Converting an SSD with Win 10 Pro installed to a bootable device

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OldGeek

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#243029 24-Nov-2018 11:33

I have bought an Intel NUC (NUC8i5BEH) along with 8 gigs of memory for my Wife. My intent was to use an SSD out of an existing desktop that also had an HDD in it. The problem is that on starting, the NUC reports no bootable device. Looking in the NUC BIOS I see the SSD listed but cannot put it into the boot sequence.

On the (donor) desktop, the SSD (C) was bootable. The HDD was H drive. I used Partition Wizard to 'clone the OS' from C to H. On restart I got into the BIOS and configured the disk unit that was H to the first bootable media. The SSD was disabled. PC Booted OK (HDD now C drive). Powered off the desktop. Moved the SSD to the NUC and powered up for the first time and got the error as above.

The SSD seems to be working OK (otherwise the NUC BIOS would not see it) but the NUC BIOS thinks it is not a boot device. My first thought is to create a bootable USB drive using the Windows 10 media creation tool, then try to find appropriate 'repair' options not dont involve re-installing windows. The reason for avoiding a re-install is that my wife is an accountant and runs unsupported accounting software with no installer (ie xxx.exe) available. She has spent the last 2 years getting around to moving to a cloud-based alternative but in the meantime....

I am aware of the driver issues associated with this approach but I have to give it a try.

Any suggestions that dont involve re-installing Windows welcomed.

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jamesrt

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#2133270 24-Nov-2018 13:59

It’s possible the NUC is trying to do UEFI boot, and the SSD is configured as MBR / Legacy boot device.

Does the NUC have an option for enabling legacy boot? You may need to turn off any “secure” boot option first....

OldGeek

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#2133281 24-Nov-2018 14:22

In the BIOS, the SSD is listed under 'devices'. Under 'boot priority' UEFI is not checked, LEGACY is checked but reports 'no boot drive'. Under 'boot configuration' there appears to be nothing relative to storage devices. Under 'secure boot' the secure boot setting is not checked.

So it appears that I am set up to boot from a legacy device vs UEFI, the BIOS sees the SSD but does not recognise it as a boot device.

Booting from a Windows 10 USB drive created using the media creation tool gave no useful 'repair' options.

Are there any utilities that can fix this from a bootable USB drive?

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1024kb

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#2133352 24-Nov-2018 15:14

Yeah, there is. I've just booted my Win10 PE toolkit to refresh my memory.

Either BCD Edit, EasyBCD or Bootice should handle the task for you.

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OldGeek

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#2133673 25-Nov-2018 08:48

While I am not familiar with Win 10 PE I am downloading it now on my laptop. Hopefully I can create a bootable USB drive to use those tools on the NUC.

Thanks for the suggestions.

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chevrolux

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#2133682 25-Nov-2018 09:00

Make sure you have disabled secure boot in the bios.

1024kb

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#2133807 25-Nov-2018 16:17

I should have been more specific, sorry. If you search Gandalf's Win10PE for a fully equipped bootable .iso, you'll have a valuable toolkit.

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richms

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#2133848 25-Nov-2018 17:00

Is the SSD a nvme or a sata one? From memory you cant legacy boot off nvme drives but there has only been one machine that I have moved from sata to nvme and had to fix up booting on.

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OldGeek

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#2140571 6-Dec-2018 14:26

In the end I bit the bullet and did a clean install. I took the precaution of deleting all current partitions then let the Windows installer create the partitions it required. I decided to buy a retail version of Win10 Home - that came on a USB stick - cheap but version 1709. The install went fine until the 'lets connect to the internet' bit where it stopped until I used the 'skip' option. Once the install completed it was clear that whatever drivers 1709 had for networking did not work. I downloaded the latest WIFI card driver my laptop and installed it to the NUC and networking came to life. I installed the Intel driver manager and got another 200 megs of drivers and BIOS update to download and install.

All running smoothly - except Reckon Personal Accounts 2015 (dont have the installer, cant find a copy online, Reckon dont support it any longer). So my wife is being forced to 'upgrade' - probably tp Pocketsmith.

Thanks to all who responded.

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