Hi, sorry for lengthy post but I really need help and will try put as much info as possible.
So I had a HDD with windows 7 on it and loads of stuff. I wanted to keep it as it is for a variety of reasons but also wanted to get an SSD and windows 10. So I did just that.
To install I unplugged the HDD (completely) and installed windows 10 on the new SSD. Cool. No problems, everything working nicely. So switched it off a reconnected the HDD also.
The primary and for me very important part of this setup is that I have both my SSD windows 10 and HDD windows 7 systems available to boot to.
...but I've had nothing but problems...
Now the fixed boot priority list seemed to make absolutely zero difference what so ever. and 9 times out of ten, regardless what I did it would boot to HDD win 7. Sometimes it would boot to SSD, sometimes not.
after MUCH testing and playing around, the only way I can get it to boot to the drive I want consistently.was to change the "hard disk drive BBS priorities" and choose either HDD or SSD.
Then also go into UEFI hard disk drive BBS priorities and select windows boot manager, OFF for booting to the HDD or ON for the SSD.
Then I had to save and exit.
It's not over yet though...
Upon restarting I would then have to hit F11 and pull up the quick boot menu and selelct either HDD for the HDD or "windows boot manager SSD" to boot to the windows 10 SSD (not show in this picture because it disappears when you disable windows boot manager for booting to the HDD)
Right. What a FAFF your all no doubt thinking but I assure you, this was the only way to consisntently get the boot drive I wanted.
So this worked for a while.
Problem was, If i missed any of the above steps or made a mistake or missed the F11 press in time then It might boot to any number of random things. The most common thing to happen was it would boot to the HDD windows 7 but not give me keyboard or mouse input....yeah wtf...i know.
Now came the biggest problem. Once I missed a step, and it booted to HDD windows 7 with no keyboard and mouse. Now I didn't know this as I went to put the kettle on. It wouldn't have been a problem but unknown to me the comp had decided (quite randomly) that my disks needed checked for errors (you know that dos screen check). Now not having a keyboard input I couldn't stop it. And I didnt want to just power off the PC once it had started. So I let it do it. It would apear that during its "check" it has taken it upon itself to "fix" my SSD drive. and now windows 10 won't boot. Like REALLY wont boot. I get a "critical_process_died" message.
There a a few limited options open to me but none of them work.
If I try to reset the PC I get this screen.
IF I try to restore to backup I get this.
If I try going back to previous build I get this.
If I try startup repair I get this.
And a different type of reset gives me this.
So thats all the options avalible to me exhausted and I think I'm going to have to format the SSD and reinstall windows 10 on it.
Thankfully my HDD and windows 7 still works and will boot fine (If I follow the tenuous steps details at the start).
My questions then I guess are these.
Why was it so difficult and arduous to pick which drive I wanted to boot to? Why couldn't I simply pick from the F11 quick boot choice menu?
What did I do wrong and how can I make it easier next time?
All I want is to be able to start the PC, hit F11 and select the drive I want to boot to.
But it would always boot to the HDD unless I had first completed all the steps I mentioned. Even If I explicitly picked SSD in the F11 menu it would still boot to the HDD. Unless I had done the other stuff first in BIOS and then only if I picked "windows boot manager SSD" in the F11 manager.
WHAT A HEADACHE.
So I had a HDD with windows 7 on it and loads of stuff. I wanted to keep it as it is for a variety of reasons but also wanted to get an SSD and windows 10. So I did just that.
To install I unplugged the HDD (completely) and installed windows 10 on the new SSD. Cool. No problems, everything working nicely. So switched it off a reconnected the HDD also.
The primary and for me very important part of this setup is that I have both my SSD windows 10 and HDD windows 7 systems available to boot to.
...but I've had nothing but problems...
Now the fixed boot priority list seemed to make absolutely zero difference what so ever. and 9 times out of ten, regardless what I did it would boot to HDD win 7. Sometimes it would boot to SSD, sometimes not.
after MUCH testing and playing around, the only way I can get it to boot to the drive I want consistently.was to change the "hard disk drive BBS priorities" and choose either HDD or SSD.
Then also go into UEFI hard disk drive BBS priorities and select windows boot manager, OFF for booting to the HDD or ON for the SSD.
Then I had to save and exit.
It's not over yet though...
Upon restarting I would then have to hit F11 and pull up the quick boot menu and selelct either HDD for the HDD or "windows boot manager SSD" to boot to the windows 10 SSD (not show in this picture because it disappears when you disable windows boot manager for booting to the HDD)
Right. What a FAFF your all no doubt thinking but I assure you, this was the only way to consisntently get the boot drive I wanted.
So this worked for a while.
Problem was, If i missed any of the above steps or made a mistake or missed the F11 press in time then It might boot to any number of random things. The most common thing to happen was it would boot to the HDD windows 7 but not give me keyboard or mouse input....yeah wtf...i know.
Now came the biggest problem. Once I missed a step, and it booted to HDD windows 7 with no keyboard and mouse. Now I didn't know this as I went to put the kettle on. It wouldn't have been a problem but unknown to me the comp had decided (quite randomly) that my disks needed checked for errors (you know that dos screen check). Now not having a keyboard input I couldn't stop it. And I didnt want to just power off the PC once it had started. So I let it do it. It would apear that during its "check" it has taken it upon itself to "fix" my SSD drive. and now windows 10 won't boot. Like REALLY wont boot. I get a "critical_process_died" message.
There a a few limited options open to me but none of them work.
If I try to reset the PC I get this screen.
IF I try to restore to backup I get this.
If I try going back to previous build I get this.
If I try startup repair I get this.
And a different type of reset gives me this.
So thats all the options avalible to me exhausted and I think I'm going to have to format the SSD and reinstall windows 10 on it.
Thankfully my HDD and windows 7 still works and will boot fine (If I follow the tenuous steps details at the start).
My questions then I guess are these.
Why was it so difficult and arduous to pick which drive I wanted to boot to? Why couldn't I simply pick from the F11 quick boot choice menu?
What did I do wrong and how can I make it easier next time?
All I want is to be able to start the PC, hit F11 and select the drive I want to boot to.
But it would always boot to the HDD unless I had first completed all the steps I mentioned. Even If I explicitly picked SSD in the F11 menu it would still boot to the HDD. Unless I had done the other stuff first in BIOS and then only if I picked "windows boot manager SSD" in the F11 manager.
WHAT A HEADACHE.
