Windows 7 can´t boot without USB-Stick / But can´t boot from the stick

[Dinnercore]

The title may sound confusing, so I will try to explain in detail:

I had some issues with a broken partition table due to an unstable OC. I could not get it repaired and decided to start over with a clean install. I swapped the CPU, reset CMOS for stock settings and booted from an installation stick.
I deleted the old partitions, formatted the drive and did the installation. No errors, no trouble.

After this I let the system do all the updates over night (~100) like I did 10x before. I removed the USB-Stick and tried to reboot, but can´t. System posts and goes black screen after that. Scratched my head and tried to boot from the install/repair stick and got into windows as if nothing ever happened.
Upon investigation I can now boot into the windows on my drive ONLY if I select boot from USB. And due to that I can not access the installation media on the stick!

Somehow it must have written the boot record for the drive on that USB-stick. I wonder if it is possible to safely move that over to the drive, because currently I can not use the machine without the stick and can´t get to the repair options because I can´t boot from the stick.
I would love to not have to wipe everything on a different PC and start over, this install and update process already ate my whole sunday...

Any suggestions? SFC did not find anything wrong, bootrec /fixmbr does not work from CMD on the installed windows, guess I need the repair stick for that.

 

[remixedcat]

which tool did you use to create the bootable installation? Use a different tool to make another and try to repair with the 2nd stick. If you don't have another you can go to grocery store or a gas station in a pinch and get a cheap usb sick if you live far away from any computer shops.

Also this could have happened accidentally:

https://social.technet.microsoft.co...s-to-go-computer-but-its-not?forum=W8ITProWTG

Follow these steps to delete the Windows To Go registry value:

1. • Open regedit.exe
   • Browse to: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control
   • Delete this value: PortableOperatingSystem

You will most probably notice that the issue reappears when you connect a particular USB drive to the PC. Subsequent removal of that drive will cause the PC to crash. This is happening because the unique IDs of the USB disk and the internal HDD are the same. The easiest way to fix this issue is to "clean" the disk. A clean will destroy all data on the disk, so back it up first.

1. Open diskpart.exe
2. Type "list disk" to determine the disk number of the USB disk.
3. Type "select disk #", where # is the disk number you determined.
4. Type "clean".
5. Type "exit".

Restart your PC. You can use diskmgmt.msc or diskpart.exe to repartition your USB drive to resume using it normally.

 

[Dinnercore]

which tool did you use to create the bootable installation? Use a different tool to make another and try to repair with the 2nd stick. If you don't have another you can go to grocery store or a gas station in a pinch and get a cheap usb sick if you live far away from any computer shops.

Also this could have happened accidentally:

https://social.technet.microsoft.co...s-to-go-computer-but-its-not?forum=W8ITProWTG

I was using Rufus to create the stick with the iso. Already used it multiple times for successful installs. I don´t have another stick with enough capacity around nor do I have a DVD ready. I will check if that WTG thing happened but maybe I´ll just have to start all over again. Wipe the stick and the drive, create a new bootable install USB and go again.

 

[natr0n]

Stick might have readyboost enabled.

Boot and then right click on stick see if so.

 

[Dinnercore]

Stick might have readyboost enabled.

Boot and then right click on stick see if so.

Good idea! But I checked and no it isn´t activated.


EDIT: I did check for WTG too, but nope it is definitly not a WTG install by accident.

On top of that I did another bios reset and forgot to change the boot priority. But it still booted fine after that so I removed the stick and guess what it is working now.
I have no clue what is going on but I take it. Maybe Windows has some secret self-healing powers or my mainboard bios got some drive IDs confused? It can´t be an UEFI issue because the mainboard is over a decade old.
Well whatever it was it´s gone now. I now look like an idiot, thanks everyone for your time. Thread may be closed :/

 

[theFOoL]

Here's what I did for Windows 7. Use program called WINTOUSB as RuFus only works with Windows 10 and WINTOUSB won't work with windows 10. I have a Transcend Reader with a 32GB SD Card class 10 and works great though for the updating part you'll need two updates which I can provide later as right now I'm on my phone

I have it uploading in 1HR

Edited! HERE

 

[NdMk2o1o]

Save yourself some hassle and delete all active partitions and reinstall from scratch, ran into a similar issue myself when I had a dual boot Windows/Linux system and like a dick I deleted the Linux partition, tried, system restore, fix boot problems, command line and fix mbr, fix boot etc, Windows was there it just didnt want to play ball and ya, deleted all partitions, formatted the drive as new and just had to suck it up, it happens sometimes.

 

[Dinnercore]

I did another bios reset and forgot to change the boot priority. But it still booted fine after that so I removed the stick and guess what it is working now. I have no clue what is going on but I take it. Maybe Windows has some secret self-healing powers or my mainboard bios got some drive IDs confused? It can´t be an UEFI issue because the mainboard is over a decade old.
Well whatever it was it´s gone now. I now look like an idiot, thanks everyone for your time. Thread may be closed :/

For now it seems to be working. But if I run into any more trouble I will wipe it clean and start over like you guys suggested.

 

[rtwjunkie]

I was using Rufus to create the stick with the iso. Already used it multiple times for successful installs. I don´t have another stick with enough capacity around nor do I have a DVD ready. I will check if that WTG thing happened but maybe I´ll just have to start all over again. Wipe the stick and the drive, create a new bootable install USB and go again.

And nextbtime, after all the initial data is pulled from the stick to do the install and it does it’s first restart so it can begin install, please remember to pull the usb out.

Glad it all worked out this time!

 

[theFOoL]

@Dinnercore and @Dinnercore W10 is far more usable then W7 on the GO Edition but I like the Look of W7 cause you can Add Gadgets and cool Themes Like I mentioned