New build has a significant issue.,...BSOD and beyond!

[Box Brownie]

Hi all

My newly completed build was seemingly working well.

It had been on most of yesterday but I went back to it to find a BSOD with.,
Stop code: WHEA_UNCORRRCTABLE_ERROR

rebooted OK and ran SFC /scannow with no errors or integrity issues

I rebooted to access the BIOS to disable the annoyance of Gigabyte Control Center nagging me to be installed.

After doing so and booting to Windows it threw the same BSOD and a restart did the same even before Windows login.

Another restart resulted in the "Windows Boot Manager" screen with error 0xc0000001
NB very oddly the monitor appeared to lose power so swapped the mains cable and all good......though (forgive forgetting at which point) the original cable was fine.......but something threw the monitor into behaving oddly. I feel this is a red herring

Starting PC I could not even get into BIOS as the screen was reporting "no signal".

Thinking my RTX3060 had a fault I removed it and used the onboard HDMI to the monitor but still no signal.

Note : these latter attempts to start the PC results in it shutting itself down after approx 2 mins.

Note the start up diagnostic LEDs cycle as usual and turn off as they should to illustrate that all is well!

I am kind of at loss now as to what the cause could be......???

Is it the boot drive that suffered a catastrophic failure?
I could take it out and put it in the caddy and examine whether it is accessible or not???
If accessible is it worth re-running the clone process to 'start again'
If inaccessible, that looks conclusive, yes?

If the boot drive is apparently sound, I have a spare old HDD I could use (temporarily) to clone the original source onto and give that a go.

Or is it 'worst case scenario ' the motherboard that has failed.

As it stands I am stumped.....as to what steps I can take to diagnose the fault. I try to take an empirical approach but as per my story above I am unsure what steps I need to do next???

TIA for your insights and suggestions

 

[Sangoma]

Try disconnecting any drives (power and data cables) and see if it still shuts down after two minutes.
Unplug and plug in again the memory and the CPU.
Check all the cables plugging in to the mother board (unplug and put back)

I don't think there is any point re cloning until you can see something on the screen.

 

[seaodyssey]

Do a new install of windows to one of your spare drives and see how that goes.
Fingers crossed for you.
I used to be part of a team that regularly run Distaster Recovery Exercises, they always used new window installs on the PC side as it was so much quicker than using cloning software.

 

[Mozthecat]

What’s the rating of the PSU (power supply unit) vs the rest of the build? RTX graphics card says to me it should be in the 600w plus territory? Particularly as I think you are running multiple hard drives?

 

[Milo King]

I did mention in one of your initial thread on this build that you would likely run into issues doing things the way you have with the cloning of drives etc.

Also did you plug the CPU fan directly into the motherboard header as suggested? or did you use that fan hub?

 

[Box Brownie]

Try disconnecting any drives (power and data cables) and see if it still shuts down after two minutes.
Unplug and plug in again the memory and the CPU.
Check all the cables plugging in to the mother board (unplug and put back)

I don't think there is any point re cloning until you can see something on the screen.

All good points......
Though I don't have any thermal paste cleaner to clean the CPU & heatsink.

Do a new install of windows to one of your spare drives and see how that goes.
Fingers crossed for you.
I used to be part of a team that regularly run Distaster Recovery Exercises, they always used new window installs on the PC side as it was so much quicker than using cloning software.

Thanks for the reply.
That will have to be on my list of planned steps to be done as appropriate.

What’s the rating of the PSU (power supply unit) vs the rest of the build? RTX graphics card says to me it should be in the 600w plus territory? Particularly as I think you are running multiple hard drives?

The PSU is 850W

I did mention in one of your initial thread on this build that you would likely run into issues doing things the way you have with the cloning of drives etc.

Also did you plug the CPU fan directly into the motherboard header as suggested? or did you use that fan hub?

Yes, I did leave the HSF plugged into the motherboard


Of note(?) on Thursday I did as mentioned on the other thread a phase 1 of the build with the two M.2 drives installed (C & E drives respectively) and ran 100% ok for something like 6 hours before shutting it down. Then first thing on Saturday (no time on Friday) I installed the HDDs and assigned their drive letters.

So across Saturday & Sunday it was running perfectly happily for around 36 hours.


I grant you that there could have been an issue doing the cloned route but my surmise/understanding would be that any issues would crop immediately(?) rather than a goodly number of hours after running happily.

Thanks all for the suggestions & insights.

PS I have just started it again to.......
Ensure I observed the "Status LEDs" properly!
They are in order of lighting & going out (signifying it sub system is operating correctly)...
CPU>DRAM>VGA>BOOT
Note -when I was (able to ) access the BIOS that LED remained lit indicating it had not entered the OS yet.

So FWIW the lights cycled and all went out as usual and it did not shutdown by itself, so I forced a shutdown.

Therefore a next question...... in the case of the BSOD with the aforementioned error message.....could that be triggered by a monitor failure (of its input section?) and as such it is the monitor that is at fault? NB even though I thought that the monitor behaving oddly was a coincidental red herring???

 

[Paulie-W]

Just a thought... Have you got "Faststartup" enabled? That can cause BSOD (so says google). I remember after reading a bunch of stuff, I disabled mine.

 

[Box Brownie]

Just a thought... Have you got "Faststartup" enabled? That can cause BSOD (so says google). I remember after reading a bunch of stuff, I disabled mine.

I cannot recall seeing that in the BIOS.......as I now cannot even see anything on the screen.......no access to the BIOS to 'check'

 

[Paulie-W]

I cannot recall seeing that in the BIOS.......as I now cannot even see anything on the screen.......no access to the BIOS to 'check'

Bugger.... Could you connect up your old boot drive, and see what happens then?

 

[Box Brownie]

Only a limited amount of time today......will work through a planned checklist tomorrow but thought if the monitor is the issue, I would try another monitor.

So attached my retired/spare monitor and it worked, the Gigabyte splash screen came up but still gave the aforementioned Windows Boot Manager screen so I selected the only available Tool it offers of the Windows Memory Diagnostic Tool....

Edit ~ re: the monitor ~ why, if the old monitor can detect a video signal and 'work', can't the in the past reliable newer one detect a signal? NB same HDMI cable and onboard PC socket.

Running now.......update soon......
So far pass 1 of 2 completed with no problems detected

Random thought whilst waiting, where does the diagnostic tool reside? Obviously(?) before OS starts but the fact(?) that it is running infers the CPU is operating and does this situation throw any further light of a potential root cause?

 

[Box Brownie]

Progress......of a sort

After the Memory Diagnostic Tool ran it rebooted as it said it would. Got the login screen, logged in, showed desktop and now frozen. No response to keyboard or mouse!

Restart required!
Starts and BIOS accessible > but still getting the Windows Boot Manager screen > ESC takes via that route to the bios but Kbd and mouse frozen this time.
Oh! it cycled a couple of times into screen power save mode.

Restart again I get the original BSOD

I am going to do a forced shutdown and return to the problem tomorrow.

At least I can use my old monitor but will need to try the main one with the old PC to confirm that the monitor has no issues?

 

[Paulie-W]

Good luck, mate. It`s a proper ball ache when these things happen.

 

[ancient_mariner]

My starting point would be to unplug everything in the computer except bare essentials and just leave a single memory stick in place after removing and reinserting it. If it won't boot normally then swap for the other stick. If it still won't boot then likely mobo, PSU or processor. You could also make a bootable USB stick with Linux just to see if the windows install is stuffed - could be cumulative corruption due to cloning instead of fresh install.

 

[Sangoma]

Check the hard drive settings in the BIOS, and all the boot settings (safe boot and anything else)

I had this last year on a Dell, and when I got it to start, it would randomly crash, it was something to do with the windows install and the Dell security system, and every time windows tried to access something on the hard drive, it just crashed, I deleted everything on the hard drive, one zeroed it and did a fresh install, it has been fine ever since.

That happened after I fitted a 1TB M2 drive, cloned from the old one.

Can't be more precise than that, and can't remember the error codes.

 

[gman]

As mentioned above, I'd start with the RAM and go from there. Unplug and reinsert all cables and connectors etc. Maybe worth pulling the processor and checking the pins.

I'm sure that BSOD code is a hardware error. Also maybe worth disconnecting the fan hub as well just in case.

 

[Graulges]

Just for info fast startup is a Windows thing not the BIOS as I remember. Fast Boot is a feature in UEFI/BIOS Hope you get sorted

 

[Box Brownie]

Good luck, mate. It`s a proper ball ache when these things happen.

Thanks
It is b***dy annoying as it had been running nicely.
It is good that I have patience and an analytical approach ~ with a little TP help to keep me focused.

My starting point would be to unplug everything in the computer except bare essentials and just leave a single memory stick in place after removing and reinserting it. If it won't boot normally then swap for the other stick. If it still won't boot then likely mobo, PSU or processor. You could also make a bootable USB stick with Linux just to see if the windows install is stuffed - could be cumulative corruption due to cloning instead of fresh install.

Certainly where I was planning to go with it.

Even though Win Memory Diagnostic says AOK that is 100% certainty.

Will check the motherboard manual to make sure I pick the right slot for single RAM stick usage.

Re: other steps ~ for some I will have boot the old PC to prepare USB sticks as needed.

Check the hard drive settings in the BIOS, and all the boot settings (safe boot and anything else)

I had this last year on a Dell, and when I got it to start, it would randomly crash, it was something to do with the windows install and the Dell security system, and every time windows tried to access something on the hard drive, it just crashed, I deleted everything on the hard drive, one zeroed it and did a fresh install, it has been fine ever since.

That happened after I fitted a 1TB M2 drive, cloned from the old one.

Can't be more precise than that, and can't remember the error codes.

All good points for me to check/confirm. Though the fact that it ran AOK for some many hours.....does not immediately suggest a BIOS settings issue

As mentioned above, I'd start with the RAM and go from there. Unplug and reinsert all cables and connectors etc. Maybe worth pulling the processor and checking the pins.

I'm sure that BSOD code is a hardware error. Also maybe worth disconnecting the fan hub as well just in case.

Yup

As mentioned above, at this time I will not (hopefully not needed to be done?) remove the CPU, (a) because a pins issue would AFAIK have revealed itself very early and (b) I don't have any thermal cleaner [yet?]


So summary for now.....
Disconnect the HHDs (power & sata)
Unplug & and replug the motherboard power cables. (NB the fan hub is only driving the fans and in no way connected to the motherboard)
Remove both sticks of RAM and try one at a time.

Re-appraise after the above

PS thinking about RAM~ going back some years to when I built the old pc. I started with Crucial but upgraded to another faster brand about a year later. I began to get issues which I pinned down to one of the 2 sticks. I replaced them with a pair of Crucial Ballistic and they many years later are still functioning, DDR2 if I recall.
The new RAM is Crucial again

 

[Box Brownie]

Just for info fast startup is a Windows thing not the BIOS as I remember. Fast Boot is a feature in UEFI/BIOS Hope you get sorted

Thanks for the insights and 'thought'

 

[Box Brownie]

I also looked the way to get W10 into recovery mode>safe mode....as copied in below

Step 1. Enter into WinRE

You can press and hold the Power button on your PC for 10 seconds to turn off the computer, then turn on the PC by pressing the Power button again. When the computer is going to boot the operating system (e.g., the computer manufacturer’s logo appears when restarting), rightly press the Power button again for about 10 seconds to turn off the device.

Follow the same process to turn off and on your Windows 10 PC 3 times. When the PC is turned on for the third time, the computer should enter into the Automatic Repair window now. If not, follow the same steps until the WinRE screen shows.

If the Automatic Repair couldn’t repair your Windows 10 PC problems, you can click Advanced options to enter into Windows Recovery Environment screen to try other options to repair PC.

 

[JayceeC]

I had a problem with my motherboard/cpu/memory upgrade.

I downloaded ccleaner, was offered a 14 day trial of the professional version which I took, updated all the drivers and it has worked fine since

 

[realspeed]

Have you tried typing "msconfig" in the search box

 

[Box Brownie]

I had a problem with my motherboard/cpu/memory upgrade.

I downloaded ccleaner, was offered a 14 day trial of the professional version which I took, updated all the drivers and it has worked fine since

I think I recall using Cleaner back in W2k days......used with care it IIRC it is a useful tool.

Once back to a working & stable operation it might be something I should revisit.

Have you tried typing "msconfig" in the search box

To control IIRC what gets included in the boot process, it is a worthwhile aid.

Which of course I can only make use once I can get back a working system.

 

[gman]

CCleaner is a favourite tool of mine.

 

[Sangoma]

Although it was running OK and a BIOS setting may not seem an option, it is possible that something has changed elsewhere and the OS and BIOS now have a "mismatch"
This can happen days after you change hardware, for example if your original windows installation was oem, the licence key would have been stored in the ACPI table, you change some hardware and the os tries to create a new computer ID, but on the new machine the key is not stored where it expects to find it, so it crashes.

About a year ago I tried to install W7 on a machine that had had W10 installed on it, and every time I tried to validate the key, it told me it was invalid, took me a long time to work around it.

One thing I always remember with windows is never say never, try the simple things first, and if they don't work, rebuild

It is also not (usually) possible to use the OEM key on a new build, though you can retrieve it, it won't work in most cases. It may even validate, but then a while later it will tell you that your copy of windows in not genuine.

When a ZX81 locked up, you pulled the power plug out, when windows goes wrong, you re-install. Not much has changed

 

[Box Brownie]

Ok, update.....

Unplugged and replugged in the power to motherboard cables.

Disconnected the HDDs (power & sata cables)

Removed one stick of ram and reseated the one under test. = Still failed to boot
Swapped out the stick and tried again = still failed to boot
NB as low likelihood that both sticks are the issue = back at square one!

Is it appropriate/worth trying to get into safe mode re: method in my post #19 ?

Next step?
Boot up old pc with its usual connection to the newer monitor?

Copy my new W10 DVD to a USB stick.
Use that to boot from to get into repair mode (which AFAIK is an advised option?)

Alt next step to get ready for ~ clone OS to an available older HHD and try booting from that.......this approach should 'prove' if the issue is the M.2 drive that currently has the OS on it?

 

[Sangoma]

Ok, update.....

Unplugged and replugged in the power to motherboard cables.

Disconnected the HDDs (power & sata cables)

Removed one stick of ram and reseated the one under test. = Still failed to boot
Swapped out the stick and tried again = still failed to boot
NB as low likelihood that both sticks are the issue = back at square one!

Is it appropriate/worth trying to get into safe mode re: method in my post #19 ?

Next step?
Boot up old pc with its usual connection to the newer monitor?

Copy my new W10 DVD to a USB stick.
Use that to boot from to get into repair mode (which AFAIK is an advised option?)

Alt next step to get ready for ~ clone OS to an available older HHD and try booting from that.......this approach should 'prove' if the issue is the M.2 drive that currently has the OS on it?

If the disk system is wrong in BIOS it won't boot.

I would suggest put any spare HD in the machine, then try a new install to it.

Don't do anything to the existing HDs until you are sure everything you want is backed up.

 

[Box Brownie]

If the disk system is wrong in BIOS it won't boot.

I would suggest put any spare HD in the machine, then try a new install to it.

Don't do anything to the existing HDs until you are sure everything you want is backed up.

Thanks for the reply........................typing now on the old PC

Yes, next stage is determine the state of the M.2 OS drive.......I should have pulled whilst I still had the case open & accessible.....only so much space in the 'man cave'

All of the HDDs are data disks ~ one also is where my .pst email is stored = no using Outlook until sorted

Hmmmm! as you say doing a vanilla install on a blank HDD is one way of 'proving' the M.2 is the problem.....................

Though I still wonder if trying the "install disk repair" is worth an initial step (NB as mentioned I will copy the DVD to a USB in readiness for this or indeed doing a fresh installation)

Either way, as see it I need to prove/eliminate the OS disk from the equation.

 

[Sangoma]

Thanks for the reply........................typing now on the old PC

Yes, next stage is determine the state of the M.2 OS drive.......I should have pulled whilst I still had the case open & accessible.....only so much space in the 'man cave'

All of the HDDs are data disks ~ one also is where my .pst email is stored = no using Outlook until sorted

Hmmmm! as you say doing a vanilla install on a blank HDD is one way of 'proving' the M.2 is the problem.....................

Though I still wonder if trying the "install disk repair" is worth an initial step (NB as mentioned I will copy the DVD to a USB in readiness for this or indeed doing a fresh installation)

Either way, as see it I need to prove/eliminate the OS disk from the equation.

No, not at all, just the installation on it!

From what I gather, that has been cloned from another dive, which others and I have stated could be a problem.

If you have all the data that is on the M2 drive backed up, then do a clean install onto the M2 drive, but be sure to delete all partitions in the process

 

[Box Brownie]

No, not at all, just the installation on it!

From what I gather, that has been cloned from another dive, which others and I have stated could be a problem.

If you have all the data that is on the M2 drive backed up, then do a clean install onto the M2 drive, but be sure to delete all partitions in the process

Yes, it was a cloned OS but with a new license used once it was (initially) up & running.

The likes of, as mentioned, the Outlook.pst and all my Documents are on one of the HHD data drives.

The application data etc(?) is of course on the C drive.

Almost all of my applications are installed to the E drive......so overlay installations will be required. Any programs that default to C drive installation will be 'fresh' installs, such as MS Office SBE 2007

NB because the drive was cloned.........if there is any 'pure' data, though which, I suppose I could copy it from the old PC???

The nuclear option of the fresh install to the M.2 drive may indeed be my best option. This requires a different set of "get ready" steps to make I setup the new PC like the old one! IIRC the new install will clear & format the target C drive i.e. I don't need to do anything with the M.2 drive in advance. NB might be a good precaution to remove the other M.2 drive (my E drive).

Edit ~ One thing I would welcome the additional insight about.....
All my previous PCs I have installed the OS but added a UAC without Admin permission (meaning any application installations require me to actively enter the Admin password) and this IIRC was a wise action to keep separation from the Admin UAC and avoid (some) potential malicious software installing itself!

So I wonder if that is now with W10 an unnecessary step in my setup

 

[GeeJay57]

Yes, it was a cloned OS but with a new license used once it was (initially) up & running.

The likes of, as mentioned, the Outlook.pst and all my Documents are on one of the HHD data drives.

The application data etc(?) is of course on the C drive.

Almost all of my applications are installed to the E drive......so overlay installations will be required. Any programs that default to C drive installation will be 'fresh' installs, such as MS Office SBE 2007

NB because the drive was cloned.........if there is any 'pure' data, though which, I suppose I could copy it from the old PC???

The nuclear option of the fresh install to the M.2 drive may indeed be my best option. This requires a different set of "get ready" steps to make I setup the new PC like the old one!

With new hardware, I would expect a clean fresh install of Windows would be the way to go to avoid having mis-matched drivers and so on in the build. That said, it’s been a while since I built a new system, so maybe things are better these days… Good luck I hope you can sort it out.

 

[Box Brownie]

Hmmmm!

It looks my DVD drive on the this old PC has taken a powder i.e. has power but does not show up in Win Explorer.

The only thing I did during my new build preps was to disconnect to use the power & the SATA to clone my data drives. So cannot think why the drive has now decided to become N/A.

Right....................I need to go looking on MS.....I feel sure there is or was a link to download an installation file that you can put on a USB

Edit ~ found it here

Download Windows 10

 

[GeeJay57]

Hmmmm!

It looks my DVD drive on the this old PC has taken a powder i.e. has power but does not show up in Win Explorer.

The only thing I did during my new build preps was to disconnect to use the power & the SATA to clone my data drives. So cannot think why the drive has now decided to become N/A.

Right....................I need to go looking on MS.....I feel sure there is or was a link to download an installation file that you can put on a USB

Yes you can download an ISO file from Microsoft and create a bootable USB pen drive

Create installation media for Windows - Microsoft Support

Learn how to create installation media for installing or reinstalling Windows 7, Windows 8.1, or Windows 10.

support.microsoft.com

 

[ancient_mariner]

Have you now cleared up whether it will complete POST without trouble or if that is flakey as it seemed to be?

 

[Box Brownie]

Have you now cleared up whether it will complete POST without trouble or if that is flakey as it seemed to be?

Re: my post #25 covers it.....
It will not boot into Windows

Hence, though I originally did not want to do a clean install (nuclear option )

By degrees it gives me a different set of (minor?) issues e.g. my email accounts details to reprise. Mentioned in post #29

 

[Box Brownie]

Yes you can download an ISO file from Microsoft and create a bootable USB pen drive

Create installation media for Windows - Microsoft Support

Learn how to create installation media for installing or reinstalling Windows 7, Windows 8.1, or Windows 10.

support.microsoft.com

On the phone now so webpages look different, so unsure whether the page I found and yours (once stepped through to the W10 download page) are the same or not.

Note - by the page I used W10 is not defined as Home or Pro so I surmise it is the License Key that dictates which version is installed/activated???

 

[GeeJay57]

On the phone now so webpages look different, so unsure whether the page I found and yours (once stepped through to the W10 download page) are the same or not.

Note - by the page I used W10 is not defined as Home or Pro so I surmise it is the License Key that dictates which version is installed/activated???

I downloaded Win 10 Home a few weeks ago to put on a Bootcamp partition on my Mac. It runs a treat, but I haven’t got around to activating it yet. From what I’ve read, Win10 works fine without activation apart from being nagged via an on screen notice in the bottom and the inability to customise the desktop colours/background image. Certainly no need to rush in with a product key.

 

[Box Brownie]

On the phone now so webpages look different, so unsure whether the page I found and yours (once stepped through to the W10 download page) are the same or not.

Note - by the page I used W10 is not defined as Home or Pro so I surmise it is the License Key that dictates which version is installed/activated???

Just looked and the link you posted(used) takes me to the page I found.

I downloaded Win 10 Home a few weeks ago to put on a Bootcamp partition on my Mac. It runs a treat, but I haven’t got around to activating it yet. From what I’ve read, Win10 works fine without activation apart from being nagged via an on screen notice in the bottom and the inability to customise the desktop colours/background image. Certainly no need to rush in with a product key.

I see, though what is not clear at the moment is that it seems to be a common installer.....therefore do you recall when you installed it whether it 'offered' you Home or Pro edition???

FWIW the new license I bought was the DVD edition and the DVD says Win10 Pro on it.

PS edit~
I am almost inclined, without some clarity about the download and whether it will install W10 Pro, to get an external DVD drive to copy the DVD to a USB!

This is what it shows about the download tool and the information....

Your current edition of Windows	Windows 10 edition
Windows 7 Starter Windows 7 Home Basic Windows 7 Home Premium Windows 7 Professional Windows 7 Ultimate Windows 8/8.1 Windows 8.1 with Bing Windows 8 Pro Windows 8.1 Pro Windows 8/8.1 Professional with Media Center Windows 8/8.1 Single Language Windows 8 Single Language with Bing Windows 10 Home Windows 10 Pro	Windows 10
Windows 8/8.1 Chinese Language Edition Windows 8 Chinese Language Edition with Bing	Windows 10 Home China

 

[Box Brownie]

No idea how or why but the DVD drive now shows in Windows Explorer

However, oddly it does not recognise that the Windows Installer DVD is in the drive! Other DVDs are fine and show their contents....they spin up silently and 'work'. The Windows Installer DVD spins but the drive makes a noise like the laser mechanism is seeking back & forth across the DVD???

 

[Sangoma]

Sounds like the DVD may be dirty or just not readable.
If the lens on the drive is a bit dusty, it will read some disks and not others as well.

Yes, it is a good idea to remove all drives except the one you are installing to.
Then when you add the drives back again, start with what was the D drive and make sure it is the D drive after putting it back, and change the drive letter if it is not what you want it to be before putting the next drive back.

Other things you may want to back up are the favourites folder (most browsers now you have to export and import) the fonts folder, and any add-ons or plug ins that may be in the programmes folder, unless you have them elsewhere. I never store emails only locally, I always leave copies on the mail server, deleting them from the server was an old idea when data was limited or expensive, but if you have deleted them from the server, emails will need to be backed up, if they are on the server you will be able to download them all again.

I always use an account with admin rights, but by default it still asks for permission to make any system changes.

You can't just copy a DVD to a USB stick if you want it to boot, however the software asks you whether you want to create a DVD or USB boot device.

It is important during the first stages of install to delete all the old partitions and let the install create them again.

If you bought w10 pro on DVD then I think that is the best thing to use, as the key will be correct for it. You cold not use your key to install from a volume licence edition DVD, not could you use a volume licence key to install from your DVD. The licence key will determine many things such as what features are installed etc, not just that you have a licence. That means the installation will probably be common, and what you get depends on your key. I have never installed home edition, so can't say that from experience.

If it was mine, I would remove all drives except the system drive and the DVD drive. I would remove the graphics card too, and any other hardware extras.
Reset the BIOS to default, check that it sees the system drive (you may have to change the settings for it to see the drive, and you may have to change them later for the installation to run correctly, but usually not)

Run a fresh install from the purchased DVD, deleting all partitions, complete the install, then run updates as many times as it takes until it says none available.

Install what ever programmes you want on the system drive. (I install all programmes on the system drive, they will often not run from another drive without reinstalling anyway, as all the registry entries for those programmes will be missing)

Run it for a while, enter the key etc and make sure it is accepted for a few days, install Malwarebytes and SyncFolder app from microsoft (the easiest and quickest way to make backups I have found)

Add your data drive, and back it up.

If all is well, put the video card back in and install the drivers it needs.


I personally think all will be well

Couple of random thoughts, having done similar every day for 25 odd years before I stopped work, it is a bit different doing it, where your instincts and past experiences tend to put you on autopilot, than it is trying to think of the processes to write down. I know that others doing it for a living find the same thing, some may not.
Also, you referred back to posts where you had already answered something, or had already been said. Unfortunately that is a feature of threads like this, simply if people had to keep up to date with the thread, they would not reply Also, you will get the same thing said in different was from different people

You said you have two M2 drives, have you already put data on the second one? If not, or if you have it securely backed up, it might be an idea to use that as the new system drive, incase you don't save something you need from the old one, though as it was cloned, I would assume you still have the source drive?

With windows, re-installing is not a nuclear option, it is a basic one

 

[Brazo]

Its a simple process when building a new PC, one HD drive and install a fresh copy of windows onto it. Then start adding further drives. Anything else is just messing around and delaying the inevitable. Sorry to be harsh, hope you get it sorted. I would also install windows from a USB stick (via an iso download).