Can't boot from cloned OS

ntbohl

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Sep 30, 2015
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I seem to have a bit of a conundrum here. If I search these forums for a solution for moving my windows 10 operating system to my new m.2 ssd (256gb), I see almost unanimously that cloning my c partition (400gb, only 43gb worth of content) to the new drive is the answer (I want to use the hdd for storage when this is all said and done). However if I search for "cloned ssd drive won't boot OS" I see a lot of responses saying that cloning is unreliable and that I should make a reinstall disc or USB, boot from that and install windows to my ssd from that. The problem with that is that my ultrabook had no optical drive and I am currently unable to find a usb drive. I'm wondering if I should shrink the partition down and try it again (easetodo throws no errors during the cloning process) or give up and drive 18 miles to buy a usb I'll probably never use again? Or... I've also read that if there are two bootable drives on the same machine and the OS version is the same, the machine will always default to the old one, so should i format my bC partition to ensure that the bios only sees one bootable option? I would hate to delete everything, have it not work, and have to try to clone everything back knowing i didn't get it to work right the first time. I also know there are paid softwares out there, and I'm by no means a cheapskate, but there are gobs of people that have had success with easetodo, so id prefer to get that working if possible.

Thanks to all that read this and can lend a hand
 
Hey there, ntbohl.

As you've mentioned cloning doesn't work for 100% of the cases, that's why a fresh install of Windows is always preferred instead of a clone. You are also right about possible conflicts between the two drives. So my advice is that you try to boot to Windows with only the m.2 SSD connected to the motherboard (disconnect all other drives). You might have to check if the boot priority order is set properly in the BIOS/UEFI before that. If that doesn't work, then you could try to update your BIOS/UEFI, to see if that fixes the issue. You could also check if there are any firmware updates available for the m.2 SSD.
If the m.2 SSD works fine with all other drives disconnected from the computer, then I'd recommend that you backup the data from your other drive and format it so that no conflicts arise again between the two operating systems.
You could also try the tutorial from this thread if you want to do the cloning process again: http://lifehacker.com/5837543/how-to-migrate-to-a-solid-state-drive-without-reinstalling-windows

Hope that helps. Please let me know how everything goes.
Boogieman_WD
 


Thank you for your reply Boogie, and I'm sad that I agree with you. I'm getting a little tired of opening my laptop casing but at this point it's the next logical step. I will report back when I get the hdd disconnected and retry a boot. I can confirm that the M.2 is the first boot priority, and the HDD is actually last, so I think that part is right lol. I am curious how I would update the bios or firmware for the M.2. I would imagine the bios update is somewhere on Lenovo's website (thinkpad x250) but the M.2 has got me thinking. Is it similar to a driver update for a peripheral?

Lastly, here's hoping that backing up and formatting my C partition works, I'd love to be finished with this upgrade. Hopefully with your help I can put this to rest. Thanks again and will report back soon.
 
Well about the SSD's firmware update, it really depends on the brand. There's usually a utility program of some sort which is used with the SSD, which can also perform the firmware update. Sometimes you could do that via DOS and a flash drive. It really depends, so you'd have to check the SSD manufacturer's website for further info on that or contact the customer support. You could also find out how to update the BIOS of your laptop (if there are any available updates) on the laptop manufacturer's website as well.

I'll be sure to check out the results as soon as I can, so keep me posted.
 


The m.2 won't boot even without the hdd connected. Not sure where to go from here. Any suggestions other than driving 18 miles to buy a flash drive I'm never going to use again?
 
You could try recreating the cloning process again, by following the tutorial from my previous post. What else you can do is contact the laptop manufacturer's customer support and ask for assistance on how to setup the BIOS/UEFI settings before you go for a USB flash drive and try to create a bootable Windows media. It wouldn't hurt to try the SSD with a different computer if possible.