How do I install Windows 11 onto my second drive?


Z

Zxen

New member
Local time
5:34 PM
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OS
Windows 11
Windows 10 Pro version 22H2 to 11 Pro

I have an ISO USB Drive for Windows 11. I want to do a fresh install. Do I need to remove my precious Hard Drives or will install allow me to carefully select the drive I want to install onto? Also, when I plug them back in (if thats necessary) will Windows 10 existing on my other drive cause conflicts?
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 11
From setup screen you will have option to select hard drive and partition to install Windows 11.

To make sure you won't install on wrong hard drive name your Windows 11 installed partition from This PC folder.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 11
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    HP Pavilion
    CPU
    AMD Ryzen 7 5700G
    Motherboard
    Erica6
    Memory
    Micron Technology DDR4-3200 16GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060
    Sound Card
    Realtek ALC671
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Samsung SyncMaster U28E590
    Screen Resolution
    3840 x 2160
    Hard Drives
    SAMSUNG MZVLQ1T0HALB-000H1
If you give a windows installer the chance to install to the wrong place, it very well may do just that.
So why not be safe, and not sorry? Make sure that the drive you want to install to is the only one plugged in.

Then remember, that normally your BIOS will boot up your PC from the drive plugged in to the lowest numbered SATA port on the motherboard.
That would be port Zero, not port #1. It just gets weirderer from there on.
Good Luck,
TM :cool:
 

My Computer

System One

TechnoMage2021 said:
If you give a windows installer the chance to install to the wrong place, it very well may do just that.
So why not be safe, and not sorry? Make sure that the drive you want to install to is the only one plugged in.
Click to expand...
I agree, I even pull my M.2 when I'm installing a new os just to be safe.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 10 LTSB & 11 Pro 23H2 & Windows 7 Pro and Ultimate.
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Alienware PC
    CPU
    Intel i7 4790K
    Motherboard
    ASROCK Z97 EXTREME4
    Memory
    32GB DDR3 1600 MHz
    Graphics Card(s)
    ATI Radeon HD 7770 2GB GDDR5
    Sound Card
    Onboard
    Monitor(s) Displays
    SAMSUNG UE57 Series 28-Inch 4K UHD
    Hard Drives
    SAMSUNG 970 EVO PLUS M.2
    PSU
    EVGA 850 watt
    Case
    Alienware Area 51 Black Tower Case
    Keyboard
    HyperX - Alloy Elite 2 Mechanical Gaming Keyboard.
    Mouse
    Microsoft Wireless
    Internet Speed
    1.2 GHz
    Browser
    Chrome..Edge..Firefox
TechnoMage2021 said:
If you give a windows installer the chance to install to the wrong place, it very well may do just that.
So why not be safe, and not sorry? Make sure that the drive you want to install to is the only one plugged in.:cool:
Click to expand...
If you don't remove or disconnect the current Windows drive you will end with the new Windows in one drive and the boot manager on the other.
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Windows 11 Pro - Windows 7 HP 64 - 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 11 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
    500 Mb/s
    Browser
    Firefox 64
Create esp and os partition on new disk. You could create msr and recovery parts on new disk as well if that is what you want.
Apply the image to the new os partition. Use bcdboot to populate the new esp partition with the boot critical files.

No need to unplug disks or boot from usb.

The easiest and quickest way, I have doing it like that for years.

If you want a ui for the apply and bcdboot, you could use winntsetup. It comes with bootice included so you could do the partitioning first with bootice if you like. I normally use diskgenius for the partitioning.

Probably takes about 30 seconds to partition the target disk, 2-4 mins to apply the image ( depending on disk write speed ) and a few seconds for bcdboot. Job done.

Then boot into the new disk and it does the usual setup.
 
Last edited:

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Win7,Win11
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    CPU
    i5-8400
    Motherboard
    gigabyte b365m ds3h
    Memory
    2x8gb 3200mhz
    Monitor(s) Displays
    benq gw2480
    PSU
    bequiet pure power 11 400CM
    Cooling
    cryorig m9i
  • Operating System
    win7,win11
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    CPU
    pentium g5400
    Motherboard
    gigabyte b365m ds3h
    Memory
    1x8gb 2400
    PSU
    xfx pro 450
Great tool by JFX

Select location of Windows Installation Files =browse to the install.wim/install.esd

Select Boot Drive =esp partition you want the boot critical files to be created on

Select Location of Installation Drive =the partition you want to apply the image to

Options =select the Edition you want to apply

then click Setup and just OK the next window.

( mount installation Drive as = allows enthusiasts to set a different os letter. It is the same as I have included in my little bcdbootdisk tool.
Note: It is a devil of a job to change it after setup has completed, so the average punter should just leave it as C or they will get confused)


winntsetup-efi-part.jpg

winntsetup_v531a

mega.nz

File folder on MEGA

mega.nz mega.nz

useful for beginners plus some handy stuff for anybody who is bit beyond beginner. It also runs in pe without any extra dependencies.

Clicking the blue window at top rt reveals lots of toys to play with.
 
Last edited:

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Win7,Win11
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    CPU
    i5-8400
    Motherboard
    gigabyte b365m ds3h
    Memory
    2x8gb 3200mhz
    Monitor(s) Displays
    benq gw2480
    PSU
    bequiet pure power 11 400CM
    Cooling
    cryorig m9i
  • Operating System
    win7,win11
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    CPU
    pentium g5400
    Motherboard
    gigabyte b365m ds3h
    Memory
    1x8gb 2400
    PSU
    xfx pro 450
Thanks for your replies. I made a 100GB partition and called it W: Then I installed Windows 11 on it. Then I realised it had renamed itself c: and I couldnt change it. I wanted Apps on C: so after stuffing around I just made the 4TB drive C: and reinstalled Windows 11. I spent a lot of frustrating hours dealing with the software. Start11 from StarDock was a Godsend, otherwise I would have smashed my computer because Windows 11 is a thousand steps backwards from Windows 10. It kept jamming up as I installed tens of programs for hours and hours, then it restarted to update and never rebooted again. Eventuallly it said it was repairing itself and I realised it was reinstalling itself. From scratch. All my efforts had been in vain. I spent a few more hours doing it all again and hating the whole thing, and being disgusted by all the heavy sales pitches and guilt trips when I tried to install chrome. A nightmare. I went back to my Win 10 drive and I just LOVE it. It feels like home. I'll delete Windows 11 now. Oversized spacing, restricted permissions, designed for the lowest common denomenator - Mac Users. Crazy how far Microsoft has fallen. Windows 10 Pro is my favourite operating System ever. If Windows 12 isn't a sales sledgehammer and allows me to customise my workspace how I want without errors all over the place I might upgrade then, but Windows 11 is SHOCKINGLY bad.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 11
Zxen said:
If Windows 12 isn't a sales sledgehammer and allows me to customise my workspace how I want without errors all over the place I might upgrade then, but Windows 11 is SHOCKINGLY bad.
Click to expand...
You are 99.9% guaranteed to think that Windows 12 is even worse than Windows 11. Why didn't you just install Windows 11 in a virtual machine to discover how much you hate it? Then you would only have a .vhdx file to delete to return from the depths of Hades.
 

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!
If you can use vhdx files and Dism /Appli-Image then it's quite simple -- great thing is you will get via the standard Windows boot menu the choice of which Windows system to boot without having to use the computers firmware.

cheers
jimbo
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows XP,7,10,11 Linux Arch Linux
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    CPU
    2 X Intel i7
Windows 10 support ends in October 2025. You can run it after that, just as many are still running Windows 7, but you will not get the security updates. So that is the risk to consider there.

I have older pc's running Windows 10 and Windows 11. Much can happen between now and 2025 (updates, etc.) which may then require an old Windows 10 pc to only accept a fresh install of the 'latest and greatest'...... if that will be at all possible.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 11/Linux Mint
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Dell Optiplex 960
    CPU
    Intel Core 2 Duo CPU E8400 @ 3.00 GHz x 2
    Memory
    8 GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    Intel 4 Series Chipset Integrated Graphics Controller
    Monitor(s) Displays
    HP x22LED
    Hard Drives
    Crucial 250 GB SSD, HD 1Tb
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