[SOLVED] Cloned SSD will not boot

[ThaScadian]

I got an SSD nearly a month ago to replace my current HDD, as it's performance has been degrading and it currently runs at 100% no matter what I do to fix it. Since then I have been trying to switch my boot drive over to the SSD with zero success.

I have:
-Cloned the HDD to the SSD several times (and want to avoid doing so again so as to preserve the lifespan of the SSD as much as possible)
-had the SSD as both MBR and GPT with no changes
-While the SSD was in GPT I tried several diskpart commands to fix UEFI, but windows told me for almost every one that the commands were not recognized
-I have tried to change the SSD to a dynamic disk, and tried using it as a basic disk
-Currently it half-way boots to the SSD, in that it uses the cloned Windows Boot Manager partition on my SSD, but boots to my original C: drive.

I'd really rather not take10 minutes to boot from an HDD right now, nor do I want to waste a$200 drive. any help would be appreciated!

This is my current Disk management. Disk 1 is my current boot drive, but it's using I think the ESP drive on disk 2 to boot to the C:.
The only difference I can see myself is Disk 1 is dynamic, but everything I've read says there should be no problem.

 

[RealBeast]

A few clones or installs won't wear your SSD to any significant degree.

I would do a clean installation with only the SSD attached, as the HDD has issues (bad situation to clone). Then attach the HDD and move whatever files you want off of it.

You should secure erase the SSD before starting to get rid of whatever problems you've moved to it first though. Then just attach and install -- no formatting needed as Windows 10 will do that as a first step to a clean drive.

 

[USAFRet]

Redo the clone.

Secure erase the SSD.
Don't mess with MBR-GPT in the middle of the process.
After the clone operation is finished, the FIRST thing you do is power down, disconnect the old drive, and power the system up with ONLY the new drive. This is not optional.

What is the make/model/size of the new SSD?

-----------------------------
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)
If you are cloning from a SATA drive to PCIe/NVMe, install the relevant driver for this new NVMe/PCIe drive.
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

If you are going from a smaller drive to a larger, by default, the target partition size will be the same as the Source. You probably don't want that
You can manipulate the size of the partitions on the target (larger)drive
Click on "Cloned Partition Properties", and you can specifiy the resulting partition size, to even include the whole thing

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 all partitions on it.
This will probably require the commandline diskpart function, and the clean command.

Ask questions if anything is unclear.
-----------------------------

 

[SkyNetRising]

I'd really rather not take10 minutes to boot from an HDD right now, nor do I want to waste a$200 drive. any help would be appreciated!

Cloning is done improperly there.
Cloning means - source and target are identical. You can clearly see partitions are with different types.
500MB bootloader partition on source is of type EFI System. On target it is Basic data partition. Basic data partition is not bootable.
490MB, 450MB, 8.46GB partitions on source are of type Recovery partition. On target they are Basic data partitions. Again - not the same.

Anyway - you can delete recovery partitions. They are not that important.

Fix it this way:
1. delete and recreate improper bootloader partition on 2TB drive. Execute from elevated command prompt. Regular command prompt will give error on last step.

diskpart​

list disk​

select disk 2​

list partition​

select partition x​

(select 500MB partition, x=1 or x=2)​

delete partition​

create partition efi​

format fs=fat32 quick​

assign letter=J​

exit​

bcdboot D:\windows /s J:​

2. shutdown computer;
physically disconnect old drives, leave only new 2TB drive connected - this is important;
change boot priority to windows boot manager on 2TB drive;
boot into windows.

3. After successful boot into windows on new drive
shutdown and reconnect old drives.

How to Open the Command Prompt as Administrator in Windows 10

Much of the time, opening the Command Prompt as a regular user is all you need. Sometimes, though, you’ll need to open the Command Prompt as an administrator so that you can run commands that require administrative privileges.

www.howtogeek.com

 

[ThaScadian]

I followed @USAFRet 's advice, to perform a brand new clone. Removed my auxiliary drive before cloning, removed my c: drive after clone completion and then booted with just the SSD installed.

It now gives me a windows error code saying that my pc needs to be repaired, and that a required device isn't connected or can't be accessed.

Error code
0xc0000225

The boot order all seems fine to me. I dont know what's wrong now.


The SSD is a Crucial BX500, 2TB

The frustrating part is I had helped my roomate clone to the same model and it worked perfectly with no hassle. Its why I got that model.

 

[RyzenNoob]

Redo the clone.

Secure erase the SSD.
Don't mess with MBR-GPT in the middle of the process.
After the clone operation is finished, the FIRST thing you do is power down, disconnect the old drive, and power the system up with ONLY the new drive. This is not optional.

What is the make/model/size of the new SSD?

-----------------------------
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)
If you are cloning from a SATA drive to PCIe/NVMe, install the relevant driver for this new NVMe/PCIe drive.
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

If you are going from a smaller drive to a larger, by default, the target partition size will be the same as the Source. You probably don't want that
You can manipulate the size of the partitions on the target (larger)drive
Click on "Cloned Partition Properties", and you can specifiy the resulting partition size, to even include the whole thing

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 all partitions on it.
This will probably require the commandline diskpart function, and the clean command.

Ask questions if anything is unclear.
-----------------------------

I would never erase the hdd or ssd, I would disconnect it to be honest, but that is even extreme for my experience level

 

[ThaScadian]

I would never erase the hdd or ssd, I would disconnect it to be honest, but that is even extreme for my experience level

I'm gonna keep the HDD as a backup regardless and remove it from the system once I'm done cloning. It's too slow to use even as an auxiliary drive

 

[SkyNetRising]

I followed @USAFRet 's advice, to perform a brand new clone. Removed my auxiliary drive before cloning, removed my c: drive after clone completion and then booted with just the SSD installed.
It now gives me a windows error code saying that my pc needs to be repaired, and that a required device isn't connected or can't be accessed.
Error code
0xc0000225

Can you show current state from Disk Management?

 

[ThaScadian]

Can you show current state from Disk Management?

I'd have to re-plug in the HDR to boot, but I can. Have to get home from work first, however.

 

[RyzenNoob]

I'm gonna keep the HDD as a backup regardless and remove it from the system once I'm done cloning. It's too slow to use even as an auxiliary drive

Formatting or erasing should be done at the last step that all files have been confirmed to transferred successfully. Once done, by all means do what you like with it

 

[ThaScadian]

Can you show current state from Disk Management?

Here is the newest disk management. I re-connected all my drives cause I need to use the comp tonight, though I will try @SkyNetRising 's advice this evening when I no longer need my comp.

EDIT: Was able to attempt your advice first, @SkyNetRising. Everything worked perfectly, except the very last command line. I got "Failure when attempting to copy boot files."

EDIT 2: searched for possible solutions, most notably it seems that this occurs when the partition is not set to active. I tried to rectify that by using diskpart and manually doing so, and it told me the command had to be used on an MBR partition. or something of that nature.

 

[SkyNetRising]

EDIT: Was able to attempt your advice first, @SkyNetRising. Everything worked perfectly, except the very last command line. I got "Failure when attempting to copy boot files."

Use elevated command prompt for last command.
You didn't read instructions carefully.

 

[ThaScadian]

Use elevated command prompt for last command.
You didn't read instructions carefully.

My bad! I thought I had done so. Elevated it, command worked perfectly, and now I'm booted from the SSD and I am so happy. Thank you all very much for your help!

 

[SkyNetRising]

Thank you all very much for your help!

👍

 

[amerch25]

Redo the clone.

Secure erase the SSD.
Don't mess with MBR-GPT in the middle of the process.
After the clone operation is finished, the FIRST thing you do is power down, disconnect the old drive, and power the system up with ONLY the new drive. This is not optional.

What is the make/model/size of the new SSD?

-----------------------------
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)
If you are cloning from a SATA drive to PCIe/NVMe, install the relevant driver for this new NVMe/PCIe drive.
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

If you are going from a smaller drive to a larger, by default, the target partition size will be the same as the Source. You probably don't want that
You can manipulate the size of the partitions on the target (larger)drive
Click on "Cloned Partition Properties", and you can specifiy the resulting partition size, to even include the whole thing

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 all partitions on it.
This will probably require the commandline diskpart function, and the clean command.

Ask questions if anything is unclear.
-----------------------------

hi, quick question - I'm cloning a SATA SSD to a PCIe M.2 NVME SSD (Gen 4)... the SATA SSD boots in the new computer no issues. but the M.2 throws up errors & wont boot. now I didnt disconnect the old drives in the system before attempting to boot from the new clone. I didnt see this recommended anywhere else cept here/in your post. but you only mention disconnecting SATA drives and/or connecting to the original port. is this necessary for M.2 as well?

I'm redoing the clone & will disconnect ALL other drives in the system when attempting to boot from the new clone. I hope that works but if not, I'm truly at a loss.

to give even more context, I bought a new computer which came with its own M.2 NVME SSD (Gen 3) pre-loaded with Win 10 Home, I booted into that & am using Macrium Reflect to clone my old computers boot drive to a new M.2. the reason I bought a new M.2 is because the one that came with the computer was Gen 3 & my new mobo/CPU supports Gen 4 so why not. also if it matters I've been using Win 10 Pro which is what I'm cloning to the new M.2.

if I'm missing anything here or may have overlooked, folks feel free to chime in. I've been wrecking my head trying to migrate over to my new computer for damn near a week now lol without any luck. and I'm almost at my wits end. another complication is my old boot drive is MBR, so I've enabled both legacy & UEFI mode in the BIOS. thats how I was able to test if my SATA drive would boot in the new computer as is & it does. after enabling legacy mode, my new M.2 cloned drive also shows up but will not boot.

so I'm really hoping disconnecting ALL drives before rebooting from the new clone does the trick.

 

[USAFRet]

hi, quick question -

Please start a NEW thread for your particular situation.
Jany more questions to follow.

 

[amerch25]

Please start a NEW thread for your particular situation.
Jany more questions to follow.

since I've already posted all the details, whats the issue in continuing the discussion here? also I'm replying to you in particular so starting a new thread may not make sense/be out of context as I have a specific question regarding the steps you posted. I'd appreciate it if we can just continue here. feel free to ask your follow up questions.

basically I just need to know if the disconnect ALL drives applies to M.2 as well? the source drive is SATA so maybe it does?

or if a mod really wants, they may separate out this discussion in a new thread?

 

[SkyNetRising]

basically I just need to know if the disconnect ALL drives applies to M.2 as well? the source drive is SATA so maybe it does?

Yes it applies in this case too.
And you don't clone OS drive between computers.
New computer - new OS.

If you try to reuse old OS (cloned from old pc or reused OS drive from old pc), you'll get following issues:

boot mode compatibility (system doesn't boot),​

drivers incompatibilities (bsods, crashes, bad performance),​

windows activation issues (can not activate windows).​

​

Start a new thread with your particular situation.

 

[bignastyid]

Thread closed