Question "PC needs to be repaired" after M.2 to SSD clone

[TundraCo]

Hi Guys,

I need your expertise please. I cloned a Kingston M.2 to a Kingston SSD with Kingston's Arconis tool.

https://imgur.com/a/YTdVhOb

View: https://imgur.com/a/YTdVhOb


I restarted to PC and changed the boot drive in the BIOS from C: to the new X: drive, but I get an 'PC needs to be repaired' screen during booting. I repeated this process several times, but I always get the same result. Clearly I'm doing something wrong, but what? 🤔

Can you please be so kind and explain to me (I'm not an IT professional. Please explain as you would to your Mom to enable me to follow your instructions 😉) what I must do different after cloning so I can us the new X: drive as my new boot drive?

Thank you very much in advance for your time and willingness to help out!

 

[drivinfast247]

Hi Guys,

I need your expertise please. I cloned a Kingston M.2 to a Kingston SSD with Kingston's Arconis tool.

https://imgur.com/a/YTdVhOb

View: https://imgur.com/a/YTdVhOb


I restarted to PC and changed the boot drive in the BIOS from C: to the new X: drive, but I get an 'PC needs to be repaired' screen during booting. I repeated this process several times, but I always get the same result. Clearly I'm doing something wrong, but what? 🤔

Can you please be so kind and explain to me (I'm not an IT professional. Please explain as you would to your Mom to enable me to follow your instructions 😉) what I must do different after cloning so I can us the new X: drive as my new boot drive?

Thank you very much in advance for your time and willingness to help out!

Is the new cloned drive showing as "C:"?

Did you remove the old drive after cloning?

 

[TundraCo]

Is the new cloned drive showing as "C:"?

Did you remove the old drive after cloning?

You are fast. No, the new cloned drive is showing as New OS Drive X: I named it as such. I did not disconnect the other drives after the cloning. I tried first to change the boot order, while the other drives were connected and failed. After the 2nd failed attempt of booting I disconnected the other drives, but still got the error during booting.

 

[js2]

Acronis isnt very good for cloning. Try Clonezilla or PC mover.

But going from NVMe back to SATA SSD will cause problems in most boards as the installed system will not have the AHCI driver, only the M.2.
You would be best doing a fresh install and transfer the licence. Else fdisk the new drive but only copy the restore partition from the old drive.
Put the SSD in only, and have it as the boot drive and do a "system restore".

If it fails, then it means you might need to find the SATA drivers for the board.

 

[drivinfast247]

You are fast. No, the new cloned drive is showing as New OS Drive X: I named it as such. I did not disconnect the other drives after the cloning. I tried first to change the boot order, while the other drives were connected and failed. After the 2nd failed attempt of booting I disconnected the other drives, but still got the error during booting.

The cloning software should've asked(I believe) what is the volume name. It has to be "c:" in order for Windows to boot.

 

[USAFRet]

Details, please.

Which was the original drive, and which the target?

 

[TundraCo]

Here some details, I hope that helps:

Original boot drive C: is the Kingston A400 - 120GB - M.2 SSD
The new drive is X: is a Kingston A400 - 240GB - SSD
The motherboard is an AORUS B450 M

 

[TundraCo]

The cloning software should've asked(I believe) what is the volume name. It has to be "c:" in order for Windows to boot.

I don't believe it did ask me for the volume name. Should I rename the current C drive and name the new boot drive to C after the cloning? Some other cloning programs where suggested in the thread, I can try those to see if it makes a difference.

 

[USAFRet]

I don't believe it did ask me for the volume name. Should I rename the current C drive and name the new boot drive to C after the cloning? Some other cloning programs where suggested in the thread, I can try those to see if it makes a difference.

With a proper clone, none of that is needed.
None of it.


Start over.

Remove the new drive.
Does the system boot properly from only the old drive?
If so, we can continue.

 

[TundraCo]

With a proper clone, none of that is needed.
None of it.


Start over.

Remove the new drive.
Does the system boot properly from only the old drive?
If so, we can continue.

Yes, the system does boot from the original C drive (also when the new drive is connected).

1) Which cloning software do you suggest I use?

2) Once the new clone is done, must I rename the new drive to C (in case the software doesn't ask me)? And rename the old drive from C to something else?

3) Once cloned, I shut down the PC, detach the old drive and try to boot with the only connected drive (the new drive).

 

[USAFRet]

1. See steps and software below

2. NO! You do not, and cannot, change the drive letter like that. That happens automatically.

3. See #1.

-----------------------------
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 Magician (which includes Data Migration), if a Samsung target 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

Verify the system boots with ONLY the current "C drive" connected.
If not, we have to fix that first.

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 specify 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.
-----------------------------

 

[TundraCo]

1. See steps and software below

2. NO! You do not, and cannot, change the drive letter like that. That happens automatically.

3. See #1.

-----------------------------
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 Magician (which includes Data Migration), if a Samsung target 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

Verify the system boots with ONLY the current "C drive" connected.
If not, we have to fix that first.

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 specify 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.
-----------------------------

OK, thanks for the steps!
1) I downloaded and installed Macrium Reflect

2) 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. The way I understand this I'm cloning from M.2 to SATA SSD. I hope that means I don't have do anything with drivers.

3) Yes, the system boots with only the current/old 120GB Kingston C drive.

4) Let me get started with the cloning. I will report back here either way.

Thanks a lot for your time and advise!!! I really appreciate it.

1. See steps and software below

2. NO! You do not, and cannot, change the drive letter like that. That happens automatically.

3. See #1.

-----------------------------
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 Magician (which includes Data Migration), if a Samsung target 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

Verify the system boots with ONLY the current "C drive" connected.
If not, we have to fix that first.

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 specify 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.
-----------------------------

SUCCESS! The PC booted with only the new SSD. Thank you so much for your time and expertise.

 

[TundraCo]

How can I award the solution to the response the helped me solve this? I don't see a checkmark next to responses.

 

[USAFRet]

How can I award the solution to the response the helped me solve this? I don't see a checkmark next to responses.

Try it now.