Windows 7: Windows Boot Manager won't boot the correct drive

Hi,

I installed Windows 7 in UEFI mode to an SDD and I figured it would be easy to take my old drive which also had Windows 7 installed, hook it up to a SATA port, and copy over the files that I wanted.

In my BIOS interface I can select the SSD drive to boot from, or "Windows Boot Manager". Only selecting the later boots allows me to boot from the SSD, and only if the old drive is not hooked up. When I hook up my old drive (which had Windows 7 installed WITHOUT UEFI), selecting "Windows Boot Manager" will cause my system to try (and fail) to boot from my old drive.

Does anyone know how to fix this problem? Why is Windows Boot Manager choosing to try and boot from my old drive? Windows Boot Manager I believe resides on the SSD since that was the only drive connected during my new Windows 7 install, so why the heck wouldn't it default to booting the Windows 7 installation on that drive?! I've tried moving the old drive to different SATA ports and to a secondary SATA controller but it makes no difference, Windows Boot Manager always insists on trying to boot from it.

If I hadn't used UEFI I could have just told the bios what drive to boot from. But thanks to this new and "improved" standard I can't exercise this simplest of controls. Any ideas?



My mobo is a Gigabyte G1.Assassin 2 btw.

Thanks in advance

How to Migrate to a Solid-State Drive Without Reinstalling Windows

see if you missed anything.

Using the Windows Boot Manager should boot to the SSD. Are you saving that option when you select it in the bios?

Look in the bios to see if it gives priority to the Legacy System. Changing around boot devices might reset the boot priority. Use the Boot device key (maybe F8 or F12) to make sure it is booting to the Windows Boot Manager.

Could you use the snipping tool to take a picture of your Disk Management Window and attach using the paperclip.

Please post back a screenshot of your maximized Disk Management drive map and listings:

1. Type Disk Management in Start Search box.
2. Open Disk Mgmt. window and maximize it.
3. Type Snipping Tool in Start Search box.
4. Open Snipping Tool, choose Rectangular Snip, draw a box around full map and all listings.
5, Save Snip, attach using paper clip in Reply Box.

Tell us what is on each partition.

You might be able to foil Boot Manager from seeing the old HD by marking it's Windows 7 Inactive from the booted Windows 7 installer first: Partition - Mark as Inactive - Windows 7 Forums

If not I'd move the User folders off the old HD to wipe it using Diskpart Clean Command
then move the User folders back on, boot into SSD to add the HD User folders to the related Library - Include a Folder - Windows 7 Forums

I'm 100% sure that the bios is booting to the Windows Boot Manager on the SSD since I tried adding extra entries and changing the names of them when I'm in windows with only the SSD hooked up, and later when I hook up the other drive I see these options. The phenomenally stupid Windows 7 UEFI boot technology is trying to boot my old non-UEFI drive even from the boot manager which resides on the drive I actually want to boot from (the SSD).

My question is: how does Windows Boot Manager decide what drive/partition to boot Windows 7 on? In the entry for Windows 7 which I can see with EasyBCD (although that program won't work properly with UEFI in general) it only lists a letter path to some .efi file. Surely this is madness, since there cannot be any drive letter assignments until after windows has started...

It turns out my problem is similar to this guys:
Tricky boot manager issue.

he had to give up in disgust and was never able to boot his SSD with the old drive connected in its original state. He transferred his files with neither drive booted and then reformatted the old drive. I may also consider turning the old drive into a removable drive with an enclosure. I feel like I shouldn't need to do this...

In the thread you mention, there were some glitches on his system.. Still, a picture of your Disk Management window might help.

I have not seen a system boot into a MBR install when a EFI boot was requested. Does your Windows Boot Manger have a drive identifier attached?

For the next few hours, I will be testing what appears to be your situation. Although I have dual booted EFI installs of Windows 7 and Linux, and EFI of Windows and MBR of linux, I have not yet had a problem...but who knows what might be lurking...!

Edit: Just in case, I also do not use any Rapid Start software the will use an SSD to start a up a Normal Hard drive system.

Looking forward to the results of Saltgrass' tests.

Why did you install to SSD in UEFI mode? I would install in Legacy mode to an MBR disk unless there is a direct benefit to using GPT mode.

Marking the old drive as inactive didn't work unfortunately. Windows Boot Manager in all of its wisdom still tries to boot from it (I bet it thinks its a UEFI installation, so the "active marker" makes no difference). And I have files spread all over the old drive that I want to copy, and I'm not even sure what they all are right now and I don't want to have to move them all in one go with no second chances, so I won't be copying and then formatting as per your second suggestion. It looks like I'm going to have to buy a drive enclosure for my old drive just so I can copy stuff over. Gotta love new untested technologies brought to market like UEFI support in Windows...

Well, I had no idea what the distinction was at the time. And it's extremely non-intuitive that the mode used to boot the installation DVD would influence the mode used to install windows 7 to the SSD. To be sure, this is how I can force the install to use legacy mode, by making sure the DVD boots into that mode too?

I could just reinstall windows 7 onto the SSD in legacy mode. I may do a re-installation either way. Supposedly UEFI has benefits though, right?

Installing Windows 7 on UEFI based computer - Ask the Core Team - Site Home - TechNet Blogs