Disable bootability

[Marauder2003]

Build new Win 11 PC for friend. Used NVMe drive. I will put his old SSD with Win 10 in the PC but I don?t want it bootable in case the BIOS gets confused. But I want to keep everything on the drive accessible.

How do I gently kill Win 10?

[67Cuda]

Does he just want the data on the drive? Transfer the data and wipe the drive. Put data back on the drive.
Or, does he think he might go back to Windows 10 with that drive? As long as it's not the boot drive, should just sit there. I haven't done this because I make the jump and never look back.

[Marauder2003]

He claims he keeps everything in the cloud. But I am not taking chances.

I thought about copying it all off. Just thought doing something like deleting boot.mgr would work.

Does he just want the data on the drive? Transfer the data and wipe the drive. Put data back on the drive.
Or, does he think he might go back to Windows 10 with that drive? As long as it's not the boot drive, should just sit there. I haven't done this because I make the jump and never look back.

[sonofeugene]

If you are installing a new drive and also installing new software, do NOT have the old drive in the machine. Otherwise the software will see it and expect to see it every time you boot up the computer.

Install the new drive and new software without any other drives installed. Ask me how I know this.

Then after installing the new drive and software and everything is running correctly, you can install the old drive. My preference is to purchase a new external case for the old drive and plug it in, usually with a USB cable, and access/transfer the data from old to new.

[Marauder2003]

Win 11 is up and running. Built system on my test bench. Don?t have the old PC yet. Just prepping for when I do.

If you are installing a new drive and also installing new software, do NOT have the old drive in the machine. Otherwise the software will see it and expect to see it every time you boot up the computer.

Install the new drive and new software without any other drives installed. Ask me how I know this.

Then after installing the new drive and software and everything is running correctly, you can install the old drive. My preference is to purchase a new external case for the old drive and plug it in, usually with a USB cable, and access/transfer the data from old to new.

[AtomicOrange]

Boot sequence (order) in BIOS?

[Marauder2003]

I don?t trust the BIOS to not change for mysterious reasons.

Boot sequence (order) in BIOS?

[arrix]

Put the back-up drive in an external enclosure. Bonus points if you set it up as a NAS.