[SOLVED] I'm wanting to move my OS over to my 1TB Samsung SSD. Somehow it seems my OS is on my C drive but the bootloader is on my D drive.

TreaureHun7er5

Reputable
Nov 26, 2019
7
1
4,515
Hi, I've been wanting to move my Windows 10 over to my SSD. Recently when unplugging my hard drives to see which was which, I ran into an issue. My C drive being unplugged would crash my PC, which is expected since its where my OS is located. The main issue though is that when my D drive was unplugged, it showed a message saying 'Reboot and select proper reboot device' which I assume means my bootloader is on my D drive. I need help getting my whole OS onto my Samsung SSD.

Here is my disk manager if that helps any https://snipboard.io/KxmIGH.jpg

Apologies in advance as I am not super tech savvy.
 
Solution
I need help getting my whole OS onto my Samsung SSD.
Move bootloader to drive containing OS partition ( C: ) drive.
Execute from elevated command prompt. Regular command prompt will give error on last step.
(if you get any errors, then stop immediately and show screenshot with result)
diskpart
list disk
select disk 0
list partition
select partition 3
(select 564MB partition)​
delete partition override
create partition efi
format fs=fat32 quick
assign letter=H
exit
bcdboot C:\windows /s H:
If everything went good ( there were...
Unplug all drives except the one you want your OS to be on.
Look at your mobo sata ports and find the one with the lowest number, it could be 1 or for some mobos 0 ,plug your disk into that port.
Start a windows media usb and install windows, if you want the best results choose advanced install and when it shows you the disk delete all existing partitions and let the installation make new ones.

The boot menu on the D drive will not cause any issues as long as your main drive is on a lower sata port.
You should still check inside of bios if it is setup to start from the lowest sata port or if it was changed to start from the D drive in that case you will have to change it back or usually a load default settings should take care of that.
 
You got into this situation, likely because you had a second drive available when you installed windows.
Windows put a small recovery partition on the second drive, making it impossible to boot without it.
There is a procedure to fix this, but I do not know the specifics.

When that is fixed, use the samsung ssd migration aid to move your C drive to the new samsung ssd.
I would assume that there will be sufficient space on the new ssd to hold the used contents of the C drive.
 
Windows put a small recovery partition on the second drive, making it impossible to boot without it.
Recovery partition is of no consequence. It doesn't impact boot process.
It's bootloader (EFI System partition), you have to worry about (not recovery partition).

You keep bringing up this recovery partition non-issue again and again (in your other posts).
Please stop doing that.
 
Last edited:
I need help getting my whole OS onto my Samsung SSD.
Move bootloader to drive containing OS partition ( C: ) drive.
Execute from elevated command prompt. Regular command prompt will give error on last step.
(if you get any errors, then stop immediately and show screenshot with result)
diskpart
list disk
select disk 0
list partition
select partition 3
(select 564MB partition)​
delete partition override
create partition efi
format fs=fat32 quick
assign letter=H
exit
bcdboot C:\windows /s H:
If everything went good ( there were no errors and last message was "Boot files successfully created"), then
shutdown,​
disconnect all drives except one containing windows and​
test, if you can boot into windows.​

After that you can do your cloning.
Note after cloning is done, first boot from cloned drive has to be done with old drive physically disconnected.
If you fail to follow this, you'll have to redo cloning.

 
Solution

USAFRet

Titan
Moderator
For the cloning, this:

-----------------------------
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
Both drives must be the same partitioning scheme, either MBR or GPT
Download and install Macrium Reflect (or Samsung Data Migration, if a Samsung SSD)
If you are cloning from a SATA drive to PCIe/NVMe, you may need to 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

[Ignore this section if using the SDM. It does this automatically]
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
[/end ignore]

Click the 'Clone' button
Wait until it is done
When it finishes, power off
Disconnect ALL drives except for the new SSD. This is not optional.
This is to allow the system to try to boot from ONLY the SSD

(swapping cables is irrelevant with NVMe drives, but DO disconnect the old drive for this next part)
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.
-----------------------------
 
Recovery partition is of no consequence. It doesn't impact boot process.
It's bootloader (EFI System partition), you have to worry about (not recovery partition).

You keep bringing up this recovery partition non-issue again and again (in your other posts).
Please stop doing that.
Thank you for correcting me.

Otherwise, I would indeed have persisted in calling the offending partition on the second drive a recovery partition.