Boot HDD not found anymore after windows 11 install


Kroni

New member
Local time
3:01 PM
Posts
2
OS
Windows 11
Hello -

i decided to upgrade to Windows 11 but I kept getting the error that my pc was not ready. I changed my the bios options for UEFI and secure boot.

Obviously because I did not do my due diligence my 3 HDDs were using MBR (so i was not able to boot any of those drives) so after reading up on it i formated one of the drives using a win 11 USB Stick and installed win 11 on the new formatted disk. Which was not the original win 10 hdd that I had used before. So now I could boot the computer and access all disks using the fresh installed windows 11.

The original plan was to switch back to the windows 10 install after i used a program to change my other two hdd from MBR to GPT without loosing any data.

Now i have the problem that my old hdd with the windows 10 installation is not shown as a boot option.

I would like to use the upgrade path with my old win 10 installation because I currently do not have a windows 11 key and i would like to not loose any data on the main drive.

any ideas what I did wrong this time?
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 11
You're booting UEFI now, right? When I did that to install Win11 last Fall, I had to change all the other boot drives to UEFI and GPT in order to be able to see them. Your BIOS/UEFI might have the same limitations -- and it might also be related to Secure Boot.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 11
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Custom built
    CPU
    Ryzen 5600X
    Motherboard
    ASRock Steel Legend
    Memory
    16GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    EVGA GT 710
    Sound Card
    None
    Monitor(s) Displays
    23",24", 19" - flat panels
    Screen Resolution
    1920x1200
    Hard Drives
    None - only M.2 SATA and NVMe drives
    PSU
    750W
    Case
    Antec
    Cooling
    stock Wraith cooler
    Keyboard
    Corsair gaming
    Mouse
    Logitech M720
    Internet Speed
    1Gb
You're booting UEFI now, right? When I did that to install Win11 last Fall, I had to change all the other boot drives to UEFI and GPT in order to be able to see them. Your BIOS/UEFI might have the same limitations -- and it might also be related to Secure Boot.

How do I change a hdd to UEFI? I thought it is the way the bios boots the computer....
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 11
There are two kinds of boot able drives: Legacy-MBR or UEFI-GPT
If you had a Legacy-MBR and you just converted from MBR to GPT you won't be able to boot because now you have a GPT drive that isn't UEFI.
Legacy-MBR drives boots on a different way than UEFI-GPT.
On a Legacy-MBR, BIOS transfer the boot sequence to a drive MBR that will transfer to a master boot manager. This master boot manager (like Linux Grub) can transfer the boot sequence to a partition (like Linux) or to another boot manager in another partition (like Windows). It is a serial chain mode.
On an UEFI-GPT, BIOS transfer the boot sequence to the BIOS priority boot manager on a Fat32 Partition and then to a OS on a partition (same drive or even to a different drive). On the FAT32 partition you may have one or many boot manager(Linux and Windows etc). It is not a serial chain mode. It is a parallel mode.
To convert a Legacy-MBR to UEFI-GPT you should have used MBR2GPT.
Now it is too late for it. You have to create a EFI Fat32 partition and install the boot manager on it.
Please post a disk manager image (full window and don't forget to expand the columns so we can read them).
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Windows 7 HP 64 - Windows 11 Pro - Lubuntu
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    custom build
    CPU
    i5 6600K - 800MHz to 4400MHz
    Motherboard
    GA-Z170-HD3P
    Memory
    4+4G GSkill DDR4 3000
    Graphics Card(s)
    IG - Intel 530
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Samsung 226BW
    Screen Resolution
    1680x1050
    Hard Drives
    (1) -1 SM951 – 128GB M.2 AHCI PCIe SSD drive for Win 11
    (2) -1 WD SATA 3 - 1T for Data
    (3) -1 WD SATA 3 - 1T for backup
    (4) -1 BX500 SSD - 128G for Windows 7 and Lubuntu
    PSU
    Thermaltake 450W TR2 gold
    Keyboard
    Old and good Chicony mechanical keyboard
    Mouse
    Logitech mX performance - 9 buttons (had to disable some)
    Internet Speed
    500 Mb/s
    Browser
    Firefox 64
  • Operating System
    Windows 7 Pro
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Asus Q550LF
    CPU
    i7-4500U 800- 3000MHz
    Motherboard
    Asus Q550LF
    Memory
    (4+4)G DDR3 1600
    Graphics card(s)
    IG intel 4400 + NVIDIA GeForce GT 745M
    Sound Card
    Realtek
    Monitor(s) Displays
    LG Display LP156WF4-SPH1
    Screen Resolution
    1920 x 1080
    Hard Drives
    BX500 120G SSD for Windows and programs
    & 1T HDD for data
    Internet Speed
    350 Mb/s
    Browser
    Firefox 64
To convert a Legacy-MBR to UEFI-GPT you should have used MBR2GPT.
Now it is too late for it.
Not true at all, if @Kroni still has a disk that is MBR with the standard Windows on it. They just can't boot that drive now because they enabled secure boot. But that disk is still eligible for the mbr2gpt conversion if it meets all the other requirements.
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Windows 11
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Homebuilt
    CPU
    AMD Ryzen 7 3800XT
    Motherboard
    ASUS ROG Crosshair VII Hero (WiFi)
    Memory
    32GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    EVGA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti
  • Operating System
    Windows 11 Education
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Dell Inspiron 7773
    CPU
    Intel i7-8550U
    Memory
    32GB
    Graphics card(s)
    Nvidia Geforce MX150
    Sound Card
    Realtek
    Monitor(s) Displays
    17"
    Screen Resolution
    1920 x 1080
    Hard Drives
    Toshiba 512GB NVMe SSD
    SK Hynix 512GB SATA SSD
    Internet Speed
    Fast!
Not true at all, if @Kroni still has a disk that is MBR with the standard Windows on it. They just can't boot that drive now because they enabled secure boot. But that disk is still eligible for the mbr2gpt conversion if it meets all the other requirements.
This is basically what I did last Fall. I converted one disk to GPT, switched the boot to UEFI, and installed WIn11 on it. Then once up and running, I used MBR2GPT to convert the other two disks. Now all three are UEFI/GPT and the UEFI BIOS sees all of them just fine.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 11
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Custom built
    CPU
    Ryzen 5600X
    Motherboard
    ASRock Steel Legend
    Memory
    16GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    EVGA GT 710
    Sound Card
    None
    Monitor(s) Displays
    23",24", 19" - flat panels
    Screen Resolution
    1920x1200
    Hard Drives
    None - only M.2 SATA and NVMe drives
    PSU
    750W
    Case
    Antec
    Cooling
    stock Wraith cooler
    Keyboard
    Corsair gaming
    Mouse
    Logitech M720
    Internet Speed
    1Gb
Not true at all, if @Kroni still has a disk that is MBR with the standard Windows on it. They just can't boot that drive now because they enabled secure boot. But that disk is still eligible for the mbr2gpt conversion if it meets all the other requirements.
Much easier to delete the System partition and create a EFI and MSR partitions on the space.
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Windows 7 HP 64 - Windows 11 Pro - Lubuntu
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    custom build
    CPU
    i5 6600K - 800MHz to 4400MHz
    Motherboard
    GA-Z170-HD3P
    Memory
    4+4G GSkill DDR4 3000
    Graphics Card(s)
    IG - Intel 530
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Samsung 226BW
    Screen Resolution
    1680x1050
    Hard Drives
    (1) -1 SM951 – 128GB M.2 AHCI PCIe SSD drive for Win 11
    (2) -1 WD SATA 3 - 1T for Data
    (3) -1 WD SATA 3 - 1T for backup
    (4) -1 BX500 SSD - 128G for Windows 7 and Lubuntu
    PSU
    Thermaltake 450W TR2 gold
    Keyboard
    Old and good Chicony mechanical keyboard
    Mouse
    Logitech mX performance - 9 buttons (had to disable some)
    Internet Speed
    500 Mb/s
    Browser
    Firefox 64
  • Operating System
    Windows 7 Pro
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Asus Q550LF
    CPU
    i7-4500U 800- 3000MHz
    Motherboard
    Asus Q550LF
    Memory
    (4+4)G DDR3 1600
    Graphics card(s)
    IG intel 4400 + NVIDIA GeForce GT 745M
    Sound Card
    Realtek
    Monitor(s) Displays
    LG Display LP156WF4-SPH1
    Screen Resolution
    1920 x 1080
    Hard Drives
    BX500 120G SSD for Windows and programs
    & 1T HDD for data
    Internet Speed
    350 Mb/s
    Browser
    Firefox 64
Much easier to delete the System partition and create a EFI and MSR partitions on the space.
You cannot create EFI System or MSR partitions on an MBR disk.
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Windows 11
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Homebuilt
    CPU
    AMD Ryzen 7 3800XT
    Motherboard
    ASUS ROG Crosshair VII Hero (WiFi)
    Memory
    32GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    EVGA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti
  • Operating System
    Windows 11 Education
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Dell Inspiron 7773
    CPU
    Intel i7-8550U
    Memory
    32GB
    Graphics card(s)
    Nvidia Geforce MX150
    Sound Card
    Realtek
    Monitor(s) Displays
    17"
    Screen Resolution
    1920 x 1080
    Hard Drives
    Toshiba 512GB NVMe SSD
    SK Hynix 512GB SATA SSD
    Internet Speed
    Fast!
You cannot create EFI System or MSR partitions on an MBR disk.
I know.
OP has already converted a Legacy- MBR boot able drive into GPT without converting to EFI (It has no EFI partition)
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Windows 7 HP 64 - Windows 11 Pro - Lubuntu
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    custom build
    CPU
    i5 6600K - 800MHz to 4400MHz
    Motherboard
    GA-Z170-HD3P
    Memory
    4+4G GSkill DDR4 3000
    Graphics Card(s)
    IG - Intel 530
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Samsung 226BW
    Screen Resolution
    1680x1050
    Hard Drives
    (1) -1 SM951 – 128GB M.2 AHCI PCIe SSD drive for Win 11
    (2) -1 WD SATA 3 - 1T for Data
    (3) -1 WD SATA 3 - 1T for backup
    (4) -1 BX500 SSD - 128G for Windows 7 and Lubuntu
    PSU
    Thermaltake 450W TR2 gold
    Keyboard
    Old and good Chicony mechanical keyboard
    Mouse
    Logitech mX performance - 9 buttons (had to disable some)
    Internet Speed
    500 Mb/s
    Browser
    Firefox 64
  • Operating System
    Windows 7 Pro
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Asus Q550LF
    CPU
    i7-4500U 800- 3000MHz
    Motherboard
    Asus Q550LF
    Memory
    (4+4)G DDR3 1600
    Graphics card(s)
    IG intel 4400 + NVIDIA GeForce GT 745M
    Sound Card
    Realtek
    Monitor(s) Displays
    LG Display LP156WF4-SPH1
    Screen Resolution
    1920 x 1080
    Hard Drives
    BX500 120G SSD for Windows and programs
    & 1T HDD for data
    Internet Speed
    350 Mb/s
    Browser
    Firefox 64
I know.
OP has already converted a Legacy- MBR boot able drive into GPT without converting to EFI (It has no EFI partition)
I needed to reread the OP! You are absolutely correct! My error!
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Windows 11
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Homebuilt
    CPU
    AMD Ryzen 7 3800XT
    Motherboard
    ASUS ROG Crosshair VII Hero (WiFi)
    Memory
    32GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    EVGA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti
  • Operating System
    Windows 11 Education
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Dell Inspiron 7773
    CPU
    Intel i7-8550U
    Memory
    32GB
    Graphics card(s)
    Nvidia Geforce MX150
    Sound Card
    Realtek
    Monitor(s) Displays
    17"
    Screen Resolution
    1920 x 1080
    Hard Drives
    Toshiba 512GB NVMe SSD
    SK Hynix 512GB SATA SSD
    Internet Speed
    Fast!
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