Windows 10 boot problems, pls help

@digitalwanderer
Oh this is fucked up dude. No wonder nothing is working. Is the source drive also MBR?

Wait is that the SSD or the HDD? We also need to know what the HDD it was cloned from is.
 
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if you want to boot from mbr you have to disable secure boot or run in csm mode

you can convert mbr to gpt with a tool provided with windows
 
Bludd said:
if you want to boot from mbr you have to disable secure boot or run in csm mode

you can convert mbr to gpt with a tool provided with windows
Click to expand...
Most motherboards I've seen has a "Legacy" mode which doesn't support any of that stuff. Those boards have to be in legacy mode to boot from an MBR drive. Some will allow you to manually boot from either MBR or GPT so long as all the modern features are turned off.

In any case, mbr2gpt may not work here. If he cloned from an MBR drive and the target drive was set up as GPT by his cloning software (I suspect that is what happened but we need to see whether the SSD is GPT or not), I don't know if that can be fixed. When this has happened to me in the past I've always recloned the drive with cloning software that operates correctly.

When cloning from an MBR drive, I do the following.
1) Clone the drive with Macrium Reflect, making sure the target gets set up as MBR.
2) Boot from the target drive with the mobo in legacy mode (if it's the same computer then it's already in legacy mode), make sure it works, and run mbr2gpt on it.
3) Switch the mobo to UEFI.

This way you don't have to run mbr2gpt on the source, so there's no risk of something going horribly wrong.

Note that some motherboards no longer support legacy BIOS at all. Intel NUCs have not since the 11th gen.
 
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homerdog said:
@digitalwanderer
Oh this is fucked up dude. No wonder nothing is working. Is the source drive also MBR?

Wait is that the SSD or the HDD? We also need to know what the HDD it was cloned from is.
Click to expand...
Damn it, that was the hdd with MBR. The SSD has GPT.

I sort of fully panicked and hooked up her laptop to her monitor/speakers/mouse/keyboard and shoved it all behind her monitor. Got a spare monitor/mouse/keyboard and have them on my desk with her PC and the spare that's working with her SSD in it under my desk. Just fired it up and checked the properties of the SSD...
 
digitalwanderer said:
Also this is an old AM3 system and I don't think it supports secure boot.
Click to expand...
It doesn't matter, if you clone the drive with software that leaves the target as MBR you'll be fine. You don't have to switch it to GPT. Here is to process for that:

1) Clone the drive with Macrium Reflect, making sure the target gets set up as MBR.
2) Boot from the target drive with the mobo in legacy mode (if it's the same computer then it's already in legacy mode), make sure it works, and run mbr2gpt on it.
3) Switch the mobo to UEFI.

:)

Please be aware you will never be able to upgrade to Windows 11 on an MBR drive. Not that it matters, I don't think Win11 supports anything on AM3.
 
Could I do this (take everything of disk, wipe partitions, change from GPT to MGR in disk management) and then toss windows back on it and make a MBR partition and run the recovery tool?
 
digitalwanderer said:
Could I do this (take everything of disk, wipe partitions, change from GPT to MGR in disk management) and then toss windows back on it and make a MBR partition and run the recovery tool?
Click to expand...
So you're saying
1) Copy all the data from the Windows partition to another drive.
2) Wipe the SSD and reinitialize it as an MBR drive.
3) Create a partition on the SSD and copy all the data from the Windows partition back onto it.
4) Run startup repair.

I don't know, I've never attempted anything like that. It sounds like it could work but you're in uncharted territory.
 
homerdog said:
So you're saying
1) Copy all the data from the Windows partition to another drive.
2) Wipe the SSD and reinitialize it as an MBR drive.
3) Create a partition on the SSD and copy all the data from the Windows partition back onto it.
4) Run startup repair.

I don't know, I've never attempted anything like that. It sounds like it could work but you're in uncharted territory.
Click to expand...
Theoretically it has a small chance of success, only other options will be viable either way it goes but this has a happier outcome. Needs try I MUST! :D

It has been a long and overly stimulant full day so far, I can't give up yet.

Thanks for all the help, seriously thank you. :love:
 
homerdog said:
So you're saying
1) Copy all the data from the Windows partition to another drive.
2) Wipe the SSD and reinitialize it as an MBR drive.
3) Create a partition on the SSD and copy all the data from the Windows partition back onto it.
4) Run startup repair.

I don't know, I've never attempted anything like that. It sounds like it could work but you're in uncharted territory.
Click to expand...
In the distance past I remember making a backup of the entire C: drive (all partitions), wiping and reinitializing the SSD as a GPT partition, installing windows from scratch, booting into windows and once in windows I installed Acronis and restored only the C: drive Windows partition. It worked with data intact and did not have to worry about reinstalling programs. I believe the same should be possible with MBR.

Sounds easy ... famous last words! :devilish:
 
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1721670864596.png

In safe mode just ran sfc /scannow from a command prompt and it fixed some stuff, ran it again and it siad I was clear. Gonna try rebooting her now.
 
homerdog said:
Are we talking about the same computer?
Click to expand...
No. The one I was talking about before today is named "Blue" and is my wife's PC. My baby is named "Bubbles" and she crashed today causing my panic.

I noticed a bit later that my speakers had turned themselves off so I'm guessing the crash/corruption was caused by a power flicker. I don't have a ups on any of my computers, just surge protectors.

I haven't done a thing on the other PC today. Some stuff with my wife and a surgery that was supposed to happen today but didn't and we find out tomorrow if Aetna is gonna get their shit together and get it rescheduled soon since she's starting a 6 week leave of absence to get a couple of disks in her neck replaced. I stress her out sometimes when I'm working on PCs when she's home and wants to do other things so I'm just putting it on hold until we find out what's going on with her and the surgery.

Probably will wise up in the interim and figure out that a full wipe/fresh install of win10 is the way to go and then just manual add files/apps/bookmarks/preferences from a copy of her old install. Those can be fun too sometimes and I fear anything else I do will just end up failing. This way it'll have a nice solid foundation rather than be a hodge-podge of patches and an install spanning multiple major hardware changes. It couldn't hurt.

EDITED BITS: I was really glad to notice my speakers off. It's good to have a reason why she crashed rather than a mysterious, "Well it just died when I went to get coffee!". I like explanations and this one fits. :)
 
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