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

Hi PCR...

thanks for this detailed step by step. But before I follow it can you please explain to me what is the BCD and why I need it? What would I be trying to accomplish following your detailed instructions?

Cheers!

Garry

The BCD (Boot Configuration Data) is a file that contains information critical to a successful boot, like the locations of the boot files (normally in EFI) & of the Windows & Recovery partitions. Yours gets the job done apparently, but is abnormal in that it has no {bootmgr}, & it has duplicate & unused sections. I'm unsure Windows can pass messages through yours as sometimes it will do during a reboot to complete an install.

It's OK to mess with the BCD so long as you back it up first. Also, you must have the means to restore the backup. You've got that Recovery partition & it has its WinRE.wim -- but you never answered whether Shift+Restart will get you there. But, actually, the current BCD will be unavailable once renamed. The new one would have to work for that. And I'm unsure whether a bad BCD prevents Windows from getting there through other means, like the 3 shutdown method or the error message.

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

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

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 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.