Windows 10: Can't boot from new drive

My HP Envy desktop has been working well for three years, until we suddenly started seeing "Hard Disk Failure Is Imminent" error messages at startup. I ran the system diagnostics tool, and it reported that our SSD boot drive (we also have a 1TB HDD) was at 95% wear. (I was able to continue starting up after the warning.)



So, I ordered a new SSD (Samsung 860 EVO) and hooked it up to the extra bay slot. I burned the Windows 10 utility/reset onto a DVD and started up from there. I selected to install Windows on the new drive and accepted all the defaults. (Note: I didn't make any partition selections.) All good so far.



I can continue to startup (still seeing the imminent drive warnings, and then am prompted to choose which drive to use for loading Windows: Volume 9 (the new one) or Volume 3 (the original), and am able to startup from either. I was able to transfer files and reinstall software on the new drive. Still good.



However...when I disconnect the original/old drive (with the expectation of retiring it), Windows refuses to startup ("3F0 error or Boot Device Not Found. Please install an operating system on your hard disk"). BIOS utility shows that it sees the drive, and all disk tests (including chkdsk) show good results. And, as mentioned above, if the old drive is plugged back in, the machine starts up and allows me to load windows from either drive. I tried booting from the Windows DVD and performing the automated startup fixes, but it reported that it could not fix anything (with no log files).



So this feels like something is misconfigured on the new drive maybe? Here's the results of the bcdedit command (I booted Windows on my new drive, so C: reflects that), though I'm not sure if there's anything meaningful here:





Perhaps more tellingly, the Disk Management utility reveals that the old drive includes four partitions (including EFI, which I believe is used for startup), whereas the new drive shows only a single partition...which does include "Boot", FWIW:




Is there anything else I can/should check?

:)

 

Can't boot from DVD drive

Is your controller in RAID/AHCI modes? If so, the DVD drive will be listed as a separate device in the list of available boot devices, not as "CDROM". Remember that when setting boot device priority. Otherwise, read the manual to see which hotkey during POST brings up the boot menu that lets you select which device to boot from. Even here, the drive will be listed separately, and not as "CDROM".

 

Wiped Hard Drive Can't Boot Vista

I did try every possible boot order and even with deactivated options, which I don't even know how or if that is helpful. I will try the Vista possibilities. The OS was listed in the BIOS, whatever that means, and it said it was a factory version, which I think is a good thing.

The PXE error messages may have occurred when I activated the network adapter and tried that in the boot order. Obviously, I am in way over my head. Thanks for the suggestions!

 

Reinstall Windows 10 to new hard drive

Hi Rodolpho,

We want to know about the issue you're having with your recovery drive. Please answer the questions below:

• Are you trying to reinstall Windows 8 or Windows 10?
• If you already upgraded to Windows 10, were you able to create a new copy of the recovery drive?

We suggest creating a new copy of the recovery drive and then follow the steps provided by Andre Da Costa above this thread.

Update us with the outcome so we can assist you further.