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Moving Windows to a new PC


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I've been running DCS on an old Dell XPS8500 17-3770 workstation that I upgraded from Windows 8 to 10, transferred to a Samsung 1TB SSD, added 32GB DDR3 RAM and an AMD 5700XT GPU, but now I've just built a new PC and wanted to move my existing SSD to the new build. The problem is the new PC won't boot into Windows. I get a Windows stop blue screen and a no boot device error.

 

The Windows license is Retail so I was hoping it would boot on the new system and I would just have to reactivate it by logging into my Microsoft account. (I believe when you do the free upgrade to Windows 10 the original product key is replaced by a software license linked to your Microsoft account - which I did.)

 

I've gone into the command prompt and tried to list the drive but that says no drive found. I've tried diskpart and tried a few commands I found online but none of them work because it doesn't even see a disk.

 

The BIOS is set to default and I can see the drives listed in the BIOS.

 

If I plug the SSD back into the old PC it boots up fine and I can log into the desktop, so the disk or Windows installation isn't corrupted or anything.

 

I even tried a new install of Windows using a Windows USB install utility. The BIOS detects the USB and automatically boots the installer but the installer also comes up with the error, no drive found, install driver and won't go any further. I'm trying this on a second WD 500GB SSD that I formatted in Windows so it's empty but it doesn't see that either. I don't want to try the installer over my SSD that has my Windows 10 on it because it also has my DCS install on it and I don't want to have to reinstall it all. (Another reason with hindsight to have your games and OS on separate drives).

 

So any suggestions how to get my new PC to boot my existing Windows 10 SSD or how to get the installer to see the empty SSD would be greatly appreciated.

 

My new build specs:

 

i5-11600K

ASUS TUF Gaming Z590-Plus WiFi

32GB DDR4 RAM

AMD 5700XT GPU

Samsung 1TB SSD (Windows 10 & DCS install)

WD 500GB SSD (Empty)

 

Thanks.

i5-11600K CPU, 64GB DDR4 RAM, XFX Speedster MERC319 AMD Radeon 6900 XT, Oculus Quest 2, HP Reverb G2

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Hi This youtube link may help you, it worked for me moving a m.2 drive with a oem windows to a new motherboard and new cpu. How to Move a Hard Drive With Windows 10 Installed to A New PC (With new Hardware) 2017 - YouTube If it makes you go and do a new account go through the process of deleting it and you should be on your original. you do this at your own risk. 


Edited by Anjin_San
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I would copy & safe the DCS folder if the DL makes you worry and THEN I would install a fresh copy of 10 onto that NVMe drive while no other drive is connected to the board at all.

 

If you have a 2nd drive connected Win10 may or may not install the bootloader on that 2nd drive amongst other stupid things.

 

 

Format that drive before you begin if you can. Windows Installer does not wipe all partitions that can be possibly there, so it is best to wipe the drive on a Mac, Linux or Windows with 3rd party tools ( many free ones around to format a drive ). You can also use Gparted on a bootable USB Stick.

 

My recommendation is to install a fresh copy of 10 and backup&restore DCS. So many new drivers needed, so many old drivers installed...etc...

 

*If your 10-Installer USB disk doesnt see any drive, reformat the stick and make a new one with the MS tool provided on MS's website, Media Creation Tool.

Happened to me 2 weeks ago, made a new stick and it worked.


Edited by BitMaster

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Thanks for the suggestions guys.

 

I managed to fix it and get my original Windows SSD to boot without having to re-install Windows. It turns out the SATA mode in the BIOS was set to RAID instead of AHCI and somewhere else buried in the BIOS the first boot device was set to Other OS, instead of Windows UEFI for some reason. Changing those to AHCI and Windows UEFI fixed it. My Windows booted up and no need to re-install. 🙂 

i5-11600K CPU, 64GB DDR4 RAM, XFX Speedster MERC319 AMD Radeon 6900 XT, Oculus Quest 2, HP Reverb G2

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11 hours ago, AlpineGTA said:

The BIOS detects the USB and automatically boots the installer but the installer also comes up with the error, no drive found, install driver and won't go any further.

 

Which was obvious that it had to be AHCI and/or UEFI partition, but you already found out about the solution. Sorry I couldn't reply earlier, I'm new to the forum and couldn't reply due to the 24h limit.

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