Windows 10: Bios boot order change causes Windows 11 to lose activation status.

Hardware: MSI Z690 motherboard, Core i5-12600k.I have 2 ssd drives. Each has its own bootloader. On the 2nd ssd, I have an older Windows version which is never connected to the internet, used for testing purposes. The first ssd is running Windows 11.When I go to the bios and change the boot order to boot from the 2nd ssd, and then later change the boot order back to the 1st ssd, Windows 11 deactivates, giving a "hardware change" error. But the hardware is exactly the same. I merely changed a bios setting, and changed it back. Restoring the original bios setting should make any changes imperce

:)

 

Boot order in BIOS is changed to a USB but restarts keep going to Windows

So here's a riddle.

-I have a PC set to boot off of a USB regularly instead of Windows to access a Linux work environment.

-The drive is set up to boot with UEFI, created using unetbootin

-BIOS is modified to have USB hard drive/USB flash drive at the top of the UEFI boot order list

-Secure boot is disabled

-The system boots to the drive without issue after changing these settings

-The system boots to the drive after rebooting from that environment without issue

-I shutdown the PC and pull the drive out, then boot up when I want to use Windows

-After inserting the drive, I reboot from Windows, the system keeps booting back into Windows

-I assume the drive has a bad connection, but I'm able to see the drive is recognized in Windows

-I assume the system is just not entering the right power state in this process, so I hold down the power button and do a hard reset. The system continues booting into Windows.

-I assume Windows is actively changing the boot order or re-enabling secure boot(which I can probably prevent with a BIOS password)

OR

-I assume the BIOS is forgetting the drive and reverting the boot order

OR

-I assume the CMOS battery is defective and the BIOS is reverting to defaults

BUT

-When I go back into the BIOS settings, USB hard drive/USB flash drive is at the top of the UEFI boot order list and secure boot is still disabled.

-I ignore changes and exit the BIOS, suspecting an issue with the drive itself.

-Every time I exit the BIOS like this, the system boots to the drive without issue.

-I still strongly suspect this is something with the power state not going down to the proper level, which is why I'm reaching out here rather than with the BIOS manufacturer.

Appreciate any thoughts.

 

Can't Change Boot Order

Cloned original C:\ drive to an SSD drive then followed the windows procedure to get to BIOS to change the boot order:

• Settings
• Update and Security
• Recovery - Restart Now
• Troubleshoot
• Advanced Options
• UEFI Firmware Settings
• Restart

The last restart does not take me to BIOS. I just get a blank screen. Esc key gets me back to Windows, but I don't want to format the original C:\ drive for other use until I am able to change the boot order. How do I do that?

 

Windows stuck in automatic repair; Can't access BIOS/ boot menu

I've changed the boot order through both BIOS and the boot manager, as my original post stated. Neither did anything, but both were functional in the past. Neither listed the windows boot manager, either. Previously, it would boot just as expected whenever
other media was set as the first option, so I'm pretty sure there are no issues there.

As my original post suggested, I've already tried out the steps you gave. I've gone through all the options listed in the boot menu, UEFI or not.

My BIOS and boot menu settings were at their defaults when all of this started, so that's been tried already, if those are what you're referring to.