Screwed the pooch trying to migrate 8.1 to SSD Help Please

[svoomaz]

Current situation: Trying to migrate Win8.1 to new SSD (WD 3dNano 500gb) - I cloned C: and system reserved partition to a same sized partitions on SSD - Reserved was I: and clone of C was G: - here's where the fun starts, erased the drive letters - shut down and used same connections from old drive to new SSD, (as per more than 1 how to on the net).
System not recognized - won't boot - etc bad news.
OK - try to restore using system image I saved prior to starting (1 smart thing I did) - now getting error 0x70080057 and old HDD is wiped - new SSD has system reserved partition and the "clone of C" is gone (empty).
After going through many attempts and gyrations I have the backup functioning - but if I try to create a new image I says errors on C: must be checked and fixed, then try to reboot and no go, back through the many attempts to get it back up and going.
Now I'm scared to do anything - I have checked that the system reserve is active where it supposed to be on the new SSD - but the 'active C:' is on an internal drive (WD 750Gb) where it's never been.

System specs: cpu dual core quad Q9550 ~ MB asus P5N-D ~ 8Gb Ram DDR3 1600MHz - HD's - WD 3dNano 500gb, Toshiba 500Gb HDD, WD Black 750Gb HDD + 1Tb external Toshiba
If you need any additional info I'll certainly try to get it to you.

I tried doing a clean install a couple months ago but MS won't activate - says license is "locked" - I'm not paying those bloodsuckers another dime unless it's my absolute last resort - not to mention all the time I'll have to reinvest in getting everything restored.

Sorry for the long post but this is actually the short version. Suggestions ??? Any help will be appreciated.

 

[USAFRet]

Your problem stemmed from booting up and seeing the new drive as the G.
At the end of the clone process, you must power off, physically disconnect the old drive, and power up with only the new drive.

If you remove all drives except the original, does the system still work?

If so, redo the clone operation.

Exactly like 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
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 as necessary.
Delete the 450MB Recovery Partition, here:
https://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/windows/en-US/4f1b84ac-b193-40e3-943a-f45d52e23685/cant-delete-extra-healthy-recovery-partitions-and-healthy-efi-system-partition?forum=w8itproinstall
-----------------------------

 

[svoomaz]

while I'm certain you're right - I did clone with macrium - and deleted drive letter G: before shutting down to unplug old drive and use them on the new SSD - on reboot it happened as i said above.
Did follow your suggestion - but all that came up was "An operating system was not found. Try disconnecting any drives that don't contain an operating system.

 

[USAFRet]

while I'm certain you're right - I did clone with macrium - and deleted drive letter G: before shutting down to unplug old drive and use them on the new SSD - on reboot it happened as i said above.
Did follow your suggestion - but all that came up was "An operating system was not found. Try disconnecting any drives that don't contain an operating system.

The problem was seeing the "G" drive letter in the first place.

If you redid it, and are seeing "An operating system was not found....", you missed the boot partition in the cloning process.


Those steps above, I've personally done dozens of times, and talked several hundred people in here through that.
It works.

 

[svoomaz]

Again, I'm sure you're right - hence the subject line. Looks like I really screwed this up with no way to recover. I guess I'll go ahead and do a clean install pay my pound of flesh to MS and get on with it. God I hate MS, but won't go not legit.
Thanks for trying.

 

[USAFRet]

Again, I'm sure you're right - hence the subject line. Looks like I really screwed this up with no way to recover. I guess I'll go ahead and do a clean install pay my pound of flesh to MS and get on with it. God I hate MS, but won't go not legit.
Thanks for trying.

Maybe time to move to Win 10?
Licensing, reinstalls, and moving to new hardware is much easier than with 8.1.