How do I install Windows 11 onto my second drive?

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?

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.

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

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.

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...

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.

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.

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_v531a


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.

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.

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.

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

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.