SSD, USB Stick, BIOS, Panic

[tulamide]

Ok,

after weeks and weeks of delay caused by fear, today I finally installed an SSD and a HDD in my PC, who refused to run anymore. I connected a USB stick prepared with Microsoft's Media Creation Tool and started the PC. To my great joy, it booted from the stick and started the first pages of the installation process. However, when it was about time to select a drive, the SSD didn't show up. I was confused, because all 3 drives did show up in the BIOS. So I looked for several options, cancelling them when I realised it wasn't the one that could help me. And then I hit "installation", but no security question popped up. It just started to install on the HDD. I quickly closed the window and got a message along the lines of "changes made will not be saved" (????). I restarted the PC, but since then it only tells me on a DOS screen, I should insert a booting device. I checked the USB stick, it showed on my emergency PC just fine. I also learned that contrary to HDDs, you need to format SSDs first!

1) Why is the PC not booting from the stick anymore (boot priority in BIOS is stick, ssd, hdd)
2) Why is the BIOS showing correctly 3 drives, one of them identified as the USB stick, but the other two both with the manufactorer name of my HDD?
3) If I connect the SSD to a SATA port in my emergency PC and format it there, will that suffice? Can I install it back to the other PC right after installing?
4) How to get the USB stick to boot again? BIOS is set to the correct boot priority (see above), and the stick works fine on my energency PC. The contents show .efi files, and I have a UEFI BIOS, but I don't know if that is from the media creation tool or from the bios. Do I have to re-install from the media creation center? Is it even possible?

My fear of making things worse is so immense, especially after I gained some hope, seeing that most of the hardware (CPU, RAM, GPU, HDD) seems to work ok. I was so full of adrenaline that my shirt was absolutely wet just after minutes from the sweating and my hands shivered like crazy, I don't want to take any more steps until I definitely know the path I have to go.

Please help!

[juha_tp]

It's possible that installer wrote some BOOT related data to the HDD (or USB disk) and did not remove it after your cancellation.

If your HDD is empty and you don't need it for OS then you could take off its SATA cable so system can't see it.
Did you try by enabling only USB stick in BOOT priority option?

If your motherboard is old enough it may be necessary to update BIOS to support current SSD drives. You should find necessary information from motherboard manufacturers software/driver downloads.

Sometimes you have to re-make the installation media.

[DaveyBoy]

Not trying to teach Grannies to suck eggs . . When installing Windows I always disconnect all drives except for the system one. This avoids any ambiguity as to where Windows will install & also avoids any possibility of overwriting your data. I then connect the other drives once Windows is set up. Works for me

[Spogg]

I’m not sure this will help but I do know that Windows creates a small hidden partition on the target drive for storing its own shit. This partition isn’t visible in Windows and is never assigned a drive letter for example. I guess it’s a proprietary format that only MS can read, but in an aborted installation it may be unreadable now.

I would be inclined to use Disk tools on the emergency PC and delete all partitions, format the SSD and start again, without the HDD connected as mentioned by DaveyBoy. I think the USB stick may have had files written to it so, since it fails to boot on the target computer, it may be necessary to create a new media installation on it. This is probably a good idea anyway, to be sure of a clean and proper installation. It may be that the installation has set the USB stick as the C: drive.

It’s been a while since I installed Windows 10 on anything, but I know that early on there is an advanced option where you can create partitions on the chosen target drive and format them. Normally I would set 100% for C: drive and then you’ll get a message about Windows creating this small partition.

The main source of anxiety was worrying if the hardware was working, and it is. So you can relax now and feel free to mess around.

Good luck sir!

[tulamide]

Thanks for the answers so far. When I make a list in order of execution, I have to

1) Format the SSD on my working/emergency PC
2) Redo the Media Creation Tool process of setting up my USB stick
3) Disable the HDD
4) Hardware-install the SSD again
5) Plug in the USB stick
6) Start the PC

Is that correct? No other steps needed? Anything I miss?

[tulamide]

It’s been a while since I installed Windows 10 on anything, but I know that early on there is an advanced option where you can create partitions on the chosen target drive and format them. Normally I would set 100% for C: drive and then you’ll get a message about Windows creating this small partition.

I didn't have that. It showed only the HDD, not the SSD, and it set the HDD to be C: and 100% already. I just clicked install, because I thought it would give me a summary of what it will do, before carrying out the tasks. But it installed immediately, without any mention of the small partition.

[Spogg]

I checked and this is actually what I saw myself:

https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/ins ... be5eb751bb

You have to select Custom Install. On the next page you can choose the disk and partition and you also get the Drive options (advanced) so you can delete all partitions first, which may be a good idea if any partitions show (the special Windows partition should be visible at this point, if it’s been made before.)

I think the steps you wrote are correct.

Sorry if I misled you before. I was writing from memory (clearly corrupted).

[tulamide]

Well, that's strange. It looks different on my screen. Different graphics, ok, but the contents are similar up until the last image. There I was presented with no partitions as in your example link, just a drive selection, and I had not 3 but 4 options (I think it was "format"). I did click on all of the options (refresh, drive options, etc.), but I couldn't do anything that wasn't already done (the HDD was in a clean, fresh state, no need to partition anything, as I mentioned already "set to one partition and 100%"). And the "next" button didn't exist. It was labelled "install". When I clicked it, the installation started immediately.

All of that in German, of course, so maybe the translator took the liberty of creativity. But the list on your example image listing so differently to the list on my PC (just drive x followed by manufacturer id) makes me nervous.

EDIT: Found it. This is what it looked like for me. Scroll down to point 10 (and replace "next" by "install").
https://support.nzxt.com/hc/en-us/articles/360039308093-How-to-do-a-fresh-install-of-Windows-10

[juha_tp]

I have done soooo many Windows to SSD installations and never had issues like yours.

Did you already check if the BIOS supports your SSD disk? ... if your SSD is recognized as HDD then it's possible path to go

Have you tried SSD manufacturers utilities for SSD ? ... does it recognize your SSD correctly

Is fresh OS install the only option ? ... if not there are tools for data migration but, for W10 you need to go through some Microsoft stuff because of installation HW change...

[tulamide]

I have done soooo many Windows to SSD installations and never had issues like yours.

And when I say to my friends in despair, "why does it always happen to me", they answer with "oh come on, it's not only you" - It seems they're wrong

Did you already check if the BIOS supports your SSD disk? ... if your SSD is recognized as HDD then it's possible path to go

As stated in the OP. Yes, it's recognized by the BIOS, but not by the Windows installer.

Have you tried SSD manufacturers utilities for SSD ? ... does it recognize your SSD correctly

There is no utility from the manufacturer (the SSD is a Crucial MX500). I looked on their page today, and there is just a video, showing me that I had to buy a SATA-to-USB cable (approx. €25-€30 ), then connect the SSD with that cable to a USB port on my working/emergency PC, and then run the standard Windows tool to "quick format" (a specific option in that tool) the SSD.

Is fresh OS install the only option ? ... if not there are tools for data migration but, for W10 you need to go through some Microsoft stuff because of installation HW change...

Yes, fresh OS is the only option.