EFI Partitions on wrong drive


  1. aptmusic9
    Posts : 2
    Windows 10
       New #1

    EFI Partitions on wrong drive


    Hi,

    After removing an SSD (W:) from my rig I discovered that my system would no longer boot and gave the error:

    NTDLL not found. Press CTRL+ALT+DEL to restart.

    I put the drive back and was able to boot. Attached is my disk management. I recently installed plugged in a new 4TB HDD, and I can see that it too, has had an EFI Partition now, presumably because I plugged it into Sata port 1(?)

    To be safe, I've used Windows to create a system image on drive Q: and a repair disk. The wizard said it backed up the EFI partition to drive Q as well.

    So my question is, what's the easiest solution here? Can I pull out all the drives and restore from the image onto a new SSD? Or is there an easier way using another method? I want to get all of the required boot stuff on to C:. Thanks!

    EFI Partitions on wrong drive-uefi-wrong-disk.png
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  3. dalchina
    Posts : 42,922
    Win 10 Pro (22H2) (2nd PC is 22H2)
       New #2

    Hi, good that you're familiar with disk imaging.

    The most reliable method is

    a. shrink C: so you leave enough space for the other partitions
    b. Ensure you have a disk image of your existing C:
    c. Wipe your system disk
    d. Delete any other stray Win 10 OS related partitions on other drives.
    e. Clean install Windows (same build)
    f. Replace the OS partition with that from your image (a)
    g. Run startup repair from Win 10 boot medium

    Win 10 will create partitions on other drives if there is insufficient space on the drive where you intend the OS to be installed. E.g. Disk 6 has a 450Mb Recovery partition, Disk 2 EFI as you noted.
    Last edited by dalchina; 13 Sep 2016 at 17:10.
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  4. aptmusic9
    Posts : 2
    Windows 10
    Thread Starter
       New #3

    Bummer, any other options besides a reinstall? All I have is a windows 8 disk. Ive been reading about easyuefi.com as a possible solution. any experience with that program?
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  6. simrick
    Posts : 16,325
    W10Prox64
       New #4

    Hi. You can download the W10 ISO for the re-installation here:
    Windows 10

    See: Use the tool to create installation media (USB flash drive, DVD or ISO...
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  7. dalchina
    Posts : 42,922
    Win 10 Pro (22H2) (2nd PC is 22H2)
       New #5

    aptmusic9 said:
    Bummer, any other options besides a reinstall? All I have is a windows 8 disk. Ive been reading about easyuefi.com as a possible solution. any experience with that program?
    Hi, I wonder if you've understood... the ONLY reason to clean install is to create the partition structure on the one drive correctly.

    You then copy back your EXISTING OS partition as it is.

    Then your PC should work AS IT DOES NOW- programs, configuration, users, settings, everything.

    I have used this method once, and others have too. As simrick says, Win 10 installation iso's/media are freely available- for any build. Just make sure you're confident in using a disk imaging program.
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  8. simrick
    Posts : 16,325
    W10Prox64
       New #6

    As dalchina said, you can image your existing C partition, clean install W10, and then copy over your existing C partition image to your new installation and you're back to where you were, but with a clean partition structure. See if this helps explain things. It's by one of our members.
    Copy Windows partitions using Macrium - YouTube
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