Cloned Hard Drive Wont Boot

[CornBeef]

Hello everyone,
I am currently in the process of replacing my old and fairly small hard drive with a new Seagate Firecuda 2TB hard drive. As this was my first attempt at this process I did a bit of homework to prepare. Most sources pointed towards cloning as a good and fairly straight forward process.
Using the Seagate Disc Wizard program I successfully cloned my smaller hdd to the brand new one. I then formatted it and partitioned it to make it usable space, at this point my computer recognized it and would allow me to save/use files from it. Everything from the original hard drive seemed to be there, windows and all. However every attempt to boot from the new drive is met with failure, specifically "bootmgr is missing". I researched this problem, but everything I've found so far hasn't helped me.
It's certainly possible I'm missing a key piece of this equation, but I'm really stuck at the moment.
Any ideas on how to proceed? Thanks in advance.

-Cornbeef

 

[ss202sl]

Did you actually clone the entire disk, or just the OS partition? Seems like the boot partition could be missing

 

[VincentP]

You need an Master Boot Record (MBR) for BIOS boot or Guid Partition Table (GPT) for UEFI boot. This references the bootable partition. In OEM installs the bootable partition is usually a small recovery partition, or the main Windows partition for a standard install. Windows installs other small partitions depending on the version too.

It is important to clone the hard drive, not just the main partitions. You also need a sector by sector copy, not just a file copy. You then need to leave these partitions where they are. You can expand the last partition on the drive or add a new partition to use the additional space.

 

[ko888]

You can add the missing boot manager to the new disk:
https://support.microsoft.com/en-ca/help/2622803/bootmgr-is-missing-press-ctrl-alt-del-to-restart-error-when-you-start

 

[boosted1g]

As others have said it sounds like your MBR is missing.
I have found that even when specifying whole disk cloning with Acronis it will still miss the MBR and even trash the MBR on the original disk as well.

Typically just booting into repair mode from a windows install disk/media will find the problem automatically and recreate MBR without having to open command prompt and run it.

Next time you ever go and have to do a reinstall on windows, set it up with GPT partition instead of MBR.

 

[SkyNetRising]

Using the Seagate Disc Wizard program I successfully cloned my smaller hdd to the brand new one.
I then formatted it and partitioned it to make it usable space, at this point my computer recognized it and would allow me to save/use files from it.
Everything from the original hard drive seemed to be there, windows and all.
However every attempt to boot from the new drive is met with failure, specifically "bootmgr is missing".

Did you change boot order in BIOS to make the new drive 1st in order?
Did you fix bootloader after clone operation?

 

[photonboy]

1) Try a different program like Machrium Reflect Free.

2) Does your motherboard support booting from 2TB HDD's?

3) Someone mentioned the BOOT ORDER. Go into BIOS and make sure the 2TB HDD is first (if any other SSD's or HDD's installed). It may be trying to boot from another drive.

 

[USAFRet]

Assuming the original drive still boots properly, start over.

Proven tested steps for a successful clone:
(subst 'New HDD' for 'SSD')
-----------------------------
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
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
-----------------------------

 

[ArtPog]

Your description of the problem is somewhat puzzling.

You state that you were able to "successfully" clone your "small" (boot) HDD to the new 2 TB Seagate HDD. But then you state "I then formatted it and partitioned it to make it usable space...". You seem to be referring to "it" as the newly-cloned Seagate HDD. Why in the world would you be formatting/partitioning the newly cloned HDD?

I suppose I can answer my own question by concluding that you created one or more ADDITIONAL partitions to the existing cloned partition of the destination drive - your new 2 TB HDD. Do I have that right? I just want to get this straight before going on.

Assuming that was the situation, we can hazard a guess as to why you've run into the problem you reported, i.e., the failure of the newly-cloned drive to boot & function problem-free.

While of course this is not definitive...most likely you neglected to uninstall or disconnect the source HDD from the system IMMEDIATELY following the (apparently) successful disk-cloning operation and boot the system with ONLY the newly-cloned drive installed in the system.

Time & time again we hear of this problem from users and learn it's due to the above explanation. Of course it's conceivable there may be another culprit causing the problem your reported.

In any event, if the preceding appears to be relevant to the manner in which you carried out the disk-cloning operation, simply repeat the disk-cloning operation and remember to disconnect/uninstall the source drive before making that initial boot with the newly-cloned HDD. (Naturally we're assuming your former boot drive is still viable in that it is currently a bootable, functional drive.) Assuming there's no problem with the booting/functioning of the newly-cloned HDD, work with it for a while before reconnecting the "small" former boot HDD.

If it's practical to do so (assuming you're working with a desktop PC) connect the 2 TB boot HDD to the motherboard's first SATA port/connector (SATA 0 or SATA 1). While not critical, it's generally good practice to do so. Also, check the BIOS boot priority order to confirm the newly-cloned drive is first in boot priority.

 

[photonboy]

Your description of the problem is somewhat puzzling.

You state that you were able to "successfully" clone your "small" (boot) HDD to the new 2 TB Seagate HDD. But then you state "I then formatted it and partitioned it to make it usable space...". You seem to be referring to "it" as the newly-cloned Seagate HDD. Why in the world would you be formatting/partitioning the newly cloned HDD?

I suppose I can answer my own question by concluding that you created one or more ADDITIONAL partitions to the existing cloned partition of the destination drive - your new 2 TB HDD. Do I have that right? I just want to get this straight before going on.

Assuming that was the situation, we can hazard a guess as to why you've run into the problem you reported, i.e., the failure of the newly-cloned drive to boot & function problem-free.

While of course this is not definitive...most likely you neglected to uninstall or disconnect the source HDD from the system IMMEDIATELY following the (apparently) successful disk-cloning operation and boot the system with ONLY the newly-cloned drive installed in the system.

Time & time again we hear of this problem from users and learn it's due to the above explanation. Of course it's conceivable there may be another culprit causing the problem your reported.

In any event, if the preceding appears to be relevant to the manner in which you carried out the disk-cloning operation, simply repeat the disk-cloning operation and remember to disconnect/uninstall the source drive before making that initial boot with the newly-cloned HDD. (Naturally we're assuming your former boot drive is still viable in that it is currently a bootable, functional drive.) Assuming there's no problem with the booting/functioning of the newly-cloned HDD, work with it for a while before reconnecting the "small" former boot HDD.

If it's practical to do so (assuming you're working with a desktop PC) connect the 2 TB boot HDD to the motherboard's first SATA port/connector (SATA 0 or SATA 1). While not critical, it's generally good practice to do so. Also, check the BIOS boot priority order to confirm the newly-cloned drive is first in boot priority.

He probably has enough information already to nail down the issue, but your comment confused me.

You suggest REPEATING the clone process even if the clone process already worked. That's the way it read to me. It would seem that checking the boot priority (or if confused unhook the other drives for now) would be the first thing.

"In any event, if the preceding appears to be relevant to the manner in which you carried out the disk-cloning operation, simply repeat the disk-cloning operation..."

While I also talked above about the BIOS boot order, that's NOT the issue if there's only two drives since the original if chosen should still boot, so I'm suspect a failed clone or other issue (though I think 2TB may not be an issue... I think it's OVER that such as 3TB HDD"s that's usually a potential issue).

I'm also not aware of any issues with using a particular SATA connection over another. That's a minor point really though. The ONLY issue of importance there might be if there are two different COLORS of SATA connections (which means two different controllers) and one performs better than the other (which probably doesn't matter much for hard drives).

 

[photonboy]

UPDATE:
So to be clear, if there's only two HDD"s (the original and cloned drive) it's not a BIOS boot issue since the original if left untouched should still boot. I don't think 2TB (capacity) is an issue which suggests to me likely a bad CLONE.

So probably recloning with Machrium Reflect Free is the next best step. I think that also has a "VERIFY" option which checks that the clone process was done properly.

OTHER:
It's also possible that you can do a REPAIR using the Windows Installation DVD/USB to fix the bootup. If it's Windows 10 you can do this: https://www.groovypost.com/howto/fix-windows-10-wont-boot-startup-repair-bootrec/

I would first try to reclone though with MR Free.

 

[SkyNetRising]

So to be clear, if there's only two HDD"s (the original and cloned drive) it's not a BIOS boot issue since the original if left untouched should still boot.

Didn't he say, he formated source drive?
If so - then it's exactly BIOS boot order issue.

 

[CornBeef]

Okay, I've got a lot to digest here.
I've been attempting to sort through all of these possible options. A couple of them were immediately disqualified for the simple fact that I no longer have my windows 7 install disk. (I believe I lost it in my last move, dang)
I did experiment with changing the boot order of the devices but that sadly didn't result in anything positive.
So I'm simply starting from phase one, as a guarantee that I'm doing everything in the correct order.
I'll have an update soon.
(also, I thought I could be clever and just install windows 10 on the new drive, avoiding all of this, but they don't sell windows 10 as a disk anymore? Lame)

 

[USAFRet]

(also, I thought I could be clever and just install windows 10 on the new drive, avoiding all of this, but they don't sell windows 10 as a disk anymore? Lame)

You can create your own Win 10 DVD or USB here:
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows10

 

[CornBeef]

Sadly nothing I have tried so far based on the above has helped. As a last resort I'm attempting to fresh install either windows 7 (if I can find my original) or windows 10 should the windows 7 plan fail. I've been working on this problem for probably 8+ hours now and still don't know what's truly the problem.
I assume purchasing windows 10 would provide me with a key immediately, right? I did set up a usb to boot windows 10 from if that is needed.
I do want to thank everyone for the suggestions.

 

[psoohoo]

assuming the drive is NOT larger than 2TB. you should be able to clone it
download a copy of clonezilla. create a bootable USB. boot to it and clone the original to the new one.
remove the old one and swap the cables.

 

[SkyNetRising]

Sadly nothing I have tried so far based on the above has helped.

Then diagnose the problem and provide necessary info.
1. Disconnect all the drives leaving only OS drive;
2. Boot from windows installation media;
3. Go into command prompt mode and provide output of following commands:

• diskpart
  list disk
  select disk 0 (should be 0 since it's the only attached drive)
  list partition

There should be bootloader partition and OS partition.
On legacy boot system bootloader partition must be primary/active,
on UEFI boot system bootloader must be on EFI system partition.
Verify that drive is correctly partitioned, then use bcdboot command to fix bootloader:

• bcdboot x:\windows /s y:

x: - windows partition, y: - bootloader partition (replace drive letters accordingly).