Windows 10: Can only boot from secondary drive Windows 10

I'm having an issue where I can only boot from my secondary drive ie. not the one where Windows is installed. This is a problem because I want to format that drive, and I can't boot from my primary drive that Windows is installed on.


I believe this started when I installed Xbox Game Pass for PC. The Xbox Game Pass app will only install itself/games to the default drive where applications are installed, and I wanted it to install to my secondary drive my primary is small, my secondary is where I install games and large applications. So I went into Windows Storage Options and changed the "New apps will save to" location to my secondary drive. When I did this, it appears some Windows system folders were installed to my secondary drive.


Now I'm trying to replace my secondary drive with a new one, and I discover that I can't delete those Windows system folders. Additionally, when I tried booting from my primary drive, I got a "Bootmgr not found" error. I tried booting from a USB Windows ISO and using the repair feature, no luck. I tried using CMD to enter bootrec.exe /fixmbr, bootrec.exe /fixboot, and bootrec.exe /rebuildbcd to no avail. Now when I try booting from the primary drive I get a " "Operating System not Found" error.


How can I fix this short of reinstalling Windows on my primary drive? Will that even solve my booting problem? Once I do that, how do I delete the Windows system folders off my secondary drive?

:)

 

Windows 10 1909 Causes Secondary Hard Drive to not be Recognized

Installing the Windows 10 1909 Update causes my secondary hard drive to not be recognized.

Steps to confirm issue:

• Secondary drive not visible in Windows Explorer
• Secondary drive not visible in device manager
• Secondary drive not visible in disk manager

Steps to replicate issue:

• Installing 1909 update

Steps to resolve issue:

• Uninstall 1909 update

Since updates can only be delayed for so long, an actual fix would be appreciated.

 

Win 10 won't boot, if I disconnect secondary drive(s)

1. Download: Macrium Rescue ISO 6.1.1000 and use: Rufus - Create bootable USB to create a USB Boot.
2. Disconnect Disk 1 from your PC
3. Boot up your PC using the USB in step 1
4. Follow the screen shot to fix Windows Boot

 

New Secondary Drive Causes Boot Failure Windows 10

For the second time now, Windows 10 failed to boot after initializing and formatting a spare drive (using Windows Disk Management). After the boot fail, UEFI boot settings were still set to boot from Windows Boot Manager, but it still wouldn't boot, just goes into diagnostic mode, fails to repair boot problem, and goes to the repair menu. In advanced options I can then load a recent image (made with Windows 7 Backup and Recovery in control panel), and everything goes back to normal. My question is what causes this problem, and how do I repair it without re-imaging Windows? I don't recall ever having this problem in other Windows versions, only in Windows 10. Anyone else notice this problem?