
05-19-2021, 03:46 AM #3

To resolve this, you might need to set up a new partition on the Windows drive with a backup. This approach is similar to removing the old drive and reinstalling Windows on the new one while keeping your files. The process you mentioned could differ, letting you maintain the current Windows installation without a bootloader. It’s unclear if future updates will avoid this issue, but you may be able to prevent it by adjusting settings now.

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explizip
Member
227
05-19-2021, 05:03 AM
#4
The simple method to avoid placing the bootloader and boot partitions on another drive is to leave only the boot drive when installing Windows. This isn't accurate. If you resolve the bootloader using the Windows media, everything should be set up automatically.
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explizip
05-19-2021, 05:03 AM #4

The simple method to avoid placing the bootloader and boot partitions on another drive is to leave only the boot drive when installing Windows. This isn't accurate. If you resolve the bootloader using the Windows media, everything should be set up automatically.

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SiphonicVirus
Member
201
05-21-2021, 08:29 PM
#5
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SiphonicVirus
05-21-2021, 08:29 PM #5

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HatterHologram
Junior Member
45
05-22-2021, 12:57 PM
#6
Be aware of potential issues during the process. Diskpart is free software, but you might need to download it before entering recovery mode. I’m used to losing data on Linux, but with Windows it feels much more dangerous.
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HatterHologram
05-22-2021, 12:57 PM #6

Be aware of potential issues during the process. Diskpart is free software, but you might need to download it before entering recovery mode. I’m used to losing data on Linux, but with Windows it feels much more dangerous.

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mishy07
Senior Member
371
05-22-2021, 02:48 PM
#7
diskpart is included with windows and should be provided alongside the installation USB for fixing issues. Modifying system partitions typically needs the OS to run, which carries risks. However, as long as you avoid deleting anything, you should be safe. In the past, I used a partition magic bootloader for various systems—it came with a 2MB partition that had to be installed first, or the initial partition had to be reduced. The same applies to your Windows drives; it’s advised to enable only the install disk during setup. Shrinking a partition is less damaging than deleting it, and you should aim for around 600-700MB of free space before the system partition and about 800MB afterward. I’m not certain if it recreates recovery partitions, but it’s worth checking before proceeding.
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mishy07
05-22-2021, 02:48 PM #7

diskpart is included with windows and should be provided alongside the installation USB for fixing issues. Modifying system partitions typically needs the OS to run, which carries risks. However, as long as you avoid deleting anything, you should be safe. In the past, I used a partition magic bootloader for various systems—it came with a 2MB partition that had to be installed first, or the initial partition had to be reduced. The same applies to your Windows drives; it’s advised to enable only the install disk during setup. Shrinking a partition is less damaging than deleting it, and you should aim for around 600-700MB of free space before the system partition and about 800MB afterward. I’m not certain if it recreates recovery partitions, but it’s worth checking before proceeding.