UEFI / Legacy BIOS Mess and Windows Update

Megahertz said:

Tonkski, as you have a UEFI BIOS, why don't you make it UEFI- GPT instead of Legacy-MBR?

@NavyLCDR suggested just that, and gave instructions on how to do it using Macrium.

UEFI / Legacy BIOS Mess and Windows Update

IMO, that is the best way forward for the OP.

OldNavyGuy said:

@NavyLCDR suggested just that, and gave instructions on how to do it using Macrium.

UEFI / Legacy BIOS Mess and Windows Update

IMO, that is the best way forward for the OP.

And I suggested another way that can be much faster.

I'm planning on getting to a proper Legacy-MBR system first, as that seems quickest and lowest risk. Once I'm happy with that and I can get the Windows 10 updates again I'll back it all up and try migrating to UEFI. I'm comfortable using Macrium.

Megahertz said:

And I suggested another way that can be much faster.

Faster doesn't always mean easier for the user.

topgundcp said:

@Tonkski
Your PC is setup to boot using Legacy with Bitlocker enabled.
The System Reserved partition is essential with BitLocker enabled, which can’t function otherwise (Info for bitlocker is also stored in it).
If you re-format the reserved partition, info for bitlocker will be lost and you might not be able to access C drive)

Just set your BIOS back to use Legacy to see if you can boot it.

Thanks.
So far I've cloned the laptop's SSD to a spare HDD using Macrium (I gather this disables Bitlocker in the clone). I plan to put the cloned HDD into my laptop and follow the instructions to get back to legacy boot - to see if it works. If that works I'll swap back and repeat with the SSD. What you're saying suggests that I'd need to do something about Bitlocker to be able to repeat the process successfully on the SSD?
At the moment, with the original SSD still in the laptop and no changes made yet, when I change the boot option to Legacy I get an error about a missing file <Windows root>\system32\hal.dll.

- - - Updated - - -

Thanks for everyone's help. I've managed to get back to a legacy boot with Windows updates working and Bitlocker encryption. Here's what I did, in case anyone else manages to get themselves into the same mess:

1. Cloned the SSD in the laptop to a HDD using Macrium and put the HDD in my laptop. I did this so I could get back to the starting point if necessary.
2. Switched the Bios boot option to Legacy.
3. Booted off the Macrium Rescue USB and repaired boot problems.
4. Booted the machine and everything was let to "Legacy" - Bios option, MSINFO and BCDEDIT.
5. Trouble is, the cloning disabled Bitlocker and when I tried to enable it I got an error "cannot find target system drive". After trying every solution I out there without success, I deleted the two recovery partitions using FDISK from a recovery USB. I guess Bitlocker couldn't set up because of the maximum partitions limit for legacy boot.

I just need to clone back to the SSD and enable Bitlocker, but that should be trivial.
Thanks again.