How to install Windows 11 on a Work SSD and a Personal SSD?


Tanquen

Member
Local time
11:27 PM
Posts
21
OS
Windows 11
On this new system last night I installed the first Personal drive. Got everything set up and just for the heck of it, I tried installing Windows on the second drive with the first one still on the motherboard. Unlike the previous system, it went ahead and did it but it set up the windows boot menu. I guess that's okay but then when I removed the Work drive the original install will no longer boot and says there's errors and you can't even use the Windows tool to repair it. You just can't boot into windows anymore until you put the newer second Work drive back in. It seems really odd to break the original Windows install by simply removing the second drive with the second install. So either drive goes bad, you can’t boot into the remaining one. ??? It put the boot info on the second drive?

Over the years, setting up a dual boot Window system has gotten more and more complicated. Just installing Windows is now overly complicated. You need to jump through hoops and know some tricks just to install windows without an MS account or internet access. Shift + 10, oobe/ bypassnro

I'm trying to do a clean Windows 11 install for the first time with a Work drive and a Personal drive on a new build. In years past, I would simply unplug the first drive that had been installed and configured while installing and configuring the second. Then I would use the BIOS to boot the drive I wanted. I have tried using the Windows built-in boot menu but it always seems to mess things up.

On my previous build with SSD drives I couldn't even install Windows on the second drive with them both being in the system. It would see the new second drive and it would try to set up a partition and then install files and would fail until took everything apart and removed the first drive.

This is complicated by the fact that I haven't seen any bios manufacturer give you a simple way to disable a motherboard SSD for troubleshooting. So you have to pull apart the motherboard, heat, sinks and whatnot, possibly remove your video card to take out an SSD so that you can install windows on one without it finding and hosing the other.

Even if I go through the trouble of having one SSD on the motherboard at a time and getting Windows installed, are they going to mess with each other?

I had my last windows 10 set up this way and it seemed to be fine. But I went through the trouble of having only one drive on the system until Windows was installed and configured.
 
Windows Build/Version
22H2 (OS Build 22621.1635)

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 11
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    ME, Inc.
    CPU
    AMD Ryzen 9 7950X3D
    Motherboard
    MSI MEG X670E ACE
    Memory
    Corsair Vengeance 6000MHz 64GB RAM
    Graphics Card(s)
    GIGABYTE RTX 4090 GAMING OC 24G
    Sound Card
    Sound Blaster X4
    Monitor(s) Displays
    ViewSonic XG321UG 32" & Dell 30" U3017 on Ergotron HD Dual-Monitor Arm
    Screen Resolution
    4k
    Hard Drives
    WD 3.7TB NS850X SSD - Data Drive: WD 1.8TB NS850 SSD
    Samsung 1.8TB 990 Pro
    PSU
    Corsair AX1600i Digital ATX
    Case
    Mountain Mods U2-UFO
    Cooling
    Lots of Water
    Keyboard
    MS 4000
    Internet Speed
    1GBPS
    Browser
    Chrome
It is always a best practice to remove all other drives when installing a second OS on a separate drive. Unless you plan to permanently have a dual boot system.
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Windows 11 Pro
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    CPU
    AMD Ryzen 9 3900X
    Motherboard
    MSI MPG Gaming Edge Wifi (X570)
    Memory
    32GB Adata XPG DDR4
    Graphics Card(s)
    ASUS GTX 1070 8GB ROG
    Monitor(s) Displays
    LG Ultrawide 34"
    Screen Resolution
    3440x1440
    Hard Drives
    Main Boot Drive : 512GB Adata XPG RGB Gen3x4 NVMe M.2 SSD
    PSU
    EVGA 600 Watts Gold
    Case
    Deepcool Genome II
    Cooling
    Deepcool Fryzen
    Internet Speed
    1Gbps
    Browser
    Chrome
    Antivirus
    "Moderna"
  • Operating System
    Windows 11 Pro
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    CPU
    i7-4790K
    Motherboard
    ASRock Xtreme6 Z97
    Memory
    16GB Corsair Vengeance Pro
    Graphics card(s)
    MSI R9 290
    Monitor(s) Displays
    LG Ultrawide 34"
    Screen Resolution
    3440x1440
    Hard Drives
    Samsung M.2
    PSU
    Thermaltake 475 Watts 80 Bronze
    Case
    Thermaltake Commander I Snow Edition
    Cooling
    Deep Cool Archer Air Cooler
    Mouse
    Logitech G402
    Keyboard
    Armageddon MKA-5R RGB-Hornet
    Internet Speed
    1Gbps
    Browser
    Chrome
    Antivirus
    Moderna :)
That is what I've normally done in the past but the era motherboard mounted SSDs makes it more painful.

Now I'm installing again as I don't know of a way to decuple the two SSDs.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 11
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    ME, Inc.
    CPU
    AMD Ryzen 9 7950X3D
    Motherboard
    MSI MEG X670E ACE
    Memory
    Corsair Vengeance 6000MHz 64GB RAM
    Graphics Card(s)
    GIGABYTE RTX 4090 GAMING OC 24G
    Sound Card
    Sound Blaster X4
    Monitor(s) Displays
    ViewSonic XG321UG 32" & Dell 30" U3017 on Ergotron HD Dual-Monitor Arm
    Screen Resolution
    4k
    Hard Drives
    WD 3.7TB NS850X SSD - Data Drive: WD 1.8TB NS850 SSD
    Samsung 1.8TB 990 Pro
    PSU
    Corsair AX1600i Digital ATX
    Case
    Mountain Mods U2-UFO
    Cooling
    Lots of Water
    Keyboard
    MS 4000
    Internet Speed
    1GBPS
    Browser
    Chrome
When Installing Windows xx, and I have multiple HD's installed in the case,
I remember an old RailRoad saying, "Never the trains shall meet!".
So I just make sure that the HD I want Windows installed on is the only HD that the Windows installer can see, or the chance of a screw up is very likely.

That little preference is based on a miscomboble I had with a computer about 40 years ago, and I've not forgotten the lesson I learned that day.
The second HD in that case has some good stuff on it, and it got wiped out!

Another old saying that I like, is "Measure twice, cut once". What that means to me is check twice, that the HD I'm going to install Windows to is the ONLY one connected to the motherboard.

Dual boot to me, means that there are two or more HD's in my PC case that could boot up to Windows. It just depends on which one I have currently plugged in.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Win-11/Pro/64, Optimum 11 V3, 23H2 22631.3085
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Home Made w/Gigabyte mobo/DX-10
    CPU
    AMD FX 6350 Six Core
    Motherboard
    Gigabyte, DX-10, GA-78LMT-USB3
    Memory
    Crucial, 16 GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    Onboard, ATI Radeon HD 3000; NVIDEA GeForce 210, 1GB DDR3 Ram.
    Sound Card
    Onboard
    Monitor(s) Displays
    24" Acer
    Screen Resolution
    1280x800
    Hard Drives
    Crucial SSD 500GB, SanDisk 126GB SSD, Toshiba 1TB HD
    PSU
    EVGA 500 W.
    Case
    Pac Man, Mid Tower
    Cooling
    AMD/OEM
    Keyboard
    101 key, Backlit/ Mechanical Switches/
    Mouse
    Logitech USB Wireless M310
    Internet Speed
    Hughes Net speed varies with the weather
    Browser
    Firefox 64x
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender, Super Anti Spyware
    Other Info
    Given to me as DEAD, and irreparable.
    Rebuilt with Gigabyte mobo, AMD cpu, 16GB ram and 500GB Crucial SSD.
Best way for me at least I go to unplug abs and plug 1 in whichever SSD I want in whatever OS I want on it
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    WiN11 Pro
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Custom 775 System
    CPU
    Xeon E5450 3.0GHZ (OC 3.7GHZ)
    Motherboard
    ASUS PQ5-EM
    Memory
    8GB (2GBX4)
    Graphics Card(s)
    AMD R5 430 2GB
    Sound Card
    Onboard
    Monitor(s) Displays
    ASUS 24"
    Screen Resolution
    1080p
    Hard Drives
    1TB|750GB USB, 3 SSDs 2 240GB 1 128GB, 750GB HDD
    PSU
    650WATT Rosewill
    Case
    Rosewill with side Window
    Cooling
    5 Fans and a big HSK for cpu
    Keyboard
    Rosewill RGB
    Mouse
    Rosewill RGB
    Internet Speed
    AT&T 150MB DL\UP
    Browser
    FireFox
    Antivirus
    Defender
    Other Info
    I'm lucky to even be here after 6yrs from my car accident
  • Operating System
    WiN10 LTSC
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Hp 8460p
    CPU
    i7 2670QM 2.20GHZ
    Motherboard
    Hp 161C
    Memory
    8GB (2X4GB) DUAL Channel
    Graphics card(s)
    Intel HD Graphics 3000
    Sound Card
    Intel high Def (basically onboard)
    Screen Resolution
    1366x768
    Hard Drives
    OS 128GB l Storage (caddy) 320GB
    PSU
    AC (IDK the watts)
    Browser
    Firefox
    Antivirus
    Defender
    Other Info
    A USB 3.0 in the Express Card Slot
I have 6 OSs installed on the Win10 Main Rig. (attached).
All were installed w/o unplugging any of the others.
I used EasyBCD 2.3 to sort-out the boot menu & rename, etc the entries.
I used EBCD 2.3 on the Win11 laptop to add & sort-out another Win11 for MS Testing also w/o any problems.

Main Rig OSs 04302023.jpg

Edit: This worked for but there are no guarantees it work for everyone.
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Windows 11 Pro
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Self made in 2023
    CPU
    i7-12900K @ 3.2 GHz
    Motherboard
    ASUS ROG Maximus Z790 APEX
    Memory
    2/16 GB Critical DDR5
    Graphics Card(s)
    GeForce RTX 3060 Ti
    Sound Card
    On board sound
    Monitor(s) Displays
    27 inch LED
    Hard Drives
    1 TB Samsung SSD w/ 3 partitions
    250 GB Samsung SSD for WSE 2016 BU OS
    1 TB Samsung SSD (Storage)
    PSU
    RM850x SHIFT 80 PLUS Gold Fully Modular
    Case
    Fractal Design Define 7 Compact - Mid Tower
    Browser
    EDGE
  • Operating System
    Windows 11 Pro x2
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    LG gram 15, 15.6" Laptop
    CPU
    Core i5-1135G7
    Motherboard
    LG
    Memory
    16GB M.2 2280 NVMe SSD
    Graphics card(s)
    Integrated - Intel Iris Xe Graphics
    Sound Card
    Onboard sound
    Monitor(s) Displays
    15.6" IPS Display
    Screen Resolution
    Full HD 1920 x 1080
    Hard Drives
    512 GB
    Browser
    EDGE
  • Like
Reactions: WAI
I have 6 OSs installed on the Win10 Main Rig. (attached).
All were installed w/o unplugging any of the others.
I used EasyBCD 2.3 to sort-out the boot menu & rename, etc the entries.
I used EBCD 2.3 on the Win11 laptop to add & sort-out another Win11 for MS Testing also w/o any problems.

View attachment 59129

Edit: This worked for but there are no guarantees it work for everyone.
That is exactly why you need to fix the boot menu. If you just unplugged the other drives. It will be easier.
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Windows 11 Pro
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    CPU
    AMD Ryzen 9 3900X
    Motherboard
    MSI MPG Gaming Edge Wifi (X570)
    Memory
    32GB Adata XPG DDR4
    Graphics Card(s)
    ASUS GTX 1070 8GB ROG
    Monitor(s) Displays
    LG Ultrawide 34"
    Screen Resolution
    3440x1440
    Hard Drives
    Main Boot Drive : 512GB Adata XPG RGB Gen3x4 NVMe M.2 SSD
    PSU
    EVGA 600 Watts Gold
    Case
    Deepcool Genome II
    Cooling
    Deepcool Fryzen
    Internet Speed
    1Gbps
    Browser
    Chrome
    Antivirus
    "Moderna"
  • Operating System
    Windows 11 Pro
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    CPU
    i7-4790K
    Motherboard
    ASRock Xtreme6 Z97
    Memory
    16GB Corsair Vengeance Pro
    Graphics card(s)
    MSI R9 290
    Monitor(s) Displays
    LG Ultrawide 34"
    Screen Resolution
    3440x1440
    Hard Drives
    Samsung M.2
    PSU
    Thermaltake 475 Watts 80 Bronze
    Case
    Thermaltake Commander I Snow Edition
    Cooling
    Deep Cool Archer Air Cooler
    Mouse
    Logitech G402
    Keyboard
    Armageddon MKA-5R RGB-Hornet
    Internet Speed
    1Gbps
    Browser
    Chrome
    Antivirus
    Moderna :)
If you really want to make sure that everything gets installed on one SSD without having to take the bottom off a laptop computer and remove one of the NVMe SSDs without dropping that tiny little screw into an impossible to retrieve place - you can manually create the partitions for Windows install using diskpart, apply the Windows image to the SSD using DISM, and put the boot files into the EFI system partition with bcdboot command. This can all be done from within Windows running on the other SSD, or from a standard Windows 10/11 installation USB flash drive.

I have never physically disconnected any disks to install Windows in multi-disk systems. It takes less time and effort to just type in the commands.
 

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!
Try booting into working windows which boots normally to desktop. Open file explorer and note the drive letter of 2nd disk. Suppose it is E: from which windows is not booting.Then run CMD as administrator. At command prompt type as follow:-
c:\windows\system32>bcdboot E:\windows
Boot files successfully created. Now reboot the system and you will see missing operating system added to main boot menu.
Try this command for other hard disk attached having Operating System Windows 10, 11 so on.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Window 11 v24H2 Build 26085.1
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    ASSEMMBLED
    CPU
    Intel Pentium CPU G620@ 2.60 GHz
    Motherboard
    DAICHI
    Memory
    6 GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    Onboard
    Sound Card
    Onboard
    Monitor(s) Displays
    LG
    Screen Resolution
    1366x768
    Hard Drives
    Toshiba HDD 1 TB
    Keyboard
    Mechanical
    Mouse
    Mechanical
    Internet Speed
    700 kb/s
    Browser
    Microsoft EDGE, CHROME
    Antivirus
    Microsoft Defender
If you really want to make sure that everything gets installed on one SSD without having to take the bottom off a laptop computer and remove one of the NVMe SSDs without dropping that tiny little screw into an impossible to retrieve place - you can manually create the partitions for Windows install using diskpart, apply the Windows image to the SSD using DISM, and put the boot files into the EFI system partition with bcdboot command. This can all be done from within Windows running on the other SSD, or from a standard Windows 10/11 installation USB flash drive.

I have never physically disconnected any disks to install Windows in multi-disk systems. It takes less time and effort to just type in the commands.
100% agree
Some of the advice given from "The other side of the planet" isn't always that great in spite of the huge number of off shored I.T stuff. Fortunately they don't speak Icelandic so we on the whole are spared that misery of dealing with those hideous call centres etc. One advantage at least (perhaps the only one) of not having English as your native language even though most of us probably speak it better than 80% of people in London, NYC, LA and most parts of Texas.

Cheers
jimbo
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows XP,7,10,11 Linux Arch Linux
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    CPU
    2 X Intel i7
. So you have to pull apart the motherboard, heat, sinks and whatnot, possibly remove your video card to take out an SSD so that you can install windows on one without it finding and hosing the other.
Yeah, this has always been my least favorite thing with NVMe drives. In years past, it was so easy to just pop off the side of the case and move the data cable and power cable from drive A to drive B and have a whole different system. Obviously, you can elect to not use NVMe drives, and instead use regular SATA SSD's and get this same functionality back, but then you give up the extra performance of the NVMe as well as the cleanliness from not having to have data and power cables going to your drive.

Have you considered native booting from a .vhdx file? We have several posts and a tutorial on this forum about it. I've been running Windows 11 on my primary desktop (which still has Windows 10), as a .vhdx file and it's worked out great. Just a suggestion.
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Windows 11 Pro
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Beelink SEI8
    CPU
    Intel Core i5-8279u
    Motherboard
    AZW SEI
    Memory
    32GB DDR4 2666Mhz
    Graphics Card(s)
    Intel Iris Plus 655
    Sound Card
    Intel SST
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Asus ProArt PA278QV
    Screen Resolution
    2560x1440
    Hard Drives
    512GB NVMe
    PSU
    NA
    Case
    NA
    Cooling
    NA
    Keyboard
    NA
    Mouse
    NA
    Internet Speed
    500/50
    Browser
    Edge
    Antivirus
    Defender
    Other Info
    Mini PC used for testing Windows 11.
  • Operating System
    Windows 10 Pro
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Custom
    CPU
    Ryzen 9 5900x
    Motherboard
    Asus Rog Strix X570-E Gaming
    Memory
    64GB DDR4-3600
    Graphics card(s)
    EVGA GeForce 3080 FT3 Ultra
    Sound Card
    Onboard
    Monitor(s) Displays
    ASUS TUF Gaming VG27AQ. ASUS ProArt Display PA278QV 27” WQHD
    Screen Resolution
    2560x1440
    Hard Drives
    2TB WD SN850 PCI-E Gen 4 NVMe
    2TB Sandisk Ultra 2.5" SATA SSD
    PSU
    Seasonic Focus 850
    Case
    Fractal Meshify S2 in White
    Cooling
    Dark Rock Pro CPU cooler, 3 x 140mm case fans
    Mouse
    Logitech G9 Laser Mouse
    Keyboard
    Corsiar K65 RGB Lux
    Internet Speed
    500/50
    Browser
    Chrome
    Antivirus
    Defender.
Have you considered native booting from a .vhdx file?
You can do that from the BIOS? I've have to read up on how that works. Any down sides?
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 11
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    ME, Inc.
    CPU
    AMD Ryzen 9 7950X3D
    Motherboard
    MSI MEG X670E ACE
    Memory
    Corsair Vengeance 6000MHz 64GB RAM
    Graphics Card(s)
    GIGABYTE RTX 4090 GAMING OC 24G
    Sound Card
    Sound Blaster X4
    Monitor(s) Displays
    ViewSonic XG321UG 32" & Dell 30" U3017 on Ergotron HD Dual-Monitor Arm
    Screen Resolution
    4k
    Hard Drives
    WD 3.7TB NS850X SSD - Data Drive: WD 1.8TB NS850 SSD
    Samsung 1.8TB 990 Pro
    PSU
    Corsair AX1600i Digital ATX
    Case
    Mountain Mods U2-UFO
    Cooling
    Lots of Water
    Keyboard
    MS 4000
    Internet Speed
    1GBPS
    Browser
    Chrome
You can do that from the BIOS? I've have to read up on how that works. Any down sides?
You don't have to do anything in the BIOS at all. Here are the steps

mkdir D:\win11-vhdx

Open Disk Management
Action > Create VHD, ensure you do a VHDX file;. I put mine in D:\win11-vhdx
I created a 100GB fixed disk
Right click on this new disk and initialize as GPT, and give it a drive letter ( I used drive F)

Mount Windows 11 iso (I used drive g)
Open cmd as admin
G:
cd sources
dism /Get-WimInfo /WimFile:G:\sources\install.wim (Get index of version you wish to install, I'm installing Windows 11 Pro which is index 6)
dism /Apply-Image /ImageFile:G:\sources\install.wim /index:6 /ApplyDir:F:\

Make a boot entry for Windows
bcdboot F:\Windows /d (the /d says to leave your current default boot entry intact, so it will still boot to the native windows install on your machine)




Only real downside is that the .vhdx file is going to use X amount of drive space on your system. In my case, it was 100GB. Other than that, it works great.

If you decide you no longer want it, just delete the boot entry and then delete the .vhdx file.
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Windows 11 Pro
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Beelink SEI8
    CPU
    Intel Core i5-8279u
    Motherboard
    AZW SEI
    Memory
    32GB DDR4 2666Mhz
    Graphics Card(s)
    Intel Iris Plus 655
    Sound Card
    Intel SST
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Asus ProArt PA278QV
    Screen Resolution
    2560x1440
    Hard Drives
    512GB NVMe
    PSU
    NA
    Case
    NA
    Cooling
    NA
    Keyboard
    NA
    Mouse
    NA
    Internet Speed
    500/50
    Browser
    Edge
    Antivirus
    Defender
    Other Info
    Mini PC used for testing Windows 11.
  • Operating System
    Windows 10 Pro
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Custom
    CPU
    Ryzen 9 5900x
    Motherboard
    Asus Rog Strix X570-E Gaming
    Memory
    64GB DDR4-3600
    Graphics card(s)
    EVGA GeForce 3080 FT3 Ultra
    Sound Card
    Onboard
    Monitor(s) Displays
    ASUS TUF Gaming VG27AQ. ASUS ProArt Display PA278QV 27” WQHD
    Screen Resolution
    2560x1440
    Hard Drives
    2TB WD SN850 PCI-E Gen 4 NVMe
    2TB Sandisk Ultra 2.5" SATA SSD
    PSU
    Seasonic Focus 850
    Case
    Fractal Meshify S2 in White
    Cooling
    Dark Rock Pro CPU cooler, 3 x 140mm case fans
    Mouse
    Logitech G9 Laser Mouse
    Keyboard
    Corsiar K65 RGB Lux
    Internet Speed
    500/50
    Browser
    Chrome
    Antivirus
    Defender.
You can do that from the BIOS? I've have to read up on how that works. Any down sides?
You can make it so you have to select it in BIOS. The way that you would do that would be to create a separate EFI System Partition which contained a BCD that would boot the VHDX virtual disk. Then you would go into BIOS each time with the function key that presented the boot override menu and you would then select the EFI System Partition for the VHDX file. To me that just overcomplicates things way to much!
 

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!
On this new system last night I installed the first Personal drive. Got everything set up and just for the heck of it, I tried installing Windows on the second drive with the first one still on the motherboard.

There's your mistake. Boot files for second drive were added to bcd on first drive (work ssd) and then when you remove it, you have no boot files for second ssd.


This is not new - been like it for many years and vetsions of windows.

What you have to do is

  • remove work ssd
  • install windows on new ssd
  • option create boot entry on work ssd or home ssd for other drive.
Alternatively select which drive to boot from bios.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 10 Pro + others in VHDs
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    ASUS Vivobook 14
    CPU
    I7
    Motherboard
    Yep, Laptop has one.
    Memory
    16 GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    Integrated Intel Iris XE
    Sound Card
    Realtek built in
    Monitor(s) Displays
    N/A
    Screen Resolution
    1920x1080
    Hard Drives
    1 TB Optane NVME SSD, 1 TB NVME SSD
    PSU
    Yep, got one
    Case
    Yep, got one
    Cooling
    Stella Artois
    Keyboard
    Built in
    Mouse
    Bluetooth , wired
    Internet Speed
    72 Mb/s :-(
    Browser
    Edge mostly
    Antivirus
    Defender
    Other Info
    TPM 2.0
I disagree with removing or unplugging drives, especially when they are M.2 drives or buried under the bottom cover of a laptop. There are lots of easy software solutions to make boot files on any drive. I can do it with software faster than you can take a cover off a computer and unplug a drive cable.
 

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!
On this new system last night I installed the first Personal drive. Got everything set up and just for the heck of it, I tried installing Windows on the second drive with the first one still on the motherboard.

There's your mistake. Boot files for second drive were added to bcd on first drive (work ssd) and then when you remove it, you have no boot files for second ssd.


This is not new - been like it for many years and vetsions of windows.

What you have to do is

  • remove work ssd
  • install windows on new ssd
  • option create boot entry on work ssd or home ssd for other drive.
Alternatively select which drive to boot from bios.
Yes, I've experienced that in the past. It's not terribly straightforward as I would think during installation when I choose a drive to install the OS on it should install it there, not search the entire system for any other drive that already has an OS installed on it and install stuff there or otherwise mess with that device/drive. But being aware of those issues, I normally always would disconnect other devices first. But I said it's a pain in the booty with SSDs. There might even be a way to tell the installation to not do that, but I'd always just unplugged the other drives.
I disagree with removing or unplugging drives, especially when they are M.2 drives or buried under the bottom cover of a laptop. There are lots of easy software solutions to make boot files on any drive. I can do it with software faster than you can take a cover off a computer and unplug a drive cable.
Agreed, but on older systems I could get the side off and unplug the cable pretty quick and just get stuff done. Not something I was doing every day. I used to have a lot of drives and I had gotten a 5 and 1/4 bay insert with six or so SATA power buttons and I could toggle power on and off to devices. But again you can't do that with SSDs. I really wish bios developers would just add the simple ability to disable all on board devices, sound cards, network cards, iGPU, SATA controllers and or individual SSDs or SATA drives, if it all possible it would make things a lot nicer for troubleshooting etc. But apparently that's a lot to ask in the age of $600 or even $1200 motherboards.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 11
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    ME, Inc.
    CPU
    AMD Ryzen 9 7950X3D
    Motherboard
    MSI MEG X670E ACE
    Memory
    Corsair Vengeance 6000MHz 64GB RAM
    Graphics Card(s)
    GIGABYTE RTX 4090 GAMING OC 24G
    Sound Card
    Sound Blaster X4
    Monitor(s) Displays
    ViewSonic XG321UG 32" & Dell 30" U3017 on Ergotron HD Dual-Monitor Arm
    Screen Resolution
    4k
    Hard Drives
    WD 3.7TB NS850X SSD - Data Drive: WD 1.8TB NS850 SSD
    Samsung 1.8TB 990 Pro
    PSU
    Corsair AX1600i Digital ATX
    Case
    Mountain Mods U2-UFO
    Cooling
    Lots of Water
    Keyboard
    MS 4000
    Internet Speed
    1GBPS
    Browser
    Chrome

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