I'm having a hard time performing a clean installation of Windows 11 on my PC. I'm fairly confident in my PC skills, but I'm stuck at this point. Here are my system specs:
- CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 5800X3D
- Cooler: NZKT Kraken Elite 360 AIO
- Motherboard: Tuf Gaming X570 Plus Wifi (Bios 5021)
- Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX 64GB (2x32GB) DDR4 3200MHz
- GPU: Gigabyte Windforce SFF RTX 5080
- Storage: 1TB SSD and 2TB WDBlack SN850X NVMe
- PSU: Corsair RM1000X
- Monitor: Samsung 49" Ultrawide C49RGx
Initially, I had one SSD, but now I've upgraded to two SSDs and an NVMe drive where I want to install the OS. I've created a bootable USB with Windows 11, but my BIOS won't recognize the M.2 drive as bootable. I've tried formatting the drive, resetting BIOS to factory settings, rage quit, and everything ASUS support suggested. The drive shows up in BIOS, but it won't register as a bootable option. I'm really at my wit's end here, any guidance would help!
5 Answers
It might also be worth checking if your BIOS settings have RAID enabled; switch it to AHCI mode instead. Most NVMe drives will work better in AHCI. Also, if the drive is brand new, ensure it’s not defective. You can configure and wipe it using the BIOS as well.
If you make sure your USB is prepared correctly and you follow the steps to boot from it while having the NVMe drive connected, that should help. Additionally, during installation, ensure you don’t have the other drives connected. If necessary, check to see if your motherboard supports booting from M.2 drives too.
Have you tried making the USB drive bootable using the Windows Media Creation Tool? Just download the tool, create installation media on your USB, and connect it to the PC. Then boot from it in BIOS. Make sure you set the USB drive as the first option in the boot priority. Once Windows is installed, you can adjust the other drives as needed. This often resolves the issue of BIOS not recognizing the M.2 as bootable.
Just a heads up, your M.2 drive might not appear as bootable until after you’ve installed Windows on it. Focus on confirming that your USB drive is bootable rather than stressing about the M.2 for now. If you're getting to the installer, you should be fine.
This is true! Sometimes it’s just a matter of how the BIOS prioritizes drives and how the install process is set up.
It sounds frustrating! Make sure you've disconnected all your other drives except for the bootable USB and the NVMe drive. You also need to ensure that the USB is bootable. You could use Rufus to create it from the Windows 11 ISO file. Once that's set up, go into the BIOS and set the USB drive as the first boot device. After booting from the USB, you can target the new NVMe drive for installation. Good luck!
Absolutely right! I've found that disconnecting any additional drives can help ensure the BIOS only looks for the bootable USB and the clean NVMe for the Windows installation.