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

[DistressedMom]

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.

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).

 

[DistressedMom]

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.

Well the Sapphire card is actually my GPU, not a separate sound card. I suppose it's just the built in sound stuff. But I could just move the speakers to the MOBO input and swap them out whenever I need to do so. That's not difficult, and whatever I can do to get -any- sound, I'm happy for.

I'm currently set back a few days so I'll have to crunch some long hours to get back on schedule, but it is what it is. I don't mind working hard of course. Things happen.

So you think if I upgraded windows it would fix the problems, though?

 

[Lafong]

So you think if I upgraded windows it would fix the problems, though?

I would never say that.

It might. Speculation.

Upgraded Windows may be only part of a solution.

In all likelihood, your current version of Windows would be fine..........if you knew how to fix it.

You have W number of controls within the Windows interface, X number of physical connection points, Y number of drivers, and Z pieces of hardware.

W x X x Y x Z is a large number. It's vomit-inducing to have to try all the possibilities. I've been there.

I don't know your frustration level at this moment or what it might be in 3 or 4 days if you make no progress on re-establishing sound.

Therefore....I'm not comfortable telling you to dive in on wholesale changes. I don't want the responsibility.

If you personally are comfortable, put a knife in your teeth and get after it.

Maybe someone else is not as reluctant as I am and maybe you are willing to take their advice.

 

[DistressedMom]

I would never say that.

It might. Speculation.

Upgraded Windows may be only part of a solution.

In all likelihood, your current version of Windows would be fine..........if you knew how to fix it.

You have W number of controls within the Windows interface, X number of physical connection points, Y number of drivers, and Z pieces of hardware.

W x X x Y x Z is a large number. It's vomit-inducing to have to try all the possibilities. I've been there.

I don't know your frustration level at this moment or what it might be in 3 or 4 days if you make no progress on re-establishing sound.

Therefore....I'm not comfortable telling you to dive in on wholesale changes. I don't want the responsibility.

If you personally are comfortable, put a knife in your teeth and get after it.

Maybe someone else is not as reluctant as I am and maybe you are willing to take their advice.

Aw, I understand. I'm willing to take whatever help I can get, and any time anyone is willing to dedicate to helping a random stranger on the internet with something like this. And I do understand what you're saying and I respect that, thank you. I just hope someone does have an answer. I don't want to make things worse by tinkering with stuff and ruining even more. I just hope someone does show up with some ideas. I'm praying Skynet comes back with some help because they seem incredibly knowledgeable as well, but I know they've already spent a lot of time dealing with this mess and I appreciate them, too.

 

[kerberos_20]

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.

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.

well your picture shows that playbeck device is your monitor/tv, so its normal that you got no sound from realtek audio ports
click speaker icon on taskbar and change playback device to speakers (realtek)

 

[DistressedMom]

well your picture shows that playbeck device is your monitor/tv, so its normal that you got no sound from realtek audio ports
click speaker icon on taskbar and change playback device to speakers (realtek)

Yeah, I don't know why it's showing it as a monitor, that's really weird. I'm guessing it's referring to my actual speakers I have plugged in? I did try all three options, though. I tried both with the front input of my PC where it plugs into the MOBO as well as the back input that plugs into the GPU. Unfortunately, nothing is responding.

 

[kerberos_20]

Yeah, I don't know why it's showing it as a monitor, that's really weird. I'm guessing it's referring to my actual speakers I have plugged in? I did try all three options, though. I tried both with the front input of my PC where it plugs into the MOBO as well as the back input that plugs into the GPU. Unfortunately, nothing is responding.

there are 3 indeed
first digital is used with digital receivers (spdiff or optical)
second is analog speakers (speakers or headphones)
third is hdmi/display port

use speakers only (middle option)

then open realtek app and show picture from it

 

[DistressedMom]

there are 3 indeed
first digital is used with digital receivers (spdiff or optical)
second is analog speakers (speakers or headphones)
third is hdmi/display port

use speakers only (middle option)

then open realtek app and show picture from it

Okay, I'll give it a shot. I don't think I have the realtek app so I made need to download it, though. I do have an HDMI display, it's my graphic tablet/monitor. Maybe it's confusing it for a speaker? That's super weird.

Edit: Oh! Do you mean 'Realtek Audio Console' app?

 

[DistressedMom]

then open realtek app and show picture from it

https://imgur.com/a/Pcy4xj8

View: https://imgur.com/a/Pcy4xj8



This is with both the headset plugged in in the front and the speakers plugged in at the back:

https://imgur.com/a/1ZXyxXr

View: https://imgur.com/a/1ZXyxXr

 

[SkyNetRising]

I have my main speakers which are just plug and play going directly into the GPU input

Nobody plugs speakers into a graphics card. This does not sound right (unless you're using a receiver with HDMI pass-through).
And graphics cards usually do not have any inputs. All connectors are outputs (unless it's some kind of audio/video capture device).
Can you show a photo of audio output ports on your pc (front and back)?

 

[DistressedMom]

Nobody plugs speakers into a graphics card. This does not sound right (unless you're using a receiver with HDMI pass-through).
And graphics cards usually do not have any inputs. All connectors are outputs (unless it's some kind of audio/video capture device).
Can you show a photo of audio output ports on your pc (front and back)?

Ah, I could be totally wrong, that's extremely likely. I'm sorry for being so uneducated in all of this. It's incredibly embarrassing and I clearly have a lot to learn.

In hindsight it looks like it's actually just plugging into my MOBO as well from the back. I'm so sorry for the confusion.

https://imgur.com/a/RdqBWII

View: https://imgur.com/a/RdqBWII

 

[kerberos_20]

is that a usb headset?

 

[DistressedMom]

is that a usb headset?

Not really, no. The USB part is just for the lights on it. There's a connector for the mic (which I don't have connected unless I'm actively using it), one for the audio input and one for the usb light stuff.

 

[kerberos_20]

pink connector is usualy microphone

 

[DistressedMom]

pink connector is usualy microphone

Yeah, I have the green one plugged in. I mean... the whole thing is pink but there's a little ring around each to indicate what they're for. Though honestly, I haven't removed any of the audio connections since before I swapped the SSD for the new one and they worked just fine prior. So I figure the connections shouldn't be the issue, right?