Hey everyone, I hard reset my PC and I'm stuck in an install loop and could use some help. Here's what's happening:
My setup:
GIGABYTE motherboard (BIOS updated to latest)
1.9 TB NVMe SSD (AGAMMIX S70B) — target drive for Windows 11
2 TB HDD (Seagate)
USB Windows 11 installer (tried multiple USBs, same result)
What happens:
1.
Boot from USB, go through Windows 11 setup
2.
Select my 1.9 TB SSD (unallocated space) → Next
3.
Install progresses to ~80%, says "Please wait"
4.
Screen goes black, PC restarts, shows GIGABYTE logo
5.
Windows setup says "Remove installation media and press Yes to continue"
6.
I remove USB, press Yes
7.
PC reboots into BIOS — but my SSD is gone from boot options
8.
SSD still shows as "connected" in simple BIOS view, just not as a bootable device
9.
Stuck in BIOS, can't continue install
What I've tried:
Wiped all drives with diskpart (SSD, HDD, old 250GB Samsung)
Disabled CSM, enabled UEFI only
Updated BIOS
Tried different M.2 slots (top slot near CPU)
Registry bypass for TPM/SecureBoot
Fresh Windows 11 USB installer
The weird part: The SSD is detected fine during install and shows up in BIOS before the install starts. It only disappears after Windows writes files to it and reboots.
Any ideas why a drive would vanish from boot options specifically after Windows tries to create boot files on it? Bad SSD? Wrong partition format? Something with EFI boot partition not being created properly?
Happy to provide more specs if needed. Thanks!