Changing drive letters after cloning to 960 EVO

[JimH845]

I just got a new Dell Inspiron 5675. Was going to build a pc but saw specs and pricing on this and thought it was a pretty good deal.

Computer has Windows 10 Home...Ryzen 7 1700...AMD 580...16GB RAM and 1 TB HDD.

I installed a 250 GB 960 EVO SSD to use for OS and programs. Using Samsung Data Migration, I cloned the HDD. Opted for this since HDD is new and thought this was easier than a clean install for keeping drivers, etc. It does have some Dell stuff on it but I figured that may be useful for a while under my warranty.

Using Disk Management, I brought the SSD online and it was labled as Drive E:. I want to swap the drive letters between C and E then make the SSD (now C my boot drive. I removed E from the SSD so it would be available.

When I try to rename the C: drive to E: I get a message that "the parameter is incorrect". I found a video online that suggested moving the paging file to another drive but only the current C: drive is available.

I am not sure if I've done something completely wrong in my setup so far or if I simply need to remove the paging file from the HDD and continue renaming drives to change my boot drive.

Any suggestions/advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

[SchizTech]

The drive letter C is reserved for the drive that contains Windows, so it can't be reassigned in Windows. Try to go in the BIOS and set the boot order to the SSD first.

 

[SchizTech]

* that contains the active copy of Windows, anyway

 

[USAFRet]

I just got a new Dell Inspiron 5675. Was going to build a pc but saw specs and pricing on this and thought it was a pretty good deal.

Computer has Windows 10 Home...Ryzen 7 1700...AMD 580...16GB RAM and 1 TB HDD.

I installed a 250 GB 960 EVO SSD to use for OS and programs. Using Samsung Data Migration, I cloned the HDD. Opted for this since HDD is new and thought this was easier than a clean install for keeping drivers, etc. It does have some Dell stuff on it but I figured that may be useful for a while under my warranty.

Using Disk Management, I brought the SSD online and it was labled as Drive E:. I want to swap the drive letters between C and E then make the SSD (now C my boot drive. I removed E from the SSD so it would be available.

When I try to rename the C: drive to E: I get a message that "the parameter is incorrect". I found a video online that suggested moving the paging file to another drive but only the current C: drive is available.

I am not sure if I've done something completely wrong in my setup so far or if I simply need to remove the paging file from the HDD and continue renaming drives to change my boot drive.

Any suggestions/advice would be greatly appreciated.

This will not work.
You've gone a little bit wrong with the cloning thing.

At the end of the process, you need to power off, remove the OLD drive and put the new on in its place.
Then allow the system to try to boot up from the NEW drive on its own.

What you are trying WILL NOT WORK.


Redo it. These steps, exactly:
Specific steps for a successful clone operation:
-----------------------------
Verify the actual used space on the current drive is significantly below the size of the new SSD
Download and install Macrium Reflect (or Samsung Data Migration, if a Samsung SSD)
Power off
Disconnect ALL drives except the current C and the new SSD
Power up
Run the Macrium Reflect (or Samsung Data Migration)
Select ALL the partitions on the existing C drive
Click the 'Clone' button
Wait until it is done
When it finishes, power off
Disconnect ALL drives except for the new SSD
This is to allow the system to try to boot from ONLY the SSD
Swap the SATA cables around so that the new drive is connected to the same SATA port as the old drive
Power up, and verify the BIOS boot order
If good, continue the power up

It should boot from the new drive, just like the old drive.
Maybe reboot a time or two, just to make sure.

If it works, and it should, all is good.

Later, reconnect the old drive and wipe as necessary.
Delete the original boot partitions, here:
https://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/windows/en-US/4f1b84ac-b193-40e3-943a-f45d52e23685/cant-delete-extra-healthy-recovery-partitions-and-healthy-efi-system-partition?forum=w8itproinstall
-----------------------------

 

[JimH845]

I just got a new Dell Inspiron 5675. Was going to build a pc but saw specs and pricing on this and thought it was a pretty good deal.

Computer has Windows 10 Home...Ryzen 7 1700...AMD 580...16GB RAM and 1 TB HDD.

I installed a 250 GB 960 EVO SSD to use for OS and programs. Using Samsung Data Migration, I cloned the HDD. Opted for this since HDD is new and thought this was easier than a clean install for keeping drivers, etc. It does have some Dell stuff on it but I figured that may be useful for a while under my warranty.

Using Disk Management, I brought the SSD online and it was labled as Drive E:. I want to swap the drive letters between C and E then make the SSD (now C my boot drive. I removed E from the SSD so it would be available.

When I try to rename the C: drive to E: I get a message that "the parameter is incorrect". I found a video online that suggested moving the paging file to another drive but only the current C: drive is available.

I am not sure if I've done something completely wrong in my setup so far or if I simply need to remove the paging file from the HDD and continue renaming drives to change my boot drive.

Any suggestions/advice would be greatly appreciated.

This will not work.
You've gone a little bit wrong with the cloning thing.

At the end of the process, you need to power off, remove the OLD drive and put the new on in its place.
Then allow the system to try to boot up from the NEW drive on its own.

What you are trying WILL NOT WORK.


Redo it. These steps, exactly:
Specific steps for a successful clone operation:
-----------------------------
Verify the actual used space on the current drive is significantly below the size of the new SSD
Download and install Macrium Reflect (or Samsung Data Migration, if a Samsung SSD)
Power off
Disconnect ALL drives except the current C and the new SSD
Power up
Run the Macrium Reflect (or Samsung Data Migration)
Select ALL the partitions on the existing C drive
Click the 'Clone' button
Wait until it is done
When it finishes, power off
Disconnect ALL drives except for the new SSD
This is to allow the system to try to boot from ONLY the SSD
Swap the SATA cables around so that the new drive is connected to the same SATA port as the old drive
Power up, and verify the BIOS boot order
If good, continue the power up

It should boot from the new drive, just like the old drive.
Maybe reboot a time or two, just to make sure.

If it works, and it should, all is good.

Later, reconnect the old drive and wipe as necessary.
Delete the original boot partitions, here:
https://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/windows/en-US/4f1b84ac-b193-40e3-943a-f45d52e23685/cant-delete-extra-healthy-recovery-partitions-and-healthy-efi-system-partition?forum=w8itproinstall
-----------------------------

 

[JimH845]

USAFRet's solution worked to a point. I re-cloned the SSD, Turned off the pc and disconnected the HDD. On restart the system boots off the SSD. Since this is a Samsung 960 Evo it's is PCIe drive and I cannot connect it to the SATA cables where the HDD is. When I reconnect the HDD the system goes back to booting from that drive. I have not been able to find any way in the BIOS to change the boot order to prioritize the PCIe SSD. May be a Dell issue.

 

[USAFRet]

USAFRet's solution worked to a point. I re-cloned the SSD, Turned off the pc and disconnected the HDD. On restart the system boots off the SSD. Since this is a Samsung 960 Evo it's is PCIe drive and I cannot connect it to the SATA cables where the HDD is. When I reconnect the HDD the system goes back to booting from that drive. I have not been able to find any way in the BIOS to change the boot order to prioritize the PCIe SSD. May be a Dell issue.

If it boots properly from the SSD alone, then you need to find a way to wipe the old HDD.
A USB dock, and connect the HDD after the system is booted into the SSD. Wipe ALL partitions on the drive.

 

[JimH845]

Thanks for the help.