Question Terrified I broke everything when cloning my boot hard drive. Please, please help.

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DistressedMom

DistressedMom

Feb 27, 2022
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Hello,

I recently bought a 1TB SSD to replace my 120GB SSD, which has my operating system on it. I was constantly running out of room on my C drive (the smaller SSD). I asked some people in a tech forum how I could move my C drive from the smaller SSD to the larger one and was given some instructions.

I followed the instructions I was given and cloned my old, smaller SSD into the new SSD for booting. I booted up my PC initially with only the new SSD and it worked fine, then I turned it off, plugged in the new SSD with the intentions to reformat (as I was told to do), and now this mess is showing up.

HwuHSae.png


The new H drive is the clone, though it initially showed up as a C drive before I plugged the old SSD back in. It also appears to be missing the 'boot' partition? I made certain when I booted up the PC after plugging the SSD back in that I booted FROM the new SSD. I specifically selected the boot override and chose it.

I need help, I'm kind of panicking at this point. I don't know how to resolve this. I'm also assuming the new G drive is part of the new H drive (all from the new SSD)? I'm so scared I've broken everything and I don't know how to proceed. I am a game dev and I use this PC for all my dev work, and I can barely run my programs right now. Everything is suddenly extremely slow and hangs.

(Sidenote: ignore the unallocated disk, I just installed that earlier and haven't set it up yet).
 
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Lafong

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You can get rid of that D drive letter on the System Reserved.

You want to be in a position where booting is seamless...............without going into the BIOS or overtly using Boot Manager or selecting anything. Hit the power button and arrive at the desktop in one motion.
 
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DistressedMom

DistressedMom

Feb 27, 2022
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Lafong said:
You can get rid of that D drive letter on the System Reserved.

You want to be in a position where booting is seamless...............without going into the BIOS or overtly using Boot Manager or selecting anything. Hit the power button and arrive at the desktop in one motion.
Click to expand...
Yeah, I'm not quite there yet. When I start the PC, if I don't go into bios and manually boot from the boot manager, it still gives me the 'pc needs to recover' screen. If I specifically boot it using the boot manager it loads up to a blue screen asking which version of windows I want (it shows Windows 10 twice, weirdly enough) and then I select the top one and then it turns white for a minute, then loads up. I'm not sure what causes that, though. That's new.
 
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DistressedMom

DistressedMom

Feb 27, 2022
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USAFRet said:
And for future reference:

What is your backup situation at home?

What is your backup situation at home? And if you don't do that, why not? Every single day, I read multiple threads here of "How do I get my stuff back?" or "That drive had 5 years of photos of my kids!!" Be it a dead drive, dropped phone, virus, accidental deletion, formatting the wrong...
forums.tomshardware.com forums.tomshardware.com
Click to expand...
Luckily I have automatic backups setup, which has saved my butt a few times. I know the pain of losing a lot of important work!
 
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DistressedMom

DistressedMom

Feb 27, 2022
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SkyNetRising said:
You can remove redundant bootloader entry with msconfig (boot section).

clip_image0037_thumb.png
Click to expand...
Sorry for the late response, I needed some sleep.

I did what you said, and now it's booting without those weird issues. The only odd thing left that I've experienced is that I can't seem to get any sound anymore from my PC, and if I try to get into Settings > System the window immediately closes. I was thinking I might need to reinstall my drivers or something like that, but I can't get that System window to stay open. I can go into Settings, but the moment I click System it closes.


https://imgur.com/a/aArqH8e
https://imgur.com/a/XGI4cgu
View: https://imgur.com/a/XGI4cgu

View: https://imgur.com/a/aArqH8e
 
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DistressedMom

DistressedMom

Feb 27, 2022
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Lafong said:
Should be some sort of adjustment for boot order in the BIOS.

What are the various choices in that list?
Click to expand...
Any idea why the audio would stop working after all this? I have tried multiple ports and ensured everything is connected and not damaged, but I can't get any audio. Troubleshooting just tells me an error occurred. I have tried both my headphones as well as my speakers, which both also work fine on another PC.

https://imgur.com/a/XGI4cgu
View: https://imgur.com/a/XGI4cgu
 
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SkyNetRising

SkyNetRising

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Jan 4, 2016
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Don't use automatic driver updaters. They can cause problems.

List full specs of your system (include motherboard, graphics card).

Is the issue with audio input or audio output?

Install drivers from motherboard support site for integrated audio,
graphics drivers, if you use audio output on monitor,
drivers from respective device manufacturer support site, if you use USB microphone/usb headset.
 
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DistressedMom

DistressedMom

Feb 27, 2022
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SkyNetRising said:
Don't use automatic driver updaters. They can cause problems.

List full specs of your system (include motherboard, graphics card).

Is the issue with audio input or audio output?

Install drivers from motherboard support site for integrated audio,
graphics drivers, if you use audio output on monitor,
drivers from respective device manufacturer support site, if you use USB microphone/usb headset.
Click to expand...
I can't open my System tab from Settings so I can really only go off of the top of my head:
ASUS Prime Z390-A motherboard
Sapphire Radeon Nitro+ RX 590 GPU (8GB/GDDR5)
16 gb (2x8) Ram (CORSAIR Vengeance)
Intel Core i7-9700K
Cooler is this guy: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B081JJ77XF/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

If I missed anything please let me know. Sorry this is such a huge ordeal, it feels like it's neverending.

I don't have automatic updates for my drivers though, I use Driver Easy for updates. I've been told it's really good for that.
www.drivereasy.com

Driver Easy ® | Windows Driver Updater

Driver Easy is a free solution to all driver related problems for Windows 11, 10, 7 Download it now and update all your drivers with just 1 click.
www.drivereasy.com

Issue seems to be output, I haven't checked input yet. I can't hear anything with any of my devices and they work fine on the other PC we have. I have a set of PC speakers and headphones, each plugged into a different audio port, they connect directly to the MOBO.

Edit: I tried to uninstall and completely reinstall the drivers as well, so I think they should be totally up to date. I uninstalled through device manager and then did a scan to check for hardware changes which made it install them itself, and then did Update Driver using the drivers from Driver Easy.
 
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DistressedMom

DistressedMom

Feb 27, 2022
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Lafong

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Are you wedded to the Sapphire sound card rather than onboard sound?

I would at least consider removing all sound drivers and then seeing how far you can get with official Microsoft-supplied Windows sound drivers.

I wouldn't use Driver Easy and I would not be obsessed with getting the latest drivers. Get stuff working with whatever driver and go to newer drivers only for very good reasons, not force of habit.


Have you yet made a second Macrium image? Might be a good idea as you don't know where you might go off the rails badly while trouble shooting these last few issues.

Sound on Windows is highly important to me also and it has always been a configuration nightmare. Quality is OK, but getting basic functionality to work is painful. If you ever get it right, make a Word document with the full details of each and every sound-related setting.
 
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DistressedMom

DistressedMom

Feb 27, 2022
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Lafong said:
Are you wedded to the Sapphire sound card rather than onboard sound?

I would at least consider removing all sound drivers and then seeing how far you can get with official Microsoft-supplied Windows sound drivers.

I wouldn't use Driver Easy and I would not be obsessed with getting the latest drivers. Get stuff working with whatever driver and go to newer drivers only for very good reasons, not force of habit.


Have you yet made a second Macrium image? Might be a good idea as you don't know where you might go off the rails badly while trouble shooting these last few issues.

Sound on Windows is highly important to me also and it has always been a configuration nightmare. Quality is OK, but getting basic functionality to work is painful. If you ever get it right, make a Word document with the full details of each and every sound-related setting.
Click to expand...
I have multiple inputs, and it doesn't appear any are working. Either with directly connecting to the motherboard or the GPU. I uninstalled all audio drivers and then let windows rescan and install them anew, and no difference. Tried removing again and downloaded them from manufacturer (Asus website, etc) and manually reinstalled, but no difference. No errors showing up either.

I haven't updated any drivers in a while, usually I only do so when there's a reason. Everything worked fine prior to swapping the SSD and then no sound. So I didn't touch any drivers or anything until I realized the sound wasn't working.

Yeah, sound is important, I can't do a lot of my work without the sound. I'm already set back by a few days over this madness. I will make a new image, though.
 
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Lafong

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I am using onboard Realtek sound..the driver is shown in Device Manager as version 6.0.1.7614, dated 9/15/15. Have not deliberately changed it in years.

What version of Windows are you on as of now, per Winver command? What build number?

Have you downloaded the "latest and greatest" direct from Sapphire site if you are using their sound card?
 
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DistressedMom

DistressedMom

Feb 27, 2022
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Lafong said:
I am using onboard Realtek sound..the driver is shown in Device Manager as version 6.0.1.7614, dated 9/15/15. Have not deliberately changed it in years.

What version of Windows are you on as of now, per Winver command? What build number?

Have you downloaded the "latest and greatest" direct from Sapphire site if you are using their sound card?
Click to expand...
I have realtek as well I think.

Ahhh let me see. Build 19043.1415 is what it says. Version 21H1.

This is my current driver for the MOBO: https://drivers.eu/Mainboards/ASUS/Z390-A/Realtek Audio Driver-6.0.1.8507___4Z3qSf
And for my GPU I'm using version 21.10.2: https://www.amd.com/en/support/graphics/radeon-500-series/radeon-rx-500-series/radeon-rx-590

Edit: This is from looking at my GPU's stats:
https://imgur.com/a/T3ZZoKJ
View: https://imgur.com/a/T3ZZoKJ
 
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Lafong

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Are you averse to moving to Windows 21H2?

Not saying you should, but wondering if you are deliberately avoiding it?

Confusion:

You have a Sapphire sound card.

You also say you have Realtek.

Why do you need both Sapphire and Realtek?

I am using Realtek driver as supplied directly by Windows............not from Realtek directly and not from my motherboard manufacturer.

I see from your Device Manager "audio inputs and outputs" section that you have Realtek Stereo Mix. Why do you need this?

Stereo Mix has traditionally been needed to "record what you hear". I can and do record what I hear using Realtek onboard sound, but I do not have that "Realtek Stereo Mix" that you show.

Not sure what your sound requirements are, but you may have to rebuild it from the ground up if you have been through all of your settings thoroughly.
 
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DistressedMom

DistressedMom

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Lafong said:
Are you averse to moving to Windows 21H2?

Not saying you should, but wondering if you are deliberately avoiding it?

Confusion:

You have a Sapphire sound card.

You also say you have Realtek.

Why do you need both Sapphire and Realtek?

I am using Realtek driver as supplied directly by Windows............not from Realtek directly and not from my motherboard manufacturer.

I see from your Device Manager "audio inputs and outputs" section that you have Realtek Stereo Mix. Why do you need this?

Stereo Mix has traditionally been needed to "record what you hear". I can and do record what I hear using Realtek onboard sound, but I do not have that "Realtek Stereo Mix" that you show.

Not sure what your sound requirements are, but you may have to rebuild it from the ground up if you have been through all of your settings thoroughly.
Click to expand...
Oh of course not, I just don't think I even noticed it was a thing. I actually don't have automatic updates on since they seem to cause me more trouble than good most of the time. I didn't know there was a version 21H2. Ahem.

I... honestly I don't know how to answer that. I'm guessing both are used? In the front of my case is an audio input that connects to the MOBO directly, which I use for my headphones, and then at the back of the case is the input for the GPU itself, which my speakers are plugged into. So I just swap between them depending on what I'm doing. But I'm not savvy enough with this sort of stuff to give you a fair answer, to be honest.

Whatever is in my audio devices, I really never looked. I figured it was mostly default stuff that comes along with the parts I'd put together when I built it, and their associated software. If there is a better way to do it I'm more than happy to make those changes. I know I'm not educated enough in this field and it's kind of embarrassing, really.

Edit: The stereo one might be from recording snips and things? I use OBS to record a lot of stuff to share with our backers and our team as a whole. No idea if that's related though.
 
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Lafong

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In 8 or 10 sentences, what are your sound requirements?

Listen to streaming stuff over the net and record it while listening?

Listening only, no recording?

Listening over monitor speakers only?

Listening over an external sound system?

Listening over both headphones and speakers?

Some type of gaming-centric requirement?

For entertainment only?

If for money/to make a living, go into a bit of detail.

Generally....I'd try to simplify and use only Realtek onboard sound UNLESS you can explicitly say why that would be inadequate.
 
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DistressedMom

DistressedMom

Feb 27, 2022
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Lafong said:
In 8 or 10 sentences, what are your sound requirements?

Listen to streaming stuff over the net and record it while listening?

Listening only, no recording?

Listening over monitor speakers only?

Listening over an external sound system?

Listening over both headphones and speakers?

Some type of gaming-centric requirement?

For entertainment only?

If for money/to make a living, go into a bit of detail.

Generally....I'd try to simplify and use only Realtek onboard sound UNLESS you can explicitly say why that would be inadequate.
Click to expand...
Most of it is for my work. I do listening to streaming stuff online (news, youtube, music) but largely it's in regards to work projects. For example, adding audio files to the project, testing it, lining up dialogue, all the things you'd expect during game design. I do voice calls with the rest of the team via discord at least a couple times a week, and I also record gameplay tests which involve audio from the game. So I guess a bit of everything.

My monitors don't have speakers. I have my main speakers which are just plug and play going directly into the GPU input, and the headset plugged into the MOBO. I use them pretty interchangeably. The headset has a microphone and I also have a separate USB mic for more important stuff that requires better audio.

It is kind of a lot, huh? But it's pretty much all for work.
 
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Lafong

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So...it's mostly listening, but some recording.

You plug speakers into a video card. Is that a necessity?

Since sound is needed to make a living, I'm reluctant to tell you to blow it all up and start over. You have a fairly complex setup.....video cards, conference calls, adding sound files to projects, etc.

I note that you can't establish a need for that Sapphire sound card. Good chance it is either unnecessary or part of your problem.

If you didn't need sound for work, I would likely advise you to move to Windows 21H2, blow up all the current sound, remove the Sapphire card, and attempt to rebuild with Realtek only, adding anything else ONLY if needed.

But you do need it for work and I assume cannot live with extended downtime.

10 years ago, I needed sound for work too and I know how flaky it is on Windows. Therefore, I can only tell you to fiddle around with sound settings and drivers at the margins within your own comfort level, trial and error stuff, making notes to yourself.................for fear of making your bad situation worse.

Maybe it can't get worse?

It would be up to you to throw in the towel and blow it all up.
 
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