Downloading win 11 how to make sure it installs on ssd 2 NOT

Msongs · Mar 20, 2023

ssd 1 which is the OS c: is win gonna give me a choice?

bobkn · Mar 20, 2023

Yes.

There's a chance that some boot files could be installed to another drive. If you want to play it absolutely safe, disconnect all other drives during the install. If you can.

If memory serves, the installer will only do that if another drive has leftovers from having been a boot drive previously. If you've formatted a used boot drive for re-use, that shouldn't be an issue. Which is why I don't disconnect the other drives.

Msongs · Mar 21, 2023

well it downloaded and starting installing it but it did NOT tell me where it was installing to...so I turned off the computer and killed the install I think

Msongs · Mar 21, 2023

I am trying to get it onto a brand new ssd that is not the c drive

zbook · Mar 21, 2023

This link may be useful:

Clean Install Windows 11 Tutorial

This tutorial will show you step by step on how to clean install Windows 11 at boot on your PC with or without an Internet connection and setup with a local account or Microsoft account. Windows 11 has all the power and security of Windows 10 with a redesigned and refreshed look. It also comes...

www.elevenforum.com

Code:

Temporarily disconnect all non OS hard drives until Windows installation has finished for the following reasons:

To avoid you mistakenly deleting or formatting the wrong disk or drive.

To prevent Windows Setup from installing the boot configuration files (bootloader) to a different connected hard 
drive instead of on the disk Windows will be installed on.

Ghot · Mar 21, 2023

Msongs said:
I am trying to get it onto a brand new ssd that is not the c drive

After you create the USB install media, just unhook the any other drives but the one you're installing Windows on.

hsehestedt · Mar 21, 2023

Msongs said:
well it downloaded and starting installing

That does NOT sound like you are doing a clean install if it started installing. Are you certain that you are doing a clean install rather than an upgrade?

Msongs · Mar 21, 2023

when I started the download there was no choice offered of upgrade or clean install. btw I have now got the win 11 on a usb stick. If I unplug all the drives including C will the thing still run install from the usb stick? eventually I want to make the new ssd with win 11 the primary drive but not until I can transfer over files

hsehestedt · Mar 21, 2023

Msongs said:
when I started the download there was no choice offered of upgrade or clean install. btw I have now got the win 11 on a usb stick. If I unplug all the drives including C will the thing still run install from the usb stick? eventually I want to make the new ssd with win 11 the primary drive but not until I can transfer over files

If you could provide a step-by-step procedure of what web site you visited and what options you selected, that would be very helpful.

As for unplugging all drives including the C: drive, yes, setup will still run from the USB stick, however, it will not have a drive available onto which it can install. This will result in no drives being shown to you at the time where setup asks where to install.

So, there are a number of ways that you could address this:

1) Get Windows installed on the new drive, then reconnect the old drive and copy any files you need to keep over to the new drive.

2) If you already have Windows 11 installed on the old drive, you could simply make an image of that drive and restore it to the new drive. That way you would keep not only all your files, but also all the applications and settings.

3) Very similar to making a disk image, you could clone the old drive to the new drive.

There are options, but that's the main highlights and most frequently used methods.

hsehestedt · Mar 21, 2023

One more thought: If you want to test your USB stick, it is perfectly safe to boot from it just to test it. Windows setup will stop at a screen where it asks you to choose your language, keyboard layout, etc. In other words, it will not proceed on its own and do any harm to your current installation. At that point, you can simply unplug the USB stick and reboot. But at that point you will at least know that your USB stick can be successfully booted.

If you are not familiar with booting from a USB stick, you may have to press some hotkey on your computer during boot that will display a menu letting you select what device to boot from. Instructions for doing so should be in the documentation for your system. Alternatively, you could tell us what system you are working with, and we can look it up and tell you how to boot from the USB stick.

NOTE: The above applies to a USB stick created from the Microsoft web site. If you obtained Windows elsewhere, I cannot guarantee the results. It's possible, but not highly likely, that an image obtained elsewhere could perform an automatic, unattended installation, which you do not want!

bobkn · Mar 21, 2023

Msongs said:
well it downloaded and starting installing it but it did NOT tell me where it was installing to...so I turned off the computer and killed the install I think

Are you trying for a dual boot?

Msongs · Mar 22, 2023

downloaded the media creation tool from microsoft.com and put it on the usb stick along with win 11. I want to put it on a new ssd and still use the win 10 ssd while I transfer over files and programs. then I will make the win 11 disk the C: drive/boot drive and not use the win 10 drive

zbook · Mar 22, 2023

1) Post a share link displaying disk management:

How to Post a Screenshot of Disk Management

How to Post a Screenshot of Disk Management at Ten Forums

www.tenforums.com

2) Run disk par info:

https://www.tenforums.com/attachments/bsod-crashes-debugging/355861d1640707960-batch-files-use-bsod-debugging-diskparinfo.bat

Post a share link into this thread using one drive, drop box, or google drive.

Megahertz · Mar 27, 2023

Msongs said:
downloaded the media creation tool from microsoft.com and put it on the usb stick along with win 11. I want to put it on a new ssd and still use the win 10 ssd while I transfer over files and programs. then I will make the win 11 disk the C: drive/boot drive and not use the win 10 drive

MCT (media creation tool) is just a tool to be runned on the computer so you're able to:
- Create a Win 11 installation USB drive
- Download a Win 11 installation iso file
As you can see MCT (media creation tool), is not used to install or upgrade

As you want to do a Clean install, you must boot from a Win 11 installation USB drive.
Use MCT (media creation tool) to create a Win 11 installation USB drive (8G min).

Windows can be installed in two ways: Legacy-MBR or UEFI-GPT
To install as Legacy-MBR you must boot the installation drive as Legacy
To install as UEFI-GPT you must boot the installation drive as UEFI.

As you have a UEFI BIOS, you should install as UEFI-GPT
Detach any other drives (SATA or Power cable) from the MB.

During POST, press F12 to launch the boot menu. You will see two options for the USB drive. USB UEFI (Name) and USB (Name). Select USB UEFI (Name) if you want to install as UEFI-GPT or select USB (name) if you want to install as Legacy-MBR.
Go to install and delete ALL partitions on the main drive till you have one and only one unallocated space and then proceed.
If you want to use a local account What is "oobe\bypassnro"