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Machine is an HP Pavilion (circa 2014), originally with Win8; now Win10. The hard drive is failing, so I installed a new drive and installed a fresh version of Windows on it. The computer is running fine from the new hard drive; however, it will not boot if I remove the original hard drive (both are installed right now). I get an error that no boot drives are available.
I have disabled secure boot in the BIOS. msinfo confirms this. The new drive uses GPT just like the old drive. I think I've played with just about every setting I can find in the BIOS, and nothing seems to make a difference.
Please help! Thank you.
Mike Scannell
Posted 2019-08-25T12:29:17.960
Reputation: 1
Sounds like the boot folder on the first drive is still being utilized. Disconnect old drive, boot to WinRE or boot to a Windows install USB/ISO (Shift + F10 to open terminal in setup), and issue:
bootrec /fixmbr,bootrec /fixboot, and finally,bootrec /rebuildbcd. It's okay if the last command doesn't find a windows installation... once it finishes, close the command prompt to reboot if booted to WinRE, or cancel the Setup installation if booted to an install USB/ISO. – JW0914 – 2019-08-25T14:29:06.260I should have mentioned: I literally cannot boot with ANYTHING but the original hard drive. It will not boot from USB or DVD. I've tried booting from a USB I made using Windows Media Creation tool, and from a recovery USB created within Windows. Neither is ever recognized. I also burned a DVD using Windows Media Creation; it also would not boot from that. – Mike Scannell – 2019-08-25T18:24:59.670
Remove the old hard drive and reinstall W10 on the new drive, once install is done you can connect the old drive back and both should boot. – Moab – 2019-08-25T19:14:07.483
@MikeScannell Have you tried turning off/on legacy MBR boot in the UEFI Firmware (unless yours is still BIOS, but motherboards circa 2014 should have UEFI) – JW0914 – 2019-08-25T20:33:08.700