Existing Boot Camp on second hd bay does not boot on MBP mid 2012

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Hello guys!

I've had Boot Camp running Windows 8 in my Macbook Pro Mid-2012.

This week I upgraded it with a 240 GB SSD and put the original HD in the optical bay. When I turn my macbook on with Option key hold, I can choose to boot to my previous Windows 8 boot camp, but it always gets stuck in a black screen with cursor blinking.

I've been searching for a workaround to make Windows boot for the past days, but no success. Some people say Windows will never boot on the second HD bay, some people say it will, I'm confused.

Is there a way to make Windows 8 boot from second bay (it is already installed)?

Thank you!
 

chscag

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Your Mac's Specs
2017 27" iMac, 10.5" iPad Pro, iPhone 8, iPhone 11, iPhone 12 Mini, Numerous iPods, Monterey
By design (blame Microsoft) Windows will not boot from a drive that is not the primary. In a Windows machine that has a BIOS, primary and secondary drives can be swapped and Windows therefore will always boot correctly. Your Mac doesn't work that way since it uses EFI. I don't know of a work around which will allow Windows to boot from the drive that is in the Optical Bay slot. There may be one, so don't give up looking.
 
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As chscag points out, blame Microsfot. it is an anti-piracy measure and I am not suggesting anything untoward please!
 

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