[SOLVED] How can I restore backup to a new SSD when the drive with my OS died?

mikeg1251

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I had a question posted here about ways to save my SSD that stopped showing up in the BIOS. I tried everything recommended, including power cycling to no avail. The consensus was that it has simply died with no hope of recovery.

Long story short, I shed some internal tears, got a refund from the manufacturer, and have bought myself a supposedly more dependable Samsung Evo 860. I have a semi-recent backup (not as recent as I'd like) of my dead SSD that had the OS on it. However, without the OS I obviously can't load Windows to restore the backup from the external hard drive.

I'm far from an expert, but I tried looking into what I can do from the BIOS, but haven't really found a solution (at least one that I understand or know will work). What is my best course of action here? Any help or nudge in the right direction would be much appreciated!
 
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Yeah, I just got off with Toshiba tech support and that's exactly what they said. They said it isn't even meant to restore a whole system, just files. Definitely a bummer since it advertised a complete backup in case of disk failure. In the future I'm just going to save as restore points instead of that crap software.

It is the "Toshiba Canvio Advance HDTC920XR3AA 2TB".

Based on what I've found, all I can really do is reinstall Windows onto the new drive, then install the "Toshiba Backup Software" to restore the the rest of the files to the fresh Samsung 860 EVO. Unless you can think of any better way to go?
Yep, that is it.

Fresh OS install, and recover whatever the Toshiba thing saved...

Lutfij

Titan
Moderator
Mind sharing how you created the backup of the old OS? Was an image of the OS or did you suggest the OS to backup certain files from that drive? If the latter, you can simply reinstall the OS onto the new SSD and then migrate the files to the new SSD. If I were you I'd manage a secondary storage device, connect it to the system and then have the files on there as opposed to the SSD since formatting an SSD can and will wipe everything off of it.

If the image was created using an app, you will need to reinstall the app and then restore the image. There's an issue there, if you're using Windows 10, you're advised to be on the latest version of the OS, not go backwards in time/version.
 

mikeg1251

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Dec 9, 2018
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Mind sharing how you created the backup of the old OS? Was an image of the OS or did you suggest the OS to backup certain files from that drive? If the latter, you can simply reinstall the OS onto the new SSD and then migrate the files to the new SSD. If I were you I'd manage a secondary storage device, connect it to the system and then have the files on there as opposed to the SSD since formatting an SSD can and will wipe everything off of it.

If the image was created using an app, you will need to reinstall the app and then restore the image. There's an issue there, if you're using Windows 10, you're advised to be on the latest version of the OS, not go backwards in time/version.

I used the stock software that came with the external hard drive to do a "full backup". I don't really know if that even answers your question. It wasn't a drag and drop of files, but I'm not sure if it's considered an image of the OS or not.

I was hoping to find a way to just restore everything on the SSD as it was, and then boot. This might be an unrealistic expectation, though. I don't even know how I'd reinstall windows without a working computer, but I'm sure there are tutorials on that somewhere around here. I do have a spare laptop that I have access to if that helps.
 

mikeg1251

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Dec 9, 2018
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What software did you use? Does it have some name?
Toshiba's backup software called Canvio Advanced. I just tried it and it says missing boot manager, which I mostly expected honestly. So now I'm going to try and somehow download a boot manager to my external hard drive with the backup. Or should I use a separate USB thumb drive? I've been trying to learn how to do this and found something called "Rufus" to help with getting a bootable windows. Is that trustworthy?

So my ideal plan, which I'm hoping is possible, is to do the following:
  1. Using another computer, download a bootable versions of Windows onto my external hard drive (the one holding the backup)
  2. Plug in the internal SSD using SATA into my computer
  3. Plug in the external hard drive with the windows and back on it into the USB port of my computer
  4. Boot from the drive
  5. Backup the C: drive containing the OS from my external to my new SSD
  6. Unplug the external hard drive and try to boot from the new SSD
  7. Pray?
I feel like these steps feel too easy and that I'm missing something big.
 
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mikeg1251

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Dec 9, 2018
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I downloaded the Windows 10 installation media to a flash drive and plugged it in with my new, clean SSD. I was hoping I could boot up and then install the external hard drive software to restore to my clean SSD.

What I'm worried about is if I install Windows on the clean SSD, and then try to overwrite the SSD with my old backup, how would that work? It doesn't seem likely that it would be possible to restore an OS to a drive that is currently running the OS that is allowing the operation to begin, no?

What is my best course of action considering the following:
  • I have an external hard drive with the backup I want to use to restore to my new SSD
  • The blank SSD waiting to get the restored backup
  • A USB flash drive with the Windows 10 installation media
  • A secondary laptop to use for whatever in helping the process
I found the "System Image Recovery" option under troubleshoot after I loaded my Windows 10 Installation Media. Could that work instead of trying to reinstall windows on the SSD just to have to reformat it later?
 

USAFRet

Titan
Moderator
"System Image Recovery" only counts if there is a Windows generated Restore point.
Which there is not.

The question here is...what exactly does the Toshiba "Canvio Advance" actually back up?
Data only, or the whole C drive.

From here, which specific drive model do you have?
 

mikeg1251

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Dec 9, 2018
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"System Image Recovery" only counts if there is a Windows generated Restore point.
Which there is not.

The question here is...what exactly does the Toshiba "Canvio Advance" actually back up?
Data only, or the whole C drive.

From here, which specific drive model do you have?
Yeah, I just got off with Toshiba tech support and that's exactly what they said. They said it isn't even meant to restore a whole system, just files. Definitely a bummer since it advertised a complete backup in case of disk failure. In the future I'm just going to save as restore points instead of that crap software.

It is the "Toshiba Canvio Advance HDTC920XR3AA 2TB".

Based on what I've found, all I can really do is reinstall Windows onto the new drive, then install the "Toshiba Backup Software" to restore the the rest of the files to the fresh Samsung 860 EVO. Unless you can think of any better way to go?
 

USAFRet

Titan
Moderator
Yeah, I just got off with Toshiba tech support and that's exactly what they said. They said it isn't even meant to restore a whole system, just files. Definitely a bummer since it advertised a complete backup in case of disk failure. In the future I'm just going to save as restore points instead of that crap software.

It is the "Toshiba Canvio Advance HDTC920XR3AA 2TB".

Based on what I've found, all I can really do is reinstall Windows onto the new drive, then install the "Toshiba Backup Software" to restore the the rest of the files to the fresh Samsung 860 EVO. Unless you can think of any better way to go?
Yep, that is it.

Fresh OS install, and recover whatever the Toshiba thing saved.




And there are MUCH better methods than the Restore Points in Windows.
I use Macrium Refect for this.
Works a charm
 
Solution

mikeg1251

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Dec 9, 2018
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And there are MUCH better methods than the Restore Points in Windows.
I use Macrium Refect for this.
Works a charm

Honestly, I'm kicking myself for this. I used Macrium Reflect to clone my HDD to SSD and then reimage my HDD and it worked like a charm. I stupidly figured the software that was designed for the external hard drive would be the best option, and forgot to even consider Macrium.

I'll report back with the results, but until then, thank you for your help.

by the way...have you ever heard of an instance where changing the SATA port used or unplugging a second HDD from a SATA port, causes the computer to not turn on? I always manage to fix it by either plugging it back in to the same SATA port where it was or unplugging and replugging the power to the mother board, but it seems like an odd thing that wouldn't necessarily be related.
 

USAFRet

Titan
Moderator
by the way...have you ever heard of an instance where changing the SATA port used or unplugging a second HDD from a SATA port, causes the computer to not turn on? I always manage to fix it by either plugging it back in to the same SATA port where it was or unplugging and replugging the power to the mother board, but it seems like an odd thing that wouldn't necessarily be related.
Not turn on at all? No.

Not boot up, maybe.
 

mikeg1251

Commendable
Dec 9, 2018
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Not turn on at all? No.

Not boot up, maybe.

It won't power up at all until I unplug and replug the power connection to the motherboard or put it back, it's really weird and I haven't found any reason why it's happening. But as long as I can fix it, oh well.

Anyway, I restored just the files and there was some stuff I'm happy to have saved. For the most part it'll just be a pain in the butt reinstalling all of the programs and such that I had.

However, my next step is getting my internal HDD working again. The HDD is viewable in the UEFI/BIOS but then once I'm logged onto my computer, I can't see it in disk manager or in file explorer. Any ideas? After I get that working, I'll be good to go (well, as good as it's going to be considering everything).
 
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mikeg1251

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Dec 9, 2018
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In case this helps someone in the future. I fixed it without making a new thread. All I did was swap SATA ports for both drives and it worked like a charm.

By the way, if a SATA cable is not plugged into the 3rd SATA port, my computer does not turn on. That one is a mystery that may remain unsolved...