[SOLVED] Samsung SSD to SSD Clone ruined my WD Data HDD: Is it Recoverable ??? [FIXED]

[lookanlearn]

Hello; Slight problem here Must be Easy to Fix ?_?

>> SAMSUNG Started Cloning to the Wrong Drive <<<

PC is a Windows 10 x64 ............ Haswell i7 .......... 16Gb Ram .......... GTX 1070 Strix unit, Plus a bunch of Western Digital HARD DRIVES connected etc.
Fully updated (Drivers/Chipset, Windows 10 latest version etc).

So.
I Wanted to Clone my Samsung 500Gb SSD to another Samsung 500Gb SSD via USB connector box. For a Spare...... in case the main SSD ever failed.

NOTE
I have (for simplicitys sake) Three x Western Digital (GPT) HDDs installed for;- (1) 4Tb DATA Files (2) 6Tb PC Games & (3) 3Tb Video Youtube copies/uploads.
SAMSUNG DESTROYED the Data Video Files one of these.

Why/How?
Because, I Used the Samsung (DISC CLONE) "DATA MIGRATION" Wizard.

Samsung Clone told me my 500Gb SSD was 2.7Tb ... but it said it WAS(is) The SSD.
I stopped; and re-ran it to re-check. It again said; the Disc begin cloned to, was (my) Samsung SSD.

I checked again.. (restarted the SAMSUNG program) & it again told my my 500Gb SSD was 2.7 Tb
I closed it & checked again. It again said it was the SAMSUNG SSD (500Gb).

This time I opened a Video on the 2.7 Tb Western Digital HDD Drive & played it (assuming the SAMSUNG Drive size error? was a glitch.... while going ahead with the clone of the Samsung SSD to SSD.

Then... (seconds later) my PC went black & rebooted.

My Data/Video Drive went from being a single 3tb (2.7Tb) GPT drive and appeared as a No Drive Letter * MBR drive split-into-2-Partitions (according to Windows Disk Management [2Tb + 746Gb]).
AOMI still reads it at the same time as a single 3Tb HDD (also with no partition *).

So, I have no clone, and a wiped drive.

Whats the best thing to do (currently I am trying [the FREE Version of] AOMI Partition Recovery Wizard.......... But it looks like it will take 24 hours or more to find all the files)?

Is there any way to recover all the Data (family stuff).... faster?

Oh.... and WHY did Samsung DATA MIGRATION tell me a (my) WD Hard drive was a "SAMSUNG SSD" ?

 

[lookanlearn]

So I ran "PARTITION RECOVERY WIZARD", ........

........but after many hours of file recovery the main HDD File system of 2.73Tb (NTFS Primary) appeared .........

...........but with No (visible) way to RECOVER it.

(Unable to tick the box marked for "Recovery").

 

[lookanlearn]

AOMEI sorted it out.

Had to Convert it to GPT (AGAIN), >>> on a WING & A PRAYER <<<.

ReFind the contents.

Then Give it back its Drive letter.

 

[CompGee]

AOMEI sorted it out.

Had to Convert it to GPT (AGAIN), >>> on a WING & A PRAYER <<<.

ReFind the contents.

Then Give it back its Drive letter.

You, sir, are extremely lucky.

Next time, be sure to make backups of your data before doing something like this.

 

[USAFRet]

Plus a bunch of Western Digital HARD DRIVES connected etc.

(see line 4 - "Disconnect ALL drives except the current C and the new SSD" )

-----------------------------
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
Download and install Macrium Reflect (or Samsung Data Migration, if a Samsung SSD)
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
Click the 'Clone' button
Wait until it is done
When it finishes, power off
Disconnect ALL drives except for the new SSD
This is to allow the system to try to boot from ONLY the SSD
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.
-----------------------------

 

[karenjoly]

(see line 4 - "Disconnect ALL drives except the current C and the new SSD" )

-----------------------------
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
Download and install Macrium Reflect (or Samsung Data Migration, if a Samsung SSD)
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
Click the 'Clone' button
Wait until it is done
When it finishes, power off
Disconnect ALL drives except for the new SSD
This is to allow the system to try to boot from ONLY the SSD
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.
-----------------------------

You should amend this tutorial to recognize that Samsung Migration is limited and does not allow both the target and the clone in the same computer simultaneously. Specifically this line

Later, reconnect the old drive and wipe all partitions on it.


That is not possible. See e.g., this thread

[SOLVED] - Installed a new NVMe drive, but I can't access the old & new drives together

Hi all, my original drive is a Samsung EVO 860 m.2 SATA. I just upgraded to the EVO 970 Plus and have successfully cloned the old drive to the new one. I removed the 860 and the system boots fine off the 970 without issue. I would like to format the 860 drive in order to sell it, however...

forums.tomshardware.com

 

[USAFRet]

I'll have to see about freeing up one of my Samsungs available for testing this.

 

[lookanlearn]

Thanks for the Information guys... (FIXED).

Bought a HDD/SSD (3Tb max) clone machine instead (its easier to take one SSD out than disconnect a bunch of other Drives [Especially as the cloning is much faster also]).

Would prefer (SAMSUNG to do) a software fix; but no worries here now.

& I can see many people whose lives are shorter than all the billions of pages of information out there... who would prefer !