I can't boot my PC without unplugging my backup disk.
Hello everyone !
My specs :
Windows 10, True Image 2020
I saved partitions C (windows) and E (data) on an external USB HDD (exFAT).
Advanced settings: put acronis on support.
Problem :
When I reboot, the windows PC gets stuck on page B4.
I have to force the shutdown of the PC ( on/off button), unplug the backup disk then restart the PC.
When I reboot the PC with a USB stick, Acronis does not see the backup disk because it is unplugged.
I don't need to restore anything now because my PC is working perfectly.
Any idea what the problem is?
Thanks in advance!


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Hello Steve,
Thank you for your response.
1- i saved C and E with Disks & Partitions backup
2- If I understood correctly the formatting of my external hard drive is not the right one. It should be in FAT16 or FAT32.
I can make my backups on another disk while I format my HDD correctly in FAT16 or FAT32 (which is the best format?).
Once this is done I will resume my backups on the external HDD.
Does that sound right to you?
Kind regards
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Bruno, if you have created a Disks & Partitions backup of your C: & E: partitions on your external backup drive, then this is created as a .tibx file which is not bootable of itself.
Your backup drive should not be using either FAT16 or FAT32 as this will cause any backups saved to it to be split into small 4GB segments due to the maximum size limitations of FAT drives.
Can you share a screen image of your backup drive from Windows Disk Management showing exactly what partitions are on that drive? That would help us to advise you better.
The other aspect of this issue is your BIOS settings on this computer. The BIOS should be configured to boot from either the Windows Boot Manager on your C: drive (for UEFI BIOS) or from the actual C: drive (for Legacy BIOS).
The way to check the BIOS settings depend on the make / model of your PC and the BIOS this uses.
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I took an image (Acronis1) of the partition of my backup drive "My book".
On the other point, I'm not sure how to answer.I took another picture (Acronis 2 ) showing the startup order in the software managing my motherboard.
I hope this will match your request.
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Bruno, thanks for the screen images. Your My Book drive doesn't have a bootable partition so if the computer tries to boot from this, it will fail or hang.
The Boot device priority image looks to show that there are two devices ahead of your normal boot HDD device, i.e. USB key and CD/DVD, where the first of these is probably the reason why the computer is trying to boot from the My Book drive.
Take a look at the following webpages for help with changing the boot device priority.
MSI Support: How to change boot order?
YouTube: how to enter MSI motherboard BIOS change boot order
YouTube: How to change boot order to USB drive on MSI Z370 motherboard
From looking at the above videos, you may be able to simply drag the USB key icon to the right to move it after the HDD drive.
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bruno fatiguet wrote:Hello Steve,
Thank you for your response.
1- i saved C and E with Disks & Partitions backup
2- If I understood correctly the formatting of my external hard drive is not the right one. It should be in FAT16 or FAT32.
Bruno, I hit a similar problem with a 'new' WD External USB drive a few years ago. This is the newer MyBook, the one that can be used on both a Mac and Windows PC out of the box. First time I used it, plugged it in and then was about to write to it. Read as well. Next day, my PC would NOT boot?
Well, I have a Dell and the problem was the BIOS. When it starts to boot it read every drive looking to see who is bootable. The BIOS can NOT read ExFat drives. NTFS is a better choice. I assume your PC has the same problem?
Older MyBooks came formatted for Windows and directions for the drive were if using a Mac, reformat the drive.
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Hello
@Steve.
Sorry for my late answer but it's not working.
The startup order is the right one but the PC gets stuck on a black page with only "B4" written in the bottom right corner.
@Irv Spalten
Thank you for your response. Indeed my problem seems similar to yours and MyBook is well formatted in ExFat.
So I only need to format it in NTFS to solve my problem since according to Steve FAT 32 or FAT64 are not correct formats either.
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Bruno, sorry to read your update and am struggling to help further as have no boxes using the MSI BIOS nor any exFAT formatted drives.
Might be worth checking in any MSI forums to see if any other users have reported the same issue of the external drive overriding the boot priority settings when the internal HDD is set as the first boot device?
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thank you for your efforts.
i 'll try that.
Kind regards
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Hello everyone!
My problem is solved.
I couldn't find an answer on the MSI website.
As I had a backup of my partitions on another disk than MyBook I formatted my disk in NTFS as proposed by Irv Spalten.
And it works perfectly!
Thank you both for taking the time to answer me.
Kind regards
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