Newly migrated SSD will not boot/not recognized by BIOS

[tordan58]

Hi,

I just migrated my HDD to a Samsung SSD (EVO 850) using Samsung Data Migration software, however the SSD is not correctly detected by the BIOS and cannot be booted from.

My desktop system has three SATA connectors.

Prior/during migration:
SATA0 was used to connect the HDD prior migration
SATA1 is used to connect the optical drive (CD/DVD) - mentioned just for sake of completeness
SATA2 was used to connect the target SSD disk while migrating

After migration:
If I swap the SATA 0 and 2 connectors, with intention to boot from the SDD then the BIOS complains about no drive found. Same if I disconnect the HDD and only have the SSD connected to SATA0

If I revert to the orginal connections, SATA0 connected to HDD and and SATA2 to SSD then the system starts as before (i.e. booting from the HDD). In Windows the following drives are listed:

C: OS
D: Optical drive
E: <empty!>
F: OS (with what looks like the same contents as the HDD C: without the files that are not migrated e.g. memory page file)

What is this E: drive? Is it a partition on the SSD that somehow was created during migration? Do I need to get rid of it/delete it to be able to boot from the SSD? How?

Thank you.

 

[Lutfij]

mentioned just for sake of completeness

If that was the case then we'd also be in need of your full system's specs and your OS.

E: is very much (likely) the system reserved drive which can be anywhere between 100MB and 300MB. It's never a good idea to migrate the OS to another drive especially if you're dealing with OS after Windows 7. Ideally you should be reinstalling your OS on the target device from scratch.

Simple thing, back up all critical content onto removable drive, format the SSD and reinstall your OS of choice.

 

[ArtPog]

tordan...
1. First of all, as a more-or-less side issue, learn about Disk Management, a Windows utility in your OS. I mention that because you ask the question "What is this E: drive?", so I have the impression you are unaware of the DM utility. It's an important aspect of your OS and you should be familiar with it; do some basic Google research on "Disk Management" if you are unfamiliar with this utility.

2. Migrating ("disk-cloning") the contents of one's drive to another drive is a perfectly fine process provided certain criteria are met...
a. The source & destination drives are non-defective.
b. The drive to be cloned, i.e., the source drive, boots & functions without any problems and the user is satisfied with its basic operation.
c. The destination drive, i.e., the drive that will be the recipient of the clone, has sufficient disk-space capacity to contain the TOTAL contents of the source drive's (or partition) contents.

I assume all the criteria was met in your case.

3. Following the (apparent) successful disk-cloning operation it's generally wise for the user to disconnect the source disk from the system and with the recipient of the clone (your SSD) as the ONLY drive connected in the system boot to the OS to determine the drive is bootable and perfectly functional, i.e., it operates without any problems. Only then should the former boot drive be connected in the system as a secondary drive.

(You were wise to connect the newly-cloned SSD boot drive to the motherboard's first SATA data connector following the d-c operation.)

4. When you boot to the system following the d-c operation, access the BIOS/UEFI to determine the SSD is first in boot priority order.

5. It's impossible for me or anyone to respond to your query re the "empty E: partition". If you provided a screenshot of Disk Management listing the drives we probably could tell.

6. Next time you pose a query provide details re your system.
a. What's the OS?
b. The size of your HDD & your SSD
c. The size of the total contents data on these drives
d. How they are partitioned
e. If you don't provide a screenshot of DM, then clearly explain how the newly-cloned SSD is partitioned. Provide details, capiche?

7. The bottom line here is that you'll possibly have to repeat the d-c operation with the SDM program. (I'M ASSUMING, OF COURSE, THAT YOUR FORMER BOOT DRIVE, THE HDD, STILL BOOTS & FUNCTIONS WITHOUT PROBLEMS).

 

[tordan58]

Hi,

Realizing I omitted some important information, apologies for this.

The system is an aging Dell Optiplex, still serving me well. It is running Windows 10 Pro, updated from pre-installed Windows 7. There is no installation media so cannot re-install.

The source HDD is a healthy WDC WD10EALX-759BA1 with 1TB storage capacity. About 450 GB used.
The target SSD is a brand new Samsung EVO 850 1TB.
Migration was done using "Samsung Data Migration V3.0"
I suppose the migration was successful as no error messages were issued.

Below is a screenshot of the Disk Manager.

Disk 0: the source HD
There are 3 partitions.

The partition that Samsung selected as source is this one:
OS (C)
Size 918,60 GB
NTFS
System Start, page file, crash dump, primary partition

In addition there are two other partitions
<no name>
157 MB
OEM

RECOVERY
12,76 GB NTFS
System, active, primary partition


On the target SSD was created two partitions, without me asking for it
<no name> E
100 MB NTFS
Active, primary partition

OS (F)
931,42 GB NTFS
Primary partition

The SSD is presented in Windows as E: and F:

E: contains hidden files and directories only.
E:\>dir /a
Volume in drive E has no label.
Volume Serial Number is FC7E-EE4C

Directory of E:\

2017-04-06 00:37 <DIR> $RECYCLE.BIN
2017-04-06 00:06 <DIR> Boot
2017-03-04 13:52 389 334 bootmgr
2016-07-16 13:43 1 BOOTNXT
2017-04-06 00:36 <DIR> System Volume Information
2017-04-06 00:38 <DIR> VProRecovery
2 File(s) 389 335 bytes
4 Dir(s) 71 319 552 bytes free

E:\>

F: has the same contents as C, except that Boot, bootmgr, BOOTNXT are missing.
I guess this is one reason why the computer cannot boot from the SDD.
Is there a way to fix this, afer migration? The Samsung Data Migration does not prompt for what to migrate.

In the BIOS I cannot find any way to change the priority in which the SATA are used when booting, I could only change prio between HDD/CD/USB/Floppy. So what I did was to change the SATA connectors as it seems that SATA0 has highest prio.

Hope above brings some more clarity into the issue.

Edit: I tried to add a screenshot of the Disk Manager using the Picture icon, but it was not added. Hopefully the text description is enough, otherwise here is the URL: http://e-group.uk.net/gallery/showphoto.php/photo/92514/size/big/cat/

tordan...
1. First of all, as a more-or-less side issue, learn about Disk Management, a Windows utility in your OS. I mention that because you ask the question "What is this E: drive?", so I have the impression you are unaware of the DM utility. It's an important aspect of your OS and you should be familiar with it; do some basic Google research on "Disk Management" if you are unfamiliar with this utility.

2. Migrating ("disk-cloning") the contents of one's drive to another drive is a perfectly fine process provided certain criteria are met...
a. The source & destination drives are non-defective.
b. The drive to be cloned, i.e., the source drive, boots & functions without any problems and the user is satisfied with its basic operation.
c. The destination drive, i.e., the drive that will be the recipient of the clone, has sufficient disk-space capacity to contain the TOTAL contents of the source drive's (or partition) contents.

I assume all the criteria was met in your case.

3. Following the (apparent) successful disk-cloning operation it's generally wise for the user to disconnect the source disk from the system and with the recipient of the clone (your SSD) as the ONLY drive connected in the system boot to the OS to determine the drive is bootable and perfectly functional, i.e., it operates without any problems. Only then should the former boot drive be connected in the system as a secondary drive.

(You were wise to connect the newly-cloned SSD boot drive to the motherboard's first SATA data connector following the d-c operation.)

4. When you boot to the system following the d-c operation, access the BIOS/UEFI to determine the SSD is first in boot priority order.

5. It's impossible for me or anyone to respond to your query re the "empty E: partition". If you provided a screenshot of Disk Management listing the drives we probably could tell.

6. Next time you pose a query provide details re your system.
a. What's the OS?
b. The size of your HDD & your SSD
c. The size of the total contents data on these drives
d. How they are partitioned
e. If you don't provide a screenshot of DM, then clearly explain how the newly-cloned SSD is partitioned. Provide details, capiche?

7. The bottom line here is that you'll possibly have to repeat the d-c operation with the SDM program. (I'M ASSUMING, OF COURSE, THAT YOUR FORMER BOOT DRIVE, THE HDD, STILL BOOTS & FUNCTIONS WITHOUT PROBLEMS).

 

[ArtPog]

1. It would appear (from a cursory review of Disk Management) that the disk-cloning operation was successful and you should have a bootable, functional Disk 1 SSD drive. Needless to say that's not definitive, of course.

2. The 100 MB (E partition was undoubtedly the System Reserved partition of Win 7 OS that you updated to Win 10 and was carried over to the destination drive by the SDM program. Note it bears the "Active" designation. (We're presuming both the source & destination drives are MBR-partitioned, BTW.)

3. But of course you have indicated that is not the case. You've connected the cloned SSD to the SATA 0 port (formerly occupied by the boot HDD), but the system still doesn't boot to the SSD, right?

4. And that occurs even if the HDD is disconnected from the system and the SSD is the only drive connected?

5. Presumably the Dell contains a boot menu that you can access shortly after powering-up the PC. The boot menu is accessed by pressing the appropriate key - usually a F key or the Esc key or some such. Have you attempted to access the boot menu upon bootup to select the SSD as the boot drive?

 

[tordan58]

1. The F: partition on the SSD contains Windows, applications and data as are found on C:. But something is missing or wrong as the BIOS complains when it is connected to SATA0 (and tries to boot from it).

2. I am not following you. This E: 100MB partition that was created by the SDM does not exist on the HDD - so where does it originate from? Does E: somehow has its origins from the RECOVERY partition?

3. and 4. Correct. The system does not boot when the SSD is connected to SATA0, regardless if it the HDD is connected to SATA2 or left disconnected.

5. The BIOS has a boot menu, however I can't find any option to specify the priority between hard disks. I can specify the priority to search between HDD, CD/DVD drive, USB drive and floppy. Will have to reboot to double check.

1. It would appear (from a cursory review of Disk Management) that the disk-cloning operation was successful and you should have a bootable, functional Disk 1 SSD drive. Needless to say that's not definitive, of course.

2. The 100 MB (E partition was undoubtedly the System Reserved partition of Win 7 OS that you updated to Win 10 and was carried over to the destination drive by the SDM program. Note it bears the "Active" designation. (We're presuming both the source & destination drives are MBR-partitioned, BTW.)

3. But of course you have indicated that is not the case. You've connected the cloned SSD to the SATA 0 port (formerly occupied by the boot HDD), but the system still doesn't boot to the SSD, right?

4. And that occurs even if the HDD is disconnected from the system and the SSD is the only drive connected?

5. Presumably the Dell contains a boot menu that you can access shortly after powering-up the PC. The boot menu is accessed by pressing the appropriate key - usually a F key or the Esc key or some such. Have you attempted to access the boot menu upon bootup to select the SSD as the boot drive?

 

[ArtPog]

It's just possible that for one reason or another the disk-cloning operation went awry, regardless of the fact no error message was generated. It happens.

You might want to give it another try with the SDM program or possibly use another d-c program such as Macrium Reflect which seems quite popular.

You might also want to consider the d-c program we virtually exclusively use - Casper. It's a commercial program costing $49.99, however, there's a 30-day trial version available at...
https://www.fssdev.com/products/casper/trial/

(Our primary use for this program is as a comprehensive backup system especially because of its speed when it's used routinely & frequently. We use the program as a vehicle to back up our systems a number of times during the week - even daily at times.)

Here's some instructions on using the program that we prepared for members of our computer club.

1. Before undertaking the disk-cloning operation close all open programs. (Generally you need not disable your anti-virus program). Ensure your destination drive - the proposed recipient of the clone - is properly connected in the system.

2. The opening screen of the program will highlight "Create a Bootable Backup". Click on "Add drive" and a listing of the appropriate destination drive(s) will appear, e.g., your 480 GB SSD.

3. Click on the destination drive's listing and then the "Back up now" button.

4. Casper will run in the background and alert you when the disk-cloning operation is completed. (You can view the actual progress chart by clicking on the Casper icon in the Notification Area on the Taskbar.)

5. Following the successful disk-cloning operation disconnect (when practicable) the source drive from the system and boot solely to the connected destination drive. As a general proposition it's a good idea (whenever practicable) for the newly-cloned drive to be connected to the motherboard's first SATA data connector, usually designated SATA 0 or SATA 1.
Also, check the system's BIOS/UEFI to ensure the cloned drive is now first in boot priority order.

6. If your destination disk was connected as a USB external drive for the disk-cloning operation, boot to it to determine whether it's a bootable drive while connected as a USB external device. Ensure you select the drive from the boot menu during bootup. If it's unbootable while connected as a USB external drive (which is quite likely), it should be bootable when connected internally in the system.

7. Casper will utilize the entire disk-space of the destination drive to contain the data contents from the source drive.

 

[tordan58]

Hi,

I first re-migrated the HDD to SSD using Samsung Disk Migration and got the same results as before.

Followed your suggestion to migrate using other SW. I tried Casper 10.0 and the wizard was very easy to follow. The SSD now seems to have the correct partitions, it can be booted from as so far seems to be working as it should.

Many thanks for your support.

It's just possible that for one reason or another the disk-cloning operation went awry, regardless of the fact no error message was generated. It happens.

You might want to give it another try with the SDM program or possibly use another d-c program such as Macrium Reflect which seems quite popular.

You might also want to consider the d-c program we virtually exclusively use - Casper. It's a commercial program costing $49.99, however, there's a 30-day trial version available at...
https://www.fssdev.com/products/casper/trial/

(Our primary use for this program is as a comprehensive backup system especially because of its speed when it's used routinely & frequently. We use the program as a vehicle to back up our systems a number of times during the week - even daily at times.)

Here's some instructions on using the program that we prepared for members of our computer club.

1. Before undertaking the disk-cloning operation close all open programs. (Generally you need not disable your anti-virus program). Ensure your destination drive - the proposed recipient of the clone - is properly connected in the system.

2. The opening screen of the program will highlight "Create a Bootable Backup". Click on "Add drive" and a listing of the appropriate destination drive(s) will appear, e.g., your 480 GB SSD.

3. Click on the destination drive's listing and then the "Back up now" button.

4. Casper will run in the background and alert you when the disk-cloning operation is completed. (You can view the actual progress chart by clicking on the Casper icon in the Notification Area on the Taskbar.)

5. Following the successful disk-cloning operation disconnect (when practicable) the source drive from the system and boot solely to the connected destination drive. As a general proposition it's a good idea (whenever practicable) for the newly-cloned drive to be connected to the motherboard's first SATA data connector, usually designated SATA 0 or SATA 1.
Also, check the system's BIOS/UEFI to ensure the cloned drive is now first in boot priority order.

6. If your destination disk was connected as a USB external drive for the disk-cloning operation, boot to it to determine whether it's a bootable drive while connected as a USB external device. Ensure you select the drive from the boot menu during bootup. If it's unbootable while connected as a USB external drive (which is quite likely), it should be bootable when connected internally in the system.

7. Casper will utilize the entire disk-space of the destination drive to contain the data contents from the source drive.