SSD as boot not working - BIOS?

[philvegas1]

Hi,

I'm new to this, please be kind! I just recently purchased a new PC and wanted to add an SSD for boot and programs only (Samsung EVO850). I followed several online guides to clone the HDD and move the OS to the SSD which appears to be successful but I'm having boot issues.

It appears like I can't switch to the SSD to boot from there unless I hit F12 and manually select it (This is a Dell 3250 btw). At first I thought it was maybe an old partition on the HDD, so I formatted that but the issue remains. I then tried removing the HDD to take it out of the equation and the same thing happens - I can boot to Windows 10 but only after manually selecting it in the boot menu. I also tried swapping the SATA ports so that the SSD is on the first one, but that didn't solve the issue.

It's been a very long time since I've added a drive to anything, and BIOS settings are so different now (it's been that long!). If I go into the settings, I don't have the option to choose which hard drive to boot from, or even order, just UEFI. I tried to switch to legacy, but I still don't seem to have the option to select the SSD (only Hard Drive).

Since this is a new machine, I have no vested interest in what's on it since it's fairly clean. I did create a USB with system recovery before embarking on this, but my worry is that even if I try to do a full restore, the BIOS won't recognize the SSD and the issue will be the same.

If anyone has any ideas, I'd be happy to elaborate if needed - My wife's giving me angry looks because I'm set up on the dining room table so any help is appreciated 🙂

 

[Darkbreeze]

Ok, try this first. Disconnect the HDD from the motherboard. Plug the SSD into the same SATA port that the HDD was connected to. With the power turned OFF, remove the cmos battery from the motherboard or move the CMOS reset jumper to the clear CMOS position. Put the jumper back in it's original position or reinstall the battery. Power up and enter the bios. Select the option to set "optimal default" or "setup default" settings. Save settings, restart, see if it boots.

If not, there may be a couple of other settings we need to change in the bios related to boot order or compatibility support. We might also need to run Gparted to look at the SSD and make sure that ALL of the necessary partitions were copied to the SSD including the C: partition AND the boot partition.

Usually I recommend simply doing a clean install anytime you change to a new drive. It is cleaner, pretty much always works as it is intended and there are never partition or boot order issues so long as the bios is set properly and you follow the directions exactly as outlined. IF you wish to do a clean install you can do so by following the guide here:

Windows 10 Clean install tutorial

 

[Darkbreeze]

Ok, read your post again. You may need to enable or disable CSM in the bios, or you might need to reset the bios like I said WITHOUT the HDD attached and then reconfigure the default setting option. Should recognize the SSD as the primary boot device so long as you are attached to SATA 0 with the SSD, if there IS a SATA 0. If not, then SATA 1. Might also have to set another option but it's hard to say on these OEM motherboards since there are usually not very good if any user manual information available for them and I don't know exactly which options your bios has or allows compared to most aftermarket boards.