Windows 11 - Installed to NVMe but need assistance

Hello!

As promised, I won't make threads too long to read.

I've recently purchased a Lexar NVMe 512 GB M.2 Gen 4 x 4 storage device to install to my Dell Optiplex 7060, because I was tired of the lackluster performance caused by my hard drive being extremely slow when it comes to booting up Windows; it took 5 minutes to restart the PC, an hour to install a patch, and 10 minutes to open up Visual Studio for the first time.

I've installed the NVMe SSD carefully as per guidance found in the quick manual with the available tools in my house, and closed the metallic door and the case bezel. Afterwards, I've verified that the NVMe SSD is recognized before installing Windows 11 on it. I wanted to install Windows 11 to my PC on September 2021, but couldn't due to compatibility issues with the Intel graphics card drivers and how it slowed down many games.

When I finally got Windows 11 to install to the NVMe SSD, I've noticed that in the disk management software, I've seen that the UEFI and the recovery partitions didn't get created on the NVMe drive. This means that my computer is using the hard drive to load the Windows Boot Manager on the UEFI partition, which then loads the Windows 11 installation on the NVMe.

I've tested games that could be affected with the compatibility issue, but I was surprised to see them work properly with zero crashes!

I've removed the Windows 10 installation as I no longer need it, but I have questions to raise:

- Is formatting the Windows partition enough to reclaim unused space on the HDD without damaging the UEFI boot?
- How can I safely move the UEFI and the recovery partitions to the NVMe without having to reinstall Windows?

Edited by EoflaOE, 02 April 2024 - 02:35 AM.

If the Previous drive was the Boot drive need to clean that. Move stuff off and then format it so it does not get confused.

 

So the 1st thing after installing Windows was installing all your Motherboard Support Drivers ??

 

https://www.elevenforum.com/t/create-windows-11-bootable-usb-installation-media.750/

 

https://www.windowscentral.com/how-create-windows-10-usb-bootable-media-uefi-support /11

 

In BIOS   Boot is it Selected as UEFI or Legacy ?

https://www.techguy.org/threads/upgrading-to-windows-11-and-switching-boot-from-legacy-to-uefi.1288346/

 

Note all is for info, do not download anything.

Regarding the motherboard support drivers: Yes, I've installed them all using Windows Update for my Dell OptiPlex 7060 as I saw that Windows 11 23H2 is supported.

 

Regarding UEFI/Legacy: My system was and still is on UEFI mode. This is based on the fact that Dell OptiPlex 7060 doesn't support Legacy for internal drives, so my two drives are GPT. I've installed Windows 11 to the NVMe using UEFI a month ago.

 

Regarding the motherboard support drivers: Yes, I've installed them all using Windows Update

Should all be installed from your Support page to insure you have the latest driver.   You do not take Windows Update Drivers if not needed to fix something.  Never for your Video Card/Chip.

Well, I've already set everything up in the new Windows 11 installation and everything worked. I've said this in the beginning of this thread:

 

I've removed the Windows 10 installation as I no longer need it, but I have questions to raise:

 

- Is formatting the Windows partition enough to reclaim unused space on the HDD without damaging the UEFI boot?

- How can I safely move the UEFI and the recovery partitions to the NVMe without having to reinstall Windows?

If you format C: you might as well format The System Partition and the UEFI Partition.  A new install deserves Fresh.   As well if this was Win 10 and having issues with the KB # that will not install then there would not be a need to resize the partition.

 

So you want to leave the UEFI info and the Win10 System Partition  for Windows 10 and then give it to Windows 11.

 

Everything is cleaned.............. Why would you think you left those ?? Install with UEFI Support : https://www.windowscentral.com/how-do-clean-install-windows-11

 

What you do when you are on your own is for you to decide.  What you do when asking for help here is to follow the directions  as they will ensure we get the proper results.  Letting Microsoft install Drivers on a system that does not need them and has Motherboard support is a degradation of a install and will not perform as it it should with it's Drivers from the Manufacturer.

 

EDIT : due to conflicting ideas of a install and drivers I withdraw help from this Topic.

Edited by Pkshadow, 03 April 2024 - 04:31 PM.

OK, I'll study the options I have and see what I can do about it. Thanks for helping anyways!