Changing old SSD to new one

[Maelstrom509]

Hey guys+gals, I'm trying to install a new SSD into my PC.

So, for context. I have 5 storage drives. Two 1tb HDD's, One 320gb HDD, a 126gb SSD for my OS, and a 32gb SSD that used to be my OS drive.

I just bought a 250gb EVO to replace the 32gb drive so I could use it for gaming, but when I tried to switch to the new drive, it gives me a 'insert proper boot device' after BIOS. Formatted the new drive in Linux, and then it just gave me a black screen with a flashing input line, as if it was an empty terminal.

Returned the old 32gb SSD into my PC and reconnected it, it runs fine. If I try to format the 32gb in Windows, it says there are possibly processes and system processes using the drive... Is the old, 32gb SSD still being used for some OS data and I need to try to get it all on my main drive or.. Is something messed up here..?

Please help, thank you! D:

 

[rgd1101]

what app/program did you use to clone the 32gb dirve to 250gb evo? did you clone everything?

 

[Maelstrom509]

what app/program did you use to clone the 32gb dirve to 250gb evo? did you clone everything?

I'm not cloning. This is really hard to explain. So the 32gb drive used to be my windows drive several years ago, until I made the wise decision to get a larger SSD. Once I got that new SSD, I think I made the decision to just fully reinstall windows onto the new 126gb SSD.

So this 32gb drive has ONLY been used for storage for the last two years. I was just going to take out the drive since I thought it was empty (which in /Windows/ it is. It only has like.. point 4 gigabyes being used.)

But if I try to format the drive in windows it says that the drive may still be in use by windows processes and asks if I'm sure I would like to format it.

 

[USAFRet]

what app/program did you use to clone the 32gb dirve to 250gb evo? did you clone everything?

I'm not cloning. This is really hard to explain. So the 32gb drive used to be my windows drive several years ago, until I made the wise decision to get a larger SSD. Once I got that new SSD, I think I made the decision to just fully reinstall windows onto the new 126gb SSD.

So this 32gb drive has ONLY been used for storage for the last two years. I was just going to take out the drive since I thought it was empty (which in /Windows/ it is. It only has like.. point 4 gigabyes being used.)

But if I try to format the drive in windows it says that the drive may still be in use by windows processes and asks if I'm sure I would like to format it.

1. When you did the "reinstall" on the 128GB drive, were the other drives still connected?

2. Show us a screencap of your Disk Management window.

 

[Maelstrom509]

1. When you did the "reinstall" on the 128GB drive, were the other drives still connected?

2. Show us a screencap of your Disk Management window.

1. As far as I recall, yes. Three of the drives were connected, I recently got one of the two 1tb HDD's.

2. Disk 4 is the 32gb SSD, Disk 0 is main OS drive

 

[Maelstrom509]

Oh. I think I see the problem. My boot manager is on the old SSD, isn't it...

 

[USAFRet]

Oh. I think I see the problem. My boot manager is on the old SSD, isn't it...

Exactly.
That what happens if there are more than one drive connected during a Windows install.

 

[Maelstrom509]

Oh. I think I see the problem. My boot manager is on the old SSD, isn't it...

Exactly.
That what happens if there are more than one drive connected during a Windows install.

So, the golden question I have for you then...

Is it possible to migrate the bootloader, and is it going to mess everything up?

 

[USAFRet]

Oh. I think I see the problem. My boot manager is on the old SSD, isn't it...

Exactly.
That what happens if there are more than one drive connected during a Windows install.

So, the golden question I have for you then...

Is it possible to migrate the bootloader, and is it going to mess everything up?

Which OS is this?
7 or 8.1?

Assuming you have a USB or DVD installer for this...

Disconnect all drives except the current C drive.
Boot from your OS install USB.
Run the Repair function.
See what happens.

 

[Maelstrom509]

I'll have to give it a go tomorrow, ran out of time this evening, got caught up with some things. Will keep this updated!

 

[Maelstrom509]

Oh. I think I see the problem. My boot manager is on the old SSD, isn't it...

Exactly.
That what happens if there are more than one drive connected during a Windows install.

So, the golden question I have for you then...

Is it possible to migrate the bootloader, and is it going to mess everything up?

Which OS is this?
7 or 8.1?

Assuming you have a USB or DVD installer for this...

Disconnect all drives except the current C drive.
Boot from your OS install USB.
Run the Repair function.
See what happens.

So, this seems to have worked! Disconnected all of my drives this morning and booted with just the SSD. It seemed to boot no problem after I ran the repair feature once. Oddly enough, it said there wasn't anything to repair, but I guess it went ahead and fixed the problem itself without saying?

I dunno. Anyways, it's all good now, thanks for the help!