Onedrive seems to have created its own drive G partition and moved my previous drive G partition to drive L

I was afraid Shift+Restart wouldn't work fully for you. Your ReagentC said it was disabled. Recently, when mine became mysteriously disabled, I also lost the bulk of the options. I was surprised I got there at all & had any options. Also, although yours does appear to have code for it in your BCD, it is weirdly setup compared to mine. It actually tries to go directly to the Recovery partition instead of setting up a RAM disk. If we get you a fit & proper BCD, all should be well with that.

But I'm getting cold feet. I don't want to put you in an unbootable state. Your BIOS Boot screen is different from mine. There is a two-way communication between Windows & BIOS using the Firmware Boot Manager ({fwbootmgr}) in the BCD. I'm hoping /RebuildBCD will scan your drives & create a BCD that essentially looks like mine, & then communicate the differences to BIOS. But I begin to wonder whether the task is too great now that I actually see your BIOS Boot screen. But I still do -- kinda mostly -- believe a backup of the BCD should get any damage undone if you could restore it.

(1)

(a) Is the Installation DVD you've got of the same or greater version of Windows that is installed? It would be best if that were the case.

(b)Boot to it, & at its Command Prompt, show a picture of...

DiskPart

List Vol

Exit

=== You should recognize the Windows volume by its label or size ===

=== Note its letter which may not be C: in this environment ===

=== Use that letter instead of X: in the following commands ===

MD X:\BU <<<Make a folder on "C:" named BU

BCDEdit /Export X:\BU\BCD_Backup <<<Backup the BCD into it

BCDEdit <<<Show partial BCD

That's just making the BCD backup, so you won't have to do it later should we decide to proceed.

(2)

(a) Is there more at that BIOS Boot screen, like whether it is in UEFI or Legacy mode or whether CMS is on or off?

(b) What do Boot Options 2 through 4 look like? I wonder whether one of them has an option for {bootmgr} -- just like that.

But I am getting cold feet about this. I'm glad you hesitated.

Further to my last Post...

went back to your instructions above before creating the recovery disk.

pressed shift+restart --->troubleshoot--=>Advanced OPtions--->>> but did not get command prompt.

one option was StartUp (change windows startup behaviour )

other one was UEFI Firmware Settings (restart to change UEFI settings).

At this point I decided to quit and wait for you suggestion on what to do next.

I have the recovery media so should I just do something with it? If so what?

Sorry to be such a pain but thanks for hanging in there with me. Much appreciated.

Cheers!

Garry

HI PCR...

OK, reading thru the recovery options you mentioned I think that USB option won't work as bios will not allow boot from USB )probably needs a bios upgrade but not feeling warm and fuzzy about doing it at this stage of the game. Perhaps later.

I restarted and did get into the bios ok though. (windows did start after that as I am typing win the windows PC here).

I looked at the boot menu in the bios and it looks weird as there are 2 options that look the same. This wasn't there before.

I took a picture of the screen and attached it below. Notice the line after the highlighted one is the same as the highlighted one. Never seen this before. Perhaps the result of the first part of the fix?

I just noticed that I have previously created a windows 10 ISO DVD as of 2021-09-13 which should be OK if I need it. I did not want to upgrade to 21H1 yet. so I should be ok to stick with the ISO file I have. It was created like you said above so I imagine it has all I need for clean install, or repair, or recovery. Will go ahead and start the code you entered above. Will get back to you when done.

BTW... I did do a shift+restart and I got the expected screen to come up.

Your guess is a good one, that something to do with the cloning process caused GPT attributes to clear, GUID type codes maybe to muss &/or partition positions to scramble. Then Windows wouldn't boot. You may have done stuff at the BIOS boot menu &/or BIOS/Windows did it automatically to end up with an abnormal BCD that does at least achieve a boot. But it looks like the Frankenstein monster to me. And I'm unsure it will function well in all circumstances.

That's right. Once you've got an external recovery environment, go ahead & do that code I wrote. You will have the means to undo it, if necessary, even if you can't get into the internal recovery environment (your Recovery partition). Shift+Restart will most likely return to Windows if there is no access to the internal recovery environment. But once I saw it go to a useless dwarf version (it had no Troubleshoot button, IIRC). Then, "Continue" did get back to Windows.

Here are the alternatives for an external recovery environment...

(1) For the Repair Disc...

(a) Type "Control" into Search, & click "Control Panel".

(b) Click "Backup & Restore (Win 7)".

(c) Click "Create a system repair disc" to make the DVD.

Warning: The last few times I tried, it just chewed up the DVD & made it unusable.

(2) For the Recovery Drive, type "Recovery" into Search, & click "Recovery Drive". You need at least an 8 GB USB drive. This is a better option. Not only does it provide a recovery environment, but it can do a reinstall of the same version of Windows that existed when the drive was made.

(3) For Win 10 Installation media...

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows10

Download Windows 10 - This is the latest finalized Win 10 version, currently 21H1.

Download MediaCreationTool21H1.exe & run it to make a Windows 10 Installation USB drive or burn an .iso to DVD. Follow the instructions under "Using the tool to create installation media". As it says, match it to the Language, & Architecture(x64/64-bit or x86/32-bit) of the computer on which it will be used. The Windows Editionto take is "Windows 10", which includes both Home & Pro. This can do a clean install or a repair-install, & it also has an external recovery environment.

(4) Here is how to boot them...

You need to press an F-key during boot to get to the BIOS Boot Menu. If you don't know it...

https://www.sysnative.com/forums/threads/get-access-to-bios-settings-boot-menu-f-keys-hotkeys-by-system-manufacturer-oem.23010/

Get access to BIOS settings & Boot Menu: F-keys/Hotkeys by System Manufacturer (OEM)

Note: That is an informative 3rd-party site. But I know nothing (bad or good) of any downloads or links that are there.

(a) Insert the DVD or plug in the USB Installation media.

(b) Bootor reboot the computer.

(c) Press & hold the F-key at the manufacturer's logo (or at the black screen just before the logo).

     If the key was pressed in time, mine shows activity at the bottom of the screen,

     & the BIOS Boot menu soon shows up.

(d) From the BIOS Boot Menu, choose the "UEFI" option for the media, if offered.

     Mine names the device brand & precedes it with "UEFI:".

(e) If it were a DVD inserted, you get a message to "Press any key" to boot it.

     If not pressed in time, the DVD will be bypassed & Windows will try to boot.

(f) When the Installation media boots, select "Repair your computer" instead of to install.

     The computer will reboot to the Recovery Environment at the "Choose an Option" screen.

Hi again PCR...

thanks for being so patient with me. I am in way over my head for sure. It would be interesting to know how this got so messed up, but I suspect it may have something to do with replacing my system SSD that somehow filled up out of the blue, with a new one (1TB) cloned from the old one.

Anyways, that's probably another story / mystery that is not on the radar right now.

above you said... "but you never answered whether Shift+Restart will get you there" and yes I did not try that, for fear maybe would not boot and I would be totally hooped. is that a possibility?

"I think it best you make a Repair Disc, Recovery USB drive or Win 10 Installation media before messing with the BCD. Want instructions?"

Yes please. Once I create a repair disc etc, what is the next step(s)? I assume it would be to go back and follow your last set of instructions, after I create the repair disc?

Thanks again for your help.

Cheers!

Garry