Score:0

I have a Dual Drive pc. I mistakenly wiped the HDD and now won't boot. How do I reinstall Windows using the remaining (working) drive (Ubuntu / SSD)?

es flag

My pc has two (internal) drives:

  1. The original HDD it came with - with Windows 10 Home;
  2. An SSD - with Ubuntu 22.04 LTS OS.

The HDD had Windows 10 Home on it;

The SSD has Ubuntu 22.04 LTS on it.

When booting the machine, a screen would ask which I wanted to boot into, either the HDD (Windows) or the SSD (Ubuntu).

Whilst I was wrestling with a problem on the SSD, using GParted, I accidentally formatted the HDD and lost the entire contents, including the boot sector, so that when I boot the machine, my only option is to boot into the SSD (i.e. the Ubuntu OS) - the option to boot into the HDD has gone.

I would like to re-establish the Windows 10 HOME on the HDD - I do have the product key.

I have downloaded the Windows 10 iso to a USB but can't get it to open on the pc, nor on my Ubuntu 22.04 laptop.

Do you have any suggestions as to how I can:

  1. make the wiped HDD bootable?
  2. Get Windows 10 Home back on the HDD?

Many thanks for your time. Duncan

pLumo avatar
in flag
So you need to install Windows on your HDD, I cannot see how askubuntu can help you with it. Only how to [restore Grub Menu after you installed Windows](https://askubuntu.com/questions/88384/how-can-i-repair-grub-how-to-get-ubuntu-back-after-installing-windows).
oldfred avatar
cn flag
New versions of Windows have a .wim file that is too large for FAT32 & you have to use FAT32 for UEFI boot. Windows installer to flash drive automatically splits .wim. Only a few newer instructions are correct for using Linux to make bootable flash drive. https://help.ubuntu.com/community/mkusb/v7#Making_a_USB_drive_to_install_Windows https://superuser.com/questions/1355604/boot-win10-from-an-iso-image-on-a-certain-partition-using-grub2 Be sure to install in same boot mode probably UEFI, and best to remove Ubuntu drive so Windows does not see it.
Duncan avatar
es flag
Thank you very much - most helpful and kind of you.
Duncan avatar
es flag
Thank you very much. The .wim file is indeed to large for FAT32 - worked fine when I formatted the USB to ntfs then copy and pasted the files to the USB. Managed to load Windows by physically disconnecting the SSD (with Ubuntu OS) - the Win-usb would not boot with the linux distro "in sight" - bastard Microsoft! Once again, many thanks for your help.
Score:0
es flag

I solved this problem by:

  1. creating a bootable Windows 10 usb using a friends Windows pc - many descriptions on how to do this - on YouTube and AskUbuntu, etc; However, note, I had to format the USB ntfs - the .wim file was too large for FAT format.
  2. The Win10-usb would not boot with the Linux OS "in sight" - so, I physically disconnected the SSD (with Linux OS on it - Ubuntu); the Win-usb would then boot - and thus installed Windows on the Hard Disk. I suspect Microsoft somehow prevents use of Windows - even on a bootable USB - when it "sees" the Linux OS. I wonder if the same happens with Apple stuff?
  3. Then reconnected the SSD with Linux OS.
  4. When I boot the pc into BIOS, I am offered the option of booting into the Linux OS or Windows. If I don't enter BIOS, the pc boots straight into Windows. I am happy with this.

THANK YOU ALL FOR YOUR HELP - GREATLY APPRECIATED.

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