TeraByte Unlimited

Hello,
I’m trying to set up two separate SSDs with cloned Windows 11 installs on one system. My main drive is a 4TB SN8100, and I have a Samsung 860 Pro as a clone. I want to use the 860 Pro as a test drive for apps and other experiments so I don’t wear out the SN8100, and I can easily reload a saved image of the 860 whenever I want a clean setup. I’ve been switching between systems using scripts like "shutdown /r /fw /t 0," and I’ve also tried BootIt UEFI installed on the 860 Pro, which gives me a boot menu after reboot, which is awesome, if it worked permanently The problem is that if I boot from the 860, it works fine, but after another reboot to Win 11 on SN8100, then rebooting from that OS, the menu is gone and I have to go straight into the BIOS. It’s not like a dual-boot on a single drive where you get the “choose Windows” option, separate drives work differently. I’m wondering if there’s a way to make BootIt’s menu stay or another way to bypass the BIOS.
Thanks

Friendly,

Make sure Auto Reactive is enabled in BIU Settings.

Make sure Windows Boot Manager is disabled in the BIOS Boot Option Priorities. Actually, disable everything except BootIt UEFI. The BIOS can reintroduce WBM. Disable it again.

You should see the BIU Boot menu on every restart. If not, use shutdown /r /fw /t 0, and disable Windows Boot Manager.

Thanks, Brian K. That’s really helpful information. I’ll follow through and report back.

The only issue now is that after disabling everything except BootIt UEFI, I only get the single Windows 11 menu, so it only boots to the SN8100 with Windows 11. When I enable the boot manager for the Samsung 860, once it boots to that, the menu disappears.

It kind of works, but I’m not sure if I’m missing something.

The only way for the menu to appear no matter which drive I boot from is to start up on one, make sure it’s set to “Auto Reactivate,” then boot into the other drive, a clone of Windows 11, and do the same thing in maintenance mode with “Auto Reactivate.” Is this the normal procedure when booting from both drives?

Also, I use Edge with Google as the search engine, but every time I reboot with BootIt, Edge reverts back to Bing, what’s going on with that?

Ah, you need to add the second OS to the BIU Boot Menu. But first in BIU, Boot Edit, select the Win11 item, Edit, Boot File field.
Does it say \EFI\Microsoft.001\Boot\bootmgfw.efi
We are interested in the Microsoft.001
Or is it .002

How did you copy the original OS?
How many partitions are on each SSD?

Both SSDs have three partitions: a 200 MB Healthy (EFI System Partition), an (OS) Healthy Basic Data Partition, and a Healthy Recovery Partition.
I used IFW boot recovery to copy the main drive, then restored it to the other drive, scaling to fit, aligning, and changing the ID.
This will be my first time adding the second OS to the BIU Boot Menu, and I’ll probably need help with that later. Also, could the EDGE issue be related to booting from BootIt UEFI? It doesn’t occur if I uninstall it.

It's a bit late here, 3am I will try to see the BUI Boot menu and edit that tomorrow and again, I will be back.

Thank you very much for your help.

Yes, it says "\EFI\Microsoft.001\Boot\bootmgfw.efi"

I would apricate if you could break down on how to add the second OS to the BIU Boot Menu. But first in BIU

I will be back here tomorrow, hopefully get this in order and working.
Thank you very much Brian
Good night

Friendly,

A few mistakes that can be corrected. When you clone an OS to another drive you should only copy the OS partition. Not copy the ESP and Recovery partitions. Having more than one ESP in a system can lead to bizarre situations.

If it was my computer I'd uninstall BIU and use the BIU boot media to delete each partition on the 860 SSD except for the 16 MiB MSR. Restart and install BIU. You should then see a single item in the Boot Menu and Win11 should boot from the menu.

What is the size of the Win11 partition? What is the size of the Free Space on your 860?

I'll describe the BIU copy procedure when you supply those numbers.

I deleted all partitions except the 16MB MSR and also selected to delete the boot, was that the right move? The Windows 11 partition is 1.8TB, are you referring to the partition on the SN 8100? There are also two unallocated partitions on the 860, one at 201MB and another at 238GB. I could completely delete the 860, and as you suggested, just copy the OS partition, would that be easier moving forward?

So 1.8 GB Win 11 partition on the 8100?

To do the BIU copy you need Free Space on the 860 equal to the 1.8 GB. I don't think you have that.

In BIU Boot media, select the Win11 partition, Properties, Details.
What is Free and Used MiB?