Total Fail

I have a PC which had Windows 11 installed and was working OK. I was taken ill and confined to bed for 10 days, unable to raise the energy to go near the computer. When i was eventually fit enough I found the PC had crashed, no error messages, nothing. I tried all the usual solutions but nothing worked. I tried a clean install but was told i was trying to install into a legacy system , not a UEFI system. Since the system had already been running Windows 11 I was a little confused. Eventually I found that my 1 TB SSD drive had become 2 500GB partitions, but Windows wouldn't/couldn't install on either of these partitions. I then received a message that the drive was a GPT partition and Windows couldmn't be installed on it. Fortunatly I had another 1TB ssd drive availabel and managed to format it as an MBR and install Windows 10, with the intention of upgrading to 11 afterwards. It does look as if something has reset or corrupted the BIOS, but I don't understand what or how. I notice that my laptop has had a recent system upgrade, could this latest release have caused the problem? And why did the SSD suddenly split itself into 2 partitions?

It's unlikely to be a BIOS problem. I edited this because there were extra <BR> tags.

Can you access the rogue SSD
To use `diskpart` to clean a disk, follow these steps carefully, as this will erase all data on the disk.

### **Steps to Clean a Disk Using Diskpart:**

1. **Open Command Prompt as Administrator:**
- Press `Win + X` and select **Command Prompt (Admin)** or **Windows Terminal (Admin)**.
- If prompted by UAC, click **Yes**.

2. **Launch Diskpart:**
- Type `diskpart` and press **Enter**.

3. **List Available Disks:**
- Type `list disk` and press **Enter**.
- This will display all connected disks.

4. **Select the Target Disk:**
- Identify the disk you want to clean. Ensure you choose the correct one.
- Type `select disk X` (replace `X` with the correct disk number) and press **Enter**.

5. **Clean the Disk:**
- To remove all partitions and data, type:
```
clean
```
and press **Enter**.
- If you want to perform a more thorough clean that wipes all sectors, type:
```
clean all
```
(This process takes significantly longer.)

6. **(Optional) Create a New Partition:**
- If you want to reuse the disk, create a new partition and format it:
```
create partition primary
format fs=ntfs quick
assign
```

7. **Exit Diskpart:**
- Type `exit` and press **Enter**.

### **Warning:**
- Running `clean` will remove all data and partitions from the selected disk.
- Running `clean all` will perform a secure erase, making data recovery nearly impossible.
- **Double-check the selected disk before executing the command!**

​

To install Windows 11 on GPT disk, you need to enable UEFI mode also enable Secure Boot from BIOS setup screen.

There are no teenagers in the house. Since the original post I have installed Windows 10 and it has ran OK for over 2 weeks. My new SSD is configured for GPT. I started to try and enable UEFI mode on my motherboard (a Gigabyte B360M DS3H) but the instructions I was following for a Gigabyte motherboard, from an IT engineer called Deep Shrestha (at TechNewsToday) bears little resemblance to my BIOS display and I am unable to find the necessary items to change. In fact I am typing this after a 2 hour effort to return my BIOS to the original settings and get my Windows 10 to where it had been. can someone suggest a set of instructions that WILL work without causing me any further issues? By the way, the old 1 TB SSD remained as two 500GB partitions and resisted all attempts to return to a single partition!

Kashegan said:

I am typing this after a 2 hour effort to return my BIOS to the original settings and get my Windows 10 to where it had been. can someone suggest a set of instructions that WILL work without causing me any further issues?

Click to expand...

Generally pulling the power cord out and removing the CMOS battery from the motherboard and letting it rest for several to 20 minutes will drain any residual power which resets the BIOS to its as-shipped condition/settings to get a fresh start. As for the SSD, was it ever set up as the only/boot/system drive in the computer? There usually are 3 to 5 partitions on a default install and some of the small ones are difficult to manage in Windows. For cleaning a difficult drive I boot a Linux LiveUSB or LiveDVD to use the included GPARTED [GNU Partition Editor] program and wipe all partitions then install Windows using the methods provided by the MCT/Media Creation Tool provided by Microsoft. GPARTED is also available as a downloaded .iso file used to burn the Bootable CD-R disc.

The manual is available here - pick the 11.68MB file. B360M DS3H (rev. 1.0) Support | Motherboard - GIGABYTE Global