In a windows 8.1 pro installation on an ASRock Extreme6 motherboard, my uefi/bios boot screen lists two different 'windows boot manager' entries under boot options.  One of these is good (when top priority, boot goes nicely) and I want to keep it; the other is evil (offers to repair an installation that is fine and erases my second SSD, thanks) and I would like to destroy it or at least avoid it. How do I identify and destroy or avoid the evil boot manager?

More realistically: can I use BCDEdit to ensure the 'good' one appears first (or even better rename it)?

Some background:

I installed windows 8.1 64 on an SM951 drive (in ultraM2 slot) with 2nd SSD disconnected. When I subsequently connected a 2nd SSD, 2nd 'evil' windows boot manager appeared. (I had previously assumed this was linked with reinstalling windows from scratch  on the SM951 drive after I broke the initial installation, but I now doubt that is relevant).

With 2nd SSD disconnected, only one windows boot manager shows in the UEFI boot options.

With both SSD connected, two windows boot managers show in the uefi boot options, but 

BCEDIT only shows one boot manager, and a boot loader (see image below).

I tried resetting the cmos and removing the cmos battery - no joy.

Any help much appreciated.

• Edited by You'reDreaming 22 hours 46 minutes ago added info / some corrections

Hi,

First, I would like to explain that the Boot option equals to the Boot loader under CMD bcdedit. But Windows Boot Manager (BOOTMGR) is a small piece of software, called a boot manager, that's loaded
from the volume boot code, part of the volume boot record. BOOTMGR eventually executes winload.exe, the system loader used to continue the Windows boot process. There should be only one such manager on your computer.

I would like to confirm whether you got OEM system on your computer, and you can see the recovery partition under This Computer.

The clean installation of retailed Windows will remove such recovery option or we can say that this behavior also remove the Boot loader related to the recovery boot.

As current information after running BCDedit, the evil option you mentioned has been removed.

To clear your issue, would you please also help to post the screen of your boot option page?

Hi Kate Li,

Thanks for your help.  This is an OEM installation, under 'This PC' I cannot see the recovery partition.

The BCDedit only shows one Boot Manager and one Boot Loader.

I have currently removed the 2nd SSD so when I go into the UEFI Boot Menu, yes there is only one 'Windows Boot Manager' listed under boot priorities - but if I reconnect the 2nd SSD it reappears.

I will look into getting an image of the boot options screen - its UEFI so I doubt it has a screen capture facility, I will need to take a photo and upload that.  I will locate a camera and get onto that tomorrow am local time.

Thanks again.

Hello again Kate Li,

Please find an uploaded image here: http://imageshack.com/a/img673/636/wbUvKq.jpg

(This view is generated when I click on 'boot option 1' as if to edit / change the option to any of the offered values of - the Boot menu screen lists all of the exhibited values, included two distinct 'Windows Boot Manager' values, as boot options.  Both appear when both SSDs are connected.)

You say 'There should be only one such manager on your computer.' - is this correct if: the windows system is installed with only one SSD connected, and a second SSD is connected afterwards?  

I ask for a few reasons, including: when I disconnect the system SSD (an SM951) and connect only the 2nd SSD then after power down / clear CMOS / booting with only this second SSD connected (to install an independently booting Ubuntu OS on the 2nd drive) I still see a Windows Boot Manager in the UEFI boot menu screen.  (I'm guessing the UEFI grabbed this from the UEFI partition on the second SSD and Windows put it in that partition when I connected the drive. Of course I may be wrong - interested in your thoughts.)

Thanks again.

Hi,

Please check this article, and hope it can be helpful on your issue.

Remove Duplicate Firmware Objects in BCD and NVRAM
https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc749510(v=ws.10).aspx

Hi Kate Li,

Thanks but I seemed to have gained an extra windows boot manager on the 2nd SSD after following the above.

At this point I'm going to try removing the SSD from this PC and reformatting from scratch within another OS.

Any further advice most welcome.

Regards