Problems cloning NVMe SSD (MSI GP62MVR 6RF)

[Stanley083]

Hello guys. I got my GP62MVR computer just yesterday. I also bought a Samsung NVMe drive. PM951 256GB.

I have been trying to clone the drive to no avail. I have tried SEVERAL methods. All fail one way or the other.

Firstly, i will state that i returned the device to factory state after buying as i got it in mint condition. Not brand new tho.

What I've tried.
1. Acronis (In Windows): After selecting all in the clone section in acronis and it says reboot. I click reboot and laptop jusy reboots. Nothing happens except the MSI boot picture flashing an extra time. Computer just boots normally. No cloning is done. Nothing.

2. Acronis (in bootable mode): This doesn't load at all. PC detects USB drive quite alright, I press 1 for Acronis True Image bootable. It shows the initial screen but just freezes there with the hourglass thing showing forever. I tried same bootable usb on my Dell 7559 and it loaded up instantly. So, not from the drive.

3. EASEUS: EaseUS reboots into the boot cloning mode (Linux mode? DOS? I don't know). But it does start the process in the dark screen and fails at some point. I don't remember the EXACT error but I'm sure it says something about. Assigning Drive Letter. Or maybe it failed while assigning drive letter? That's all the info i have. It fails, say midway into the process.

4. MiniTool: Minitool reboots into cloning mode like EASEUS but just as it is about to starts. Shoots a BSOD! 'SYSTEM SERVICE EXCEPTION'. And that's the end of that one.

5. Macrium Reflect: I'm not able to try Macrium, it keeps telling me insufficient space on target drive. My HDD is 1TB, SSD is 256 GB. But even after adjusting, still don't want to let me.

6. Fresh Install: Finally, i try a fresh install. Installed without issues. When rebooting to complete initialization, forgot to take out the USB stick. Booted as if to start a new install, of course i cancelled that and system rebooted to complete new windows install. I get some error that my pc needs to be repaired. I click, choose another boot method or something like that. I get taken to the bootloader i guess?? And i choose the same new instancebod windows. Fails again. PC needs to be repaired. I go into BIOS. I change mode from UEFI to 'UEFI with CSM'. This time it boots normally. I complete new windows setup. Everything. I try reboot. REPAIR error again. I think maybe my BIOS reset to default? No. Still UEFI with CSM. 3rd option is Legacy btw.

At this point i just get frustrated and i boot into my normal windows instance on HDD and wipe the SSD, remove boot instance from 'msconfig'. Reset BIOS back to UEFI also. Just for the sake of it.

Please guys. Can anyone help me? I really need to use my SSD. What do you think is the problem? It just feels like something is preventing the cloning. From the BIOS? Something else? I don't know. Should i update BIOS? Will that help? I probably have an older BIOS and older windows also.

Thanks in advance.

 

[ArtPog]

Do you think it might be useful to start "at the beginning", so to speak?

1. Should we assume you're communicating with this "forum" via another PC? I'm not entirely clear as to whether you're able to utilize your MSI laptop using a bootable OS on another drive?

2. In any event we'll assume you've correctly installed the Samsung SSD and you've been assured your laptop's system is compatible with that particular device, right? Definitely no compatibility problems here, right?

3. I assume you've created the Windows Media Creation Tool (USB flash drive) containing the Win 10 OS setup files, right?

4. BTW, is the SSD still in its "virgin" state? Or have you initialized/partitioned/formatted it? MBR or GPT?

5. So now you boot to the flash drive to fresh-install the Win 10 OS onto the SSD. You've indicated that you have done so "without issues". Swell.

6. But then you state "When rebooting to complete initialization..." and go on to recite this or that problem occurring. What do you mean "to complete initialization"? Presumably, following the successful install of the OS, the system will boot to the Win 10 desktop without incident. There's no "initialization" process that needs to be undertaken.

Perhaps you would like to clarify the situation at this point.

 

[Stanley083]

Do you think it might be useful to start "at the beginning", so to speak?

1. Should we assume you're communicating with this "forum" via another PC? I'm not entirely clear as to whether you're able to utilize your MSI laptop using a bootable OS on another drive?

2. In any event we'll assume you've correctly installed the Samsung SSD and you've been assured your laptop's system is compatible with that particular device, right? Definitely no compatibility problems here, right?

3. I assume you've created the Windows Media Creation Tool (USB flash drive) containing the Win 10 OS setup files, right?

4. BTW, is the SSD still in its "virgin" state? Or have you initialized/partitioned/formatted it? MBR or GPT?

5. So now you boot to the flash drive to fresh-install the Win 10 OS onto the SSD. You've indicated that you have done so "without issues". Swell.

6. But then you state "When rebooting to complete initialization..." and go on to recite this or that problem occurring. What do you mean "to complete initialization"? Presumably, following the successful install of the OS, the system will boot to the Win 10 desktop without incident. There's no "initialization" process that needs to be undertaken.

Perhaps you would like to clarify the situation at this point.

1. My MSI computer still boots into the Windows Install on HDD fine. I still have my old Dell, but I'm replying from my phone now. Lol. Didn't matter.

2. Yes. The MSI GP62MVR is compatible with NVMe SSD and i have installed it correctly. No compatibility issues.

3. Yes. Currently created a windows 10 os on a usb drive. Used Windows 7 creator tool tho but yes. It's there and is bootable.

4. At first was in 'virgin' state. But i went into disk management in Windows and formatted it to GPT(GUID) and it's showing up in 'My Computer' or 'My PC'. Usable just like any regular drive. Even done Crystaldisk benchmarks (1500+ read. 310 write). Also used Crystal info to check drive health. All good.

5. Yes. I completed fresh install and did setup. But when i attempt to reboot PC normally. It runs into error saying windows needs repair. 0xc00000e i think.
One time the error was 'a required device isn't connected or cannot be accessed' another time it was 'the application or operating system couldn't be loaded because a required file is missing or contains errors.' File: \Windows\System32\winload.efi

6. Explained above. However, finished install and setup. Everything fine. Reboot and ERROR!

Issue is why my computer blocking all those apps from cloning my HDD to SSD?

And even after fresh install. Reboot and error. It should work as normal.

Let me also mention i don't have the latest BIOS nor EC (firmware) installed. I don't know if this has anything to do with blocking cloning apps from cloning. Or something else. I don't want to venture into risk of flashing without being sure.

Cheers.

 

[ArtPog]

Let's return to item 5. above, OK?

You say you "completed fresh install and did setup". And then you state "But when I attempt to reboot PC normally...it runs into error...".
WHY ARE YOU REBOOTING AT THIS STAGE OF THE INSTALLATION PROCESS?
IF YOU HAVE SUCCESSFULLY INSTALLED THE WIN 10 OS THE SYSTEM AUTOMATICALLY MAKES ITS FINAL BOOT TO THE DESKTOP. NO "REBOOTING" ON THE USER'S PART IS INVOLVED (OR SHOULD BE INVOLVED) HERE.
A SUCCESSFUL INSTALLATION OF THE OS RESULTS IN THE DISPLAY OF THE DESKTOP. PERIOD.

So you've got to clarify your statements and explain PRECISELY what is happening and what you're doing. Capiche?

Then you go on to state..."Issue is why my computer blocking all those apps from cloning my HDD to SSD?" So now you're raising ANOTHER issue? A disk-cloning problem? We've been discussing a fresh-install of the OS? Is the data-migration your ultimate objective? That puts a whole different slant on how to proceed. Capiche?

 

[USAFRet]

5. Macrium Reflect: I'm not able to try Macrium, it keeps telling me insufficient space on target drive. My HDD is 1TB, SSD is 256 GB. But even after adjusting, still don't want to let me.

How much space is consumed on your current 1TB HDD?

 

[Stanley083]

Let's return to item 5. above, OK?

You say you "completed fresh install and did setup". And then you state "But when I attempt to reboot PC normally...it runs into error...".
WHY ARE YOU REBOOTING AT THIS STAGE OF THE INSTALLATION PROCESS?
IF YOU HAVE SUCCESSFULLY INSTALLED THE WIN 10 OS THE SYSTEM AUTOMATICALLY MAKES ITS FINAL BOOT TO THE DESKTOP. NO "REBOOTING" ON THE USER'S PART IS INVOLVED (OR SHOULD BE INVOLVED) HERE.
A SUCCESSFUL INSTALLATION OF THE OS RESULTS IN THE DISPLAY OF THE DESKTOP. PERIOD.

So you've got to clarify your statements and explain PRECISELY what is happening and what you're doing. Capiche?

Then you go on to state..."Issue is why my computer blocking all those apps from cloning my HDD to SSD?" So now you're raising ANOTHER issue? A disk-cloning problem? We've been discussing a fresh-install of the OS? Is the data-migration your ultimate objective? That puts a whole different slant on how to proceed. Capiche?

Yes mate. 2 issues. Can't clone to SSD successfully and when i say restart. I mean just a regular random restart. Just because i wanted to restart. Did that. And the computer just didn't boot. Gave the error i mentioned.

5. Macrium Reflect: I'm not able to try Macrium, it keeps telling me insufficient space on target drive. My HDD is 1TB, SSD is 256 GB. But even after adjusting, still don't want to let me.

How much space is consumed on your current 1TB HDD?

Only 30GB/1TB used. Still in 'out-of-the-box' state.

 

[USAFRet]

If it is a brand new system, out of the box, and you are doing a clean install on the new drive....cloning has nothing to do with this.

Just install on the new drive.

 

[Stanley083]

If it is a brand new system, out of the box, and you are doing a clean install on the new drive....cloning has nothing to do with this.

Just install on the new drive.

Yes. But the question is why can't i clone when i try to clone? Cloning was my first option. As that didn't work, i looked towards clean install.

 

[USAFRet]

If it is a brand new system, out of the box, and you are doing a clean install on the new drive....cloning has nothing to do with this.

Just install on the new drive.

Yes. But the question is why can't i clone when i try to clone? Cloning was my first option. As that didn't work, i looked towards clean install.

Unknown.
I've cloned from Drive A to Drive B, in many systems, with various tools over the years.
Usually they work. If not, it was almost certainly a fail on my part.

 

[Stanley083]

If it is a brand new system, out of the box, and you are doing a clean install on the new drive....cloning has nothing to do with this.

Just install on the new drive.

Yes. But the question is why can't i clone when i try to clone? Cloning was my first option. As that didn't work, i looked towards clean install.

Unknown.
I've cloned from Drive A to Drive B, in many systems, with various tools over the years.
Usually they work. If not, it was almost certainly a fail on my part.

Lets forget cloning for now, maybe i am not explaining properly. Now, no more cloning. All cloning attempts i tried failed in one way or the other. I listed in my first post already. As i said, forget cloning for now.

Clean install. I have both the NVMe and HDD on my computer. I have JUST NOW installed a windows on the SSD. Clean install. After first reboot, because there is another windows 10 on my HDD, bootloader asks me to pick which to boot into. I pick the new install so i can go and finish the first install setup. It gives an error 'Your PC/Device needs to be repaired. A required device isn't connected or can't be accessed. Error code: 0xc000000e'.

I say try again then it tells me /Windows/system32/winload.efi missing

So now, my only option is to boot back into the Windows 10 on my HDD which works fine.
Is my BIOS not seeing my SSD correctly? It shows up in System information. But not in Boot order list.

 

[USAFRet]

You should do the install on the NVMe drive with only the NVMe drive connected.

What you're seeing is a mashup of the two boot partitions. This happens with an existing OS on a different drive.

 

[Stanley083]

You should do the install on the NVMe drive with only the NVMe drive connected.

What you're seeing is a mashup of the two boot partitions. This happens with an existing OS on a different drive.

Okay. I will pull out HDD now and do fresh install on NVMe. However, will it install in Legacy or UEFI? Because when i changed to legacy earlier. My BIOS was showing the NVMe as normal. But i was getting that 'insert a boot device and press any key' error.

I don't see NVMe SSD in this BIOS area when set to UEFI. But when set to Legacy, i see it.

 

[ArtPog]

Stanley:
I realize you've been frustrated with the failure of the disk-cloning programs you've used to successfully clone the contents of your 1 TB HDD (containing about 30 GB of data) to your SSD and as a consequence have indicated you do not wish to pursue that process.

But I want you to give it one more shot.

We have been using the Casper disk-cloning program for a number of years and it's a program which I heartily recommend for its ease of use, general effectiveness, and speed. Our primary use for this program is as a comprehensive backup system especially because of its speed when it's used routinely & frequently.

The program is a commercial one costing $49.99. Most PC users are loathe to purchase this program because of its cost and the number of freely available d-c programs such as the ones you've used. And it seems most users are exclusively interested in a "one-shot" d-c operation involving the migration of data to a SSD or to a larger HDD rather than considering a d-c program to undertake frequent comprehensive backups of their systems.

Be that as it may, Casper does have a Trial Edition which you could use and hopefully it will be successful as it relates to your situation. I would urge you to give it a try. Here are some instructions for doing so...

We're assuming, of course...
A. The current 1 TB HDD boot (source) drive functions without any problems.
B. The proposed destination disk is non-defective.
C. You would be satisfied with your destination disk essentially containing a bit-for-bit copy of your source drive.
D. The disk-space capacity of the destination drive is sufficiently large enough to contain the total data contents of the source disk. (Obviously that requirement is met here.)

1. Download/install the Casper Trial Edition 10 (v10.0.6044) disk-cloning program from: https://www.fssdev.com/products/casper/trial/

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

3. 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, i.e., your 256 GB SSD.

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

5. 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.)

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

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

So give a disk-cloning operation a final try.