Forum Discussion

mad_tekee's avatar
mad_tekee
Copper Contributor
Nov 02, 2025

Cannot Boot from Windows 11 USB Installation Media

So the story is a long one.

I updated one of my Windows 10 PC's successfully to Windows 11 using the Rufus tool and all was well.

What I hadn't noticed was that the previous Windows 10 install had for some strange reason put the Windows Boot Manager on another 'Data only' Solid State drive (presumably creating a small partition on it).

The Windows 11 upgrade process left it there.

A few days later my PC would not boot. I think I have tracked it down to the failed m.2 NVMe drive where the Boot Manager was. I installed the drive in a USB carrier but the whole drive was impossible to read. It looks dead.

So I thought I would try booting from a Windows 11 USB drive - then from the repair tools try to use the Bootrec tools to fix the MBR on the actual proper Windows 11 installation C drive.

 

I have not got to being able to do that as I just cannot get any Windows 11 USB drive to boot up

I have tried the original Rufus generated drive (which incidently works fine on two other PC's I have), then tried Media Creator Tool with fresh USB drive from Microsoft sources. No luck.

I have been in BIOS and checked Secure Boot UEFI is on. The CSM entry allows UEFI and Legacy. Its the same on PC's that can boot up.

The BIOS was updated to latest from ASUS. No luck.

When it starts up it appears it is going to boot, you get the ASUS logo then circle wait scroll - then it blue screens. Nothing.

 

Can anyone suggest another way to get a proper Boot Manager on the Windows 11 drive installation?.

Could I put that Windows 11 drive in another PC and then target it to add the necessary Boot manager (booting from a USB drive in the first place)?

Basically that System C drive is fine - it has no Boot Record.

If my original Windows 10 Pro install had not put the Boot Manager on a totally separate drive I would not have this issue.

I even checked PSU rails in the system - all OK.

At present I have run out of ideas. Anything anyone could suggest to get the USB to boot up would be welcomed.

Motherboard is an older Z390A Prime system with Intel 9900K CPU. 

configuration
deployment
device management
security
Update management

3 Replies

  • soumdg663's avatar
    soumdg663
    Iron Contributor
    Nov 12, 2025

    Your main challenge seems to be the system not recognizing or accepting the USB as a boot device in UEFI mode. Ensuring the media is GPT/UEFI compatible, BIOS settings are correct, and trying different USB ports or creation methods can often resolve this.

    • mad_tekee's avatar
      mad_tekee
      Copper Contributor
      Nov 12, 2025

      I have now resolved all issues but this was a long process. I finally tracked down the non bootable system to a faulty mechanical Hard drive that was affecting the SATA bus.

      I have removed the existing Windows boot manager from the M.2 NVMe drive and created a new EFI partition on the system c drive where the new upgraded Windows 11 sits. I used a Partition manager to create the new EFI fat32 partition and command line to create system boot files on it. 
      Also used the same partition manager to delete the old boot manager on the wrong disc and checked out rest of disc as ok. 

      Microsoft - please can we have a way in future to ALWAYS ensure the boot partition goes on the same hard disk as the Windows system install. I have seen quite a few people who have had that problem as well.

      If Windows install process puts it on a random separate hard drive it creates future problems, 

Resources