Move the Boot Loader from HDD to M2 disk drive

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  1. thanosa
    Posts : 9
    MS Windows 10 Pro 10.0.18363 Build 18363
       New #1

    Move the Boot Loader from HDD to M2 disk drive


    My windows 10 installation is on (C:) drive ("Boot" label), however the Boot Loader ("System" label) resides on another disk (F:).

    Here is the Disk Management:
    Move the Boot Loader from HDD to M2 disk drive-disk_management.png

    I need some help on how to move the Boot Loaded from the (F:) drive to (C:) without formatting the (C:) drive which has the windows installation. Formatting the (F:) drive is something I can easily do.

    Note: One of the reasons that I need to do this fix is that the BitLocker is not enabled for my disk drive (F:). Another reason is that I want to be able to detach the drive (F:) without affecting my system boot.

    Additional information:
    Windows version: Windows 10 Version 1909 (OS Build 18363.836)
    BIOS Mode: Legacy
    BIOS Version: American Megatrends Inc F3
    BIOS Date: 24-Dec-18
    SMBIOS Versions: 3.2
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  3. zbook
    Posts : 41,452
    windows 10 professional version 1607 build 14393.969 64 bit
       New #2

    Open administrative command prompt and copy and paste: (all at one time)

    Code:
    bcdedit /enum all
reagentc /info
diskpart
lis dis
lis vol
sel dis 0
det dis
lis par
sel par 1
det par
sel par 2
det par
sel par 3
det par
sel dis 1
det dis
lis par
sel par 1
det par
sel par 2
det par
sel par 3
det par
sel dis 2
det dis
lis par
sel par 1
det par
sel par 2
det par
sel par 3
det par
sel par 4
det par
sel par 5
det par
    When these have completed > right click on the top bar or title bar of the administrative command prompt box > left click on edit then select all > right click on the top bar again > left click on edit then copy > paste into the thread
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  4. NavyLCDR
    Posts : 18,430
    Windows 11 Pro
       New #3

    Since BitLocker is encrypting C: drive, you will have to shrink C: drive by 100 meg to make room for a separate System Partition. I'm going to show you the easy way, but you will end up with a non-standard disk layout because the system partition will end up after C: drive and the standard is for the system partition to be in front of C: drive. Open a Command Prompt (Admin) [Run as Administrator Command Prompt] and run:

    Code:
    diskpart
select disk 2
select part 1
shrink desired=100
create part pri
format fs=NTFS
active
assign letter=z
exit
bcdboot C:\Windows /s Z: /f BIOS
exit
    Then reboot your computer into BIOS setup and set the disk containing C: drive as the first boot priority.

    The method to make a more standard drive layout is to use a program such as Minitool Partition Wizard free to shrink C: drive by 100 meg from the front of the partition - not the back of the partition. Then create a 100 meg primary partition, format it, mark it as active, give it a drive letter, then run the bcdboot command to make it bootable.
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  6. thanosa
    Posts : 9
    MS Windows 10 Pro 10.0.18363 Build 18363
    Thread Starter
       New #4

    zbook said:
    Open administrative command prompt and copy and paste: (all at one time)

    Code:
    bcdedit /enum all
reagentc /info
diskpart
lis dis
lis vol
sel dis 0
det dis
lis par
sel par 1
det par
sel par 2
det par
sel par 3
det par
sel dis 1
det dis
lis par
sel par 1
det par
sel par 2
det par
sel par 3
det par
sel dis 2
det dis
lis par
sel par 1
det par
sel par 2
det par
sel par 3
det par
sel par 4
det par
sel par 5
det par
    When these have completed > right click on the top bar or title bar of the administrative command prompt box > left click on edit then select all > right click on the top bar again > left click on edit then copy > paste into the thread
    Thanks a lot for the immediate response!
    Here is the diagnostics output:

    Code:
    Microsoft Windows [Version 10.0.18363.836]
(c) 2019 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

C:\WINDOWS\system32>bcdedit /enum all

Windows Boot Manager
--------------------
identifier              {bootmgr}
device                  partition=F:
description             Windows Boot Manager
locale                  en-US
inherit                 {globalsettings}
default                 {current}
resumeobject            {833fc04c-8753-11e9-b651-f9ec98307302}
displayorder            {current}
toolsdisplayorder       {memdiag}
timeout                 30

Windows Boot Loader
-------------------
identifier              {00d1d151-0833-11e9-abae-8a94af3d12d9}
device                  ramdisk=[unknown]\Recovery\WindowsRE\Winre.wim,{00d1d152-0833-11e9-abae-8a94af3d12d9}
path                    \windows\system32\winload.exe
description             Windows Recovery Environment
locale                  en-US
inherit                 {bootloadersettings}
displaymessage          Recovery
displaymessageoverride  Recovery
osdevice                ramdisk=[unknown]\Recovery\WindowsRE\Winre.wim,{00d1d152-0833-11e9-abae-8a94af3d12d9}
systemroot              \windows
nx                      OptIn
bootmenupolicy          Standard
winpe                   Yes

Windows Boot Loader
-------------------
identifier              {324140eb-8708-11e9-b006-a3c5025d8351}
device                  ramdisk=[\Device\HarddiskVolume2]\Recovery\WindowsRE\Winre.wim,{324140ec-8708-11e9-b006-a3c5025d8351}
path                    \windows\system32\winload.exe
description             Windows Recovery Environment
locale                  en-US
inherit                 {bootloadersettings}
displaymessage          Recovery
osdevice                ramdisk=[\Device\HarddiskVolume2]\Recovery\WindowsRE\Winre.wim,{324140ec-8708-11e9-b006-a3c5025d8351}
systemroot              \windows
nx                      OptIn
bootmenupolicy          Standard
winpe                   Yes

Windows Boot Loader
-------------------
identifier              {current}
device                  partition=C:
path                    \WINDOWS\system32\winload.exe
description             Windows 10
locale                  en-US
inherit                 {bootloadersettings}
recoverysequence        {324140eb-8708-11e9-b006-a3c5025d8351}
displaymessageoverride  Recovery
recoveryenabled         Yes
allowedinmemorysettings 0x15000075
osdevice                partition=C:
systemroot              \WINDOWS
resumeobject            {833fc04c-8753-11e9-b651-f9ec98307302}
nx                      OptIn
bootmenupolicy          Standard
hypervisorlaunchtype    Auto

Resume from Hibernate
---------------------
identifier              {00d1d14f-0833-11e9-abae-8a94af3d12d9}
device                  unknown
path                    \Windows\system32\winresume.exe
description             Windows Resume Application
locale                  en-US
inherit                 {resumeloadersettings}
recoverysequence        {00d1d151-0833-11e9-abae-8a94af3d12d9}
recoveryenabled         Yes
allowedinmemorysettings 0x15000075
filedevice              unknown
filepath                \hiberfil.sys
bootmenupolicy          Standard
debugoptionenabled      No

Resume from Hibernate
---------------------
identifier              {833fc04c-8753-11e9-b651-f9ec98307302}
device                  partition=C:
path                    \WINDOWS\system32\winresume.exe
description             Windows Resume Application
locale                  en-US
inherit                 {resumeloadersettings}
recoverysequence        {324140eb-8708-11e9-b006-a3c5025d8351}
recoveryenabled         Yes
allowedinmemorysettings 0x15000075
filedevice              partition=C:
filepath                \hiberfil.sys
bootmenupolicy          Standard
debugoptionenabled      No

Windows Memory Tester
---------------------
identifier              {memdiag}
device                  partition=F:
path                    \boot\memtest.exe
description             Windows Memory Diagnostic
locale                  en-US
inherit                 {globalsettings}
badmemoryaccess         Yes

EMS Settings
------------
identifier              {emssettings}
bootems                 No

Debugger Settings
-----------------
identifier              {dbgsettings}
debugtype               Serial
debugport               1
baudrate                115200

RAM Defects
-----------
identifier              {badmemory}

Global Settings
---------------
identifier              {globalsettings}
inherit                 {dbgsettings}
                        {emssettings}
                        {badmemory}

Boot Loader Settings
--------------------
identifier              {bootloadersettings}
inherit                 {globalsettings}
                        {hypervisorsettings}

Hypervisor Settings
-------------------
identifier              {hypervisorsettings}
hypervisordebugtype     Serial
hypervisordebugport     1
hypervisorbaudrate      115200

Resume Loader Settings
----------------------
identifier              {resumeloadersettings}
inherit                 {globalsettings}

Device options
--------------
identifier              {00d1d152-0833-11e9-abae-8a94af3d12d9}
description             Windows Recovery
ramdisksdidevice        unknown
ramdisksdipath          \Recovery\WindowsRE\boot.sdi

Device options
--------------
identifier              {324140ec-8708-11e9-b006-a3c5025d8351}
description             Windows Recovery
ramdisksdidevice        partition=\Device\HarddiskVolume2
ramdisksdipath          \Recovery\WindowsRE\boot.sdi

C:\WINDOWS\system32>reagentc /info
Windows Recovery Environment (Windows RE) and system reset configuration
Information:

    Windows RE status:         Enabled
    Windows RE location:       \\?\GLOBALROOT\device\harddisk2\partition2\Recovery\WindowsRE
    Boot Configuration Data (BCD) identifier: 324140eb-8708-11e9-b006-a3c5025d8351
    Recovery image location:
    Recovery image index:      0
    Custom image location:
    Custom image index:        0

REAGENTC.EXE: Operation Successful.


C:\WINDOWS\system32>diskpart

Microsoft DiskPart version 10.0.18362.1

Copyright (C) Microsoft Corporation.
On computer: KATRAMI

DISKPART> lis dis

  Disk ###  Status         Size     Free     Dyn  Gpt
  --------  -------------  -------  -------  ---  ---
  Disk 0    Online          931 GB      0 B
  Disk 1    Online          232 GB  1024 KB
  Disk 2    Online          465 GB  1024 KB

DISKPART> lis vol

  Volume ###  Ltr  Label        Fs     Type        Size     Status     Info
  ----------  ---  -----------  -----  ----------  -------  ---------  --------
  Volume 0     E                       DVD-ROM         0 B  No Media
  Volume 1     F   HDD 1TB pub  NTFS   Partition    931 GB  Healthy    System
  Volume 2     D   ssd 250GB m  NTFS   Partition    232 GB  Healthy
  Volume 3     C   M2 500GB     NTFS   Partition    465 GB  Healthy    Boot

DISKPART> sel dis 0

Disk 0 is now the selected disk.

DISKPART> det dis

WDC WD10EFRX-68FYTN0
Disk ID: EF8DAA63
Type   : SATA
Status : Online
Path   : 0
Target : 0
LUN ID : 0
Location Path : PCIROOT(0)#PCI(0103)#PCI(0001)#ATA(C00T00L00)
Current Read-only State : No
Read-only  : No
Boot Disk  : No
Pagefile Disk  : No
Hibernation File Disk  : No
Crashdump Disk  : No
Clustered Disk  : No

  Volume ###  Ltr  Label        Fs     Type        Size     Status     Info
  ----------  ---  -----------  -----  ----------  -------  ---------  --------
  Volume 1     F   HDD 1TB pub  NTFS   Partition    931 GB  Healthy    System

DISKPART> lis par

  Partition ###  Type              Size     Offset
  -------------  ----------------  -------  -------
  Partition 1    Primary            931 GB  1024 KB

DISKPART> sel par 1

Partition 1 is now the selected partition.

DISKPART> det par

Partition 1
Type  : 07
Hidden: No
Active: Yes
Offset in Bytes: 1048576

  Volume ###  Ltr  Label        Fs     Type        Size     Status     Info
  ----------  ---  -----------  -----  ----------  -------  ---------  --------
* Volume 1     F   HDD 1TB pub  NTFS   Partition    931 GB  Healthy    System

DISKPART> sel par 2

The specified partition is not valid.
Please select a valid partition.

There is no partition selected.

DISKPART> det par

There is no partition selected.
Please select a partition and try again.

DISKPART> sel par 3

The specified partition is not valid.
Please select a valid partition.

There is no partition selected.

DISKPART> det par

There is no partition selected.
Please select a partition and try again.

DISKPART> sel dis 1

Disk 1 is now the selected disk.

DISKPART> det dis

Samsung SSD 850 EVO 250GB
Disk ID: BE3DE09D
Type   : SATA
Status : Online
Path   : 1
Target : 0
LUN ID : 0
Location Path : PCIROOT(0)#PCI(0103)#PCI(0001)#ATA(C01T00L00)
Current Read-only State : No
Read-only  : No
Boot Disk  : No
Pagefile Disk  : No
Hibernation File Disk  : No
Crashdump Disk  : No
Clustered Disk  : No

  Volume ###  Ltr  Label        Fs     Type        Size     Status     Info
  ----------  ---  -----------  -----  ----------  -------  ---------  --------
  Volume 2     D   ssd 250GB m  NTFS   Partition    232 GB  Healthy

DISKPART> lis par

  Partition ###  Type              Size     Offset
  -------------  ----------------  -------  -------
  Partition 1    Primary            232 GB    31 KB

DISKPART> sel par 1

Partition 1 is now the selected partition.

DISKPART> det par

Partition 1
Type  : 07
Hidden: No
Active: Yes
Offset in Bytes: 32256

  Volume ###  Ltr  Label        Fs     Type        Size     Status     Info
  ----------  ---  -----------  -----  ----------  -------  ---------  --------
* Volume 2     D   ssd 250GB m  NTFS   Partition    232 GB  Healthy

DISKPART> sel par 2

The specified partition is not valid.
Please select a valid partition.

There is no partition selected.

DISKPART> det par

There is no partition selected.
Please select a partition and try again.

DISKPART> sel par 3

The specified partition is not valid.
Please select a valid partition.

There is no partition selected.

DISKPART> det par

There is no partition selected.
Please select a partition and try again.

DISKPART> sel dis 2

Disk 2 is now the selected disk.

DISKPART> det dis

Samsung SSD 970 EVO Plus 500GB
Disk ID: 63F7F806
Type   : NVMe
Status : Online
Path   : 0
Target : 0
LUN ID : 0
Location Path : PCIROOT(0)#PCI(0101)#PCI(0000)#NVME(P00T00L00)
Current Read-only State : No
Read-only  : No
Boot Disk  : Yes
Pagefile Disk  : Yes
Hibernation File Disk  : No
Crashdump Disk  : Yes
Clustered Disk  : No

  Volume ###  Ltr  Label        Fs     Type        Size     Status     Info
  ----------  ---  -----------  -----  ----------  -------  ---------  --------
  Volume 3     C   M2 500GB     NTFS   Partition    465 GB  Healthy    Boot

DISKPART> lis par

  Partition ###  Type              Size     Offset
  -------------  ----------------  -------  -------
  Partition 1    Primary            465 GB  1024 KB
  Partition 2    Recovery           488 MB   465 GB

DISKPART> sel par 1

Partition 1 is now the selected partition.

DISKPART> det par

Partition 1
Type  : 07
Hidden: No
Active: No
Offset in Bytes: 1048576

  Volume ###  Ltr  Label        Fs     Type        Size     Status     Info
  ----------  ---  -----------  -----  ----------  -------  ---------  --------
* Volume 3     C   M2 500GB     NTFS   Partition    465 GB  Healthy    Boot

DISKPART> sel par 2

Partition 2 is now the selected partition.

DISKPART> det par

Partition 2
Type  : 27
Hidden: No
Active: No
Offset in Bytes: 499594035200

  Volume ###  Ltr  Label        Fs     Type        Size     Status     Info
  ----------  ---  -----------  -----  ----------  -------  ---------  --------
* Volume 4                      NTFS   Partition    488 MB  Healthy    Hidden

DISKPART> sel par 3

The specified partition is not valid.
Please select a valid partition.

There is no partition selected.

DISKPART> det par

There is no partition selected.
Please select a partition and try again.

DISKPART> sel par 4

The specified partition is not valid.
Please select a valid partition.

There is no partition selected.

DISKPART> det par

There is no partition selected.
Please select a partition and try again.

DISKPART> sel par 5

The specified partition is not valid.
Please select a valid partition.

There is no partition selected.

DISKPART> det par

There is no partition selected.
Please select a partition and try again.

DISKPART>
    - - - Updated - - -

    NavyLCDR said:
    Since BitLocker is encrypting C: drive, you will have to shrink C: drive by 100 meg to make room for a separate System Partition. I'm going to show you the easy way, but you will end up with a non-standard disk layout because the system partition will end up after C: drive and the standard is for the system partition to be in front of C: drive. Open a Command Prompt (Admin) [Run as Administrator Command Prompt] and run:

    Code:
    diskpart
select disk 2
select part 1
shrink desired=100
create part pri
format fs=NTFS
active
assign letter=z
exit
bcdboot C:\Windows /s Z: /f BIOS
exit
    Then reboot your computer into BIOS setup and set the disk containing C: drive as the first boot priority.

    The method to make a more standard drive layout is to use a program such as Minitool Partition Wizard free to shrink C: drive by 100 meg from the front of the partition - not the back of the partition. Then create a 100 meg primary partition, format it, mark it as active, give it a drive letter, then run the bcdboot command to make it bootable.
    Thanks a lot for the help!

    I would go with the 2nd option even if it needs more steps since I geting a standard drive layout Once I check the Minitool Partition Wizard you have suggested me, I will let you know.

    One clarification just for the sake of being accurate: BitLocker is not encrypting my C: drive at the moment but it let's me encrypt it, unlike the F: drive for which BitLocker is unavailable.
    Last edited by thanosa; 27 May 2020 at 12:00.
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  7. zbook
    Posts : 41,452
    windows 10 professional version 1607 build 14393.969 64 bit
       New #5

    Disk 2 displayed a recovery partition and no system reserved partition.
    NavyLCDR posted solutions for the problems.

    A new factor is windows upgrade.
    Make sure other drives are removed or cables detached before performing the upgrade.
    The recovery partition size may be modified during the upgrade.

    https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/soft...load/windows10
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  8. thanosa
    Posts : 9
    MS Windows 10 Pro 10.0.18363 Build 18363
    Thread Starter
       New #6

    zbook said:
    Disk 2 displayed a recovery partition and no system reserved partition.
    NavyLCDR posted solutions for the problems.

    A new factor is windows upgrade.
    Make sure other drives are removed or cables detached before performing the upgrade.
    The recovery partition size may be modified during the upgrade.

    https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/soft...load/windows10

    Back in the day, I used to have only the SSD and the HDD, where the first had the windows installation.
    Once I purchased my brand new M2, I didn't want to install windows from scratch, so I cloned the windows installation from the SSD to the M2. Probably there I missed some steps and that is why we have this messy disk layout now.

    If undestood correctly, your recommendation is to upgrade windows to "May 2020 Update" before starting with NavyLCDR's solutions, is that correct ? I have run the tool and says "Thanks for updating to the latest version of Windows 10", so I guess I already have the latest version. "Check for updates" says the same.
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  9. zbook
    Posts : 41,452
    windows 10 professional version 1607 build 14393.969 64 bit
       New #7

    Please perform the upgrade after following the solutions.
    a) make sure that the new drive partition structure enables booting without problems
    b) remove the other disk drives or detach cables
    c) make a free backup image
    d) perform Windows upgrade
    e) if the upgrade is successful your set
    f) if the upgrade fails it can be troubleshooted
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  10. thanosa
    Posts : 9
    MS Windows 10 Pro 10.0.18363 Build 18363
    Thread Starter
       New #8

    This is what I have done as of now:
    1. Use MiniTool Partition Wizard
    2. Create a 100MB partition on C: in front of the disk
    3. Format it NTFS, assing letter L: and mark is as Active
    4. Run the bcdboot C:\Windows /s L: /f BIOS command
    5. Enter the BIOS to alter the boot sequence


    The issue is that the M2 disk doesn't not appear in the BIOS.
    Here is a list of images that I took from the BIOS:

    91_bios_images - Google Drive

    Another thing to mention is that after the reboot, windows "fixed" something on drive C:, so I suspect that I have to redo the bcdboot command again but I am not sure.
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  12. Megahertz
    Posts : 6,293
    Windows 11 Pro - Windows 7 HP - Lubuntu
       New #9

    From image 235144.jpg - On BIOS
    BIOS tab - Boot options - Samsung 970 is the first boot priority. So it should boot from it.

    Detach (SATA or power cable) disk 0 - (drive F:) and disk 1 - (drive D:) and try to boot

    Drive D: is set as active. Do you have or once had Windows on it?
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  13. zbook
    Posts : 41,452
    windows 10 professional version 1607 build 14393.969 64 bit
       New #10

    Whenever possible please post images into the thread.
    a) disk management
    b) mini tool
    c) command prompt > diskpart > lis dis > lis vol > sel dis W (the applicable disk in windows RE) > det dis > lis par > sel par 1 > det par > sel par 2 > det par > sel par 3 > det par > sel par 4 > det par

    You can use:
    bootrec /fixmbr
    bootrec /fixboot
    bootrec /scanos
    bootrec /rebuildbcd

    This is an additional option:

    Macrium rescue media:
    Macrium Software | Macrium Reflect Free
    Macrium Software | Macrium Reflect Free
    Creating rescue media - KnowledgeBase v7 - Macrium Reflect Knowledgebase - KnowledgeBase v7 - Macrium Reflect Knowledgebase
    Creating rescue media - KnowledgeBase v7 - Macrium Reflect Knowledgebase - KnowledgeBase v7 - Macrium Reflect Knowledgebase
    Fixing Windows boot problems - KnowledgeBase v7 - Macrium Reflect Knowledgebase - KnowledgeBase v7 - Macrium Reflect Knowledgebase
    Fixing Windows boot problems - KnowledgeBase v7 - Macrium Reflect Knowledgebase - KnowledgeBase v7 - Macrium Reflect Knowledgebase


    The BIOS is out of date.
    After fixing the boot you can upgrade: F3 > F50
    B450M DS3H (rev. 1.0) | Motherboard - GIGABYTE U.S.A.
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