Solved How Do I Clean Install Windows 11 On 2nd SSD

I dual boot The Developer and Beta builds from separate SSDs.
Beta is installed on the primary drive, which is a Western Digital NVME M2.
Dev is installed on the secondary SSD, a 2.5 inch Samsung Evo.

I can disable the secondary drive in the BIOS, but not the primary NVME.

I got Dev on the secondary drive by first installing it on the primary, then image/restore using Macrium Reflect.
I then disabled the secondary drive in the BIOS, and installed Beta 22623 on the primary drive.

I use the BIOS boot menu to select an OS to boot to. I don't want Windows dual boot because it is too cumbersome and slow when changing the boot OS.

Now, I screwed up the Dev installation on the secondary drive, and would like to re-install from scratch.

Since I cannot disable the primary drive, how do I do this without going through the whole rigmarole of wiping the primary, installing Dev there, imaging it, restoring to secondary, then restoring the primary image?

In short, is there a way to directly clean install to drive D without triggering Windows dual boot?

format the windows partition on the sata ssd and then apply the wim image to it.

it is too easy, was that a trick question ?

SIW2 said:

format the windows partition on the sata ssd and then apply the wim image to it.

it is too easy, was that a trick question ?

Click to expand...

Format the SSD partition I understand, but "apply the wim image" I don't.
Do you mean the Macrium image? I don't have it anymore.

the installation media contains a file in the sources folder called install.wim ( or install.esd ).

the windows images are in there. there might be several

one way is to query it with dism to find the editions

Dism /Get-ImageInfo /imagefile:M:\sources\install.wim

Click to expand...

then apply whichever edition you want to a partition

example to apply image index 1 to partition J

Dism /apply-image /imagefile:M:\sources\install.wim /index:1 /ApplyDir:J:\

Click to expand...

or you can use dism++ if you cant be bothered with commands


click File>Apply Image




browse to install.wim or install.esd





select the image you want in the dropdown




browse to the partition you want to apply it to





click ok



that's all folks. Probably take about 2 mins to apply, depending on the write speed of the target partition.

you have already got an esp partition on the ssd with a bcd entry that points at the windows partition on that disk (which you said is D) .

so after you have applied the image select that disk in bios and boot into it.

You can undo the dual boot functionality after you're done. Just open System configuration and delete the SSD OS from the Boot tab.

that wont happen if he just applies the image. I do it all the time. It wont affect his primary disk at all.

plenty of ways to apply, it just means copying out the contents. For example if you already know the image number you want, it can be done with 7-zip

I know I want image 4 so click on it , then highlight the contents and copy to the target partition.










it takes a little longer than dism++ and it doesnt display the editions so you need to know which index you want.

Thanks for all the replies, guys.
@SIW2
Dism++ looks very interesting. I will give it a shot on a different drive/partition.

@Scott
This is the method I'm familiar with, although I didn't know about removing the boot entry.
Will try this, although I worry about messing with the primary boot partition.

Thanks.

applying does not create any partitions or boot menu entries.

the op already has an esp partition on the ssd which presumably is still functional with a bcd entry pointing at D, so he only needs to apply to the existing windows partition (D) on that disk.

If he wants to apply anywhere else, he will need a boot menu entry.

SIW2 said:

applying does not create any partitions or boot menu entries.

the op already has an esp partition on the ssd which presumably is still functional with the bcd pointing at D, so he only needs to apply to the existing windows partition (D) on that disk.

If he wants to apply anywhere else, he will need a boot menu entry.

Click to expand...

So, I simply nuke the Windows partition, and apply the image there?
There are 4 partitions: 100MB boot, 16MB Reserved, 100GB data (OS) and 520MB recovery.

So, I simply nuke the Windows partition, and apply the image there?

Click to expand...

quick format the windows partition on the ssd and then apply the image to it.

There are 4 partitions: 100MB boot, 16MB Reserved, 100GB data (OS) and 520MB recovery.

Click to expand...

that is the standard layout. I dont bother having a separate recovery partition though it is recommended for bitlocker users.

@SIW2 :
Success! That Dism++ software is really something.
There was an option to format the selected partition, so I did that, and the image was applied in about 1.5 minutes. Like you said, pretty painless.

How did it know to install Pro instead of Home, though...

One lives, and one learns.
Thanks again.

good job