[SOLVED] Trouble Booting to New NVME

[gden]

Hello -I have cloned my Win10 installation from a Samsung 870 QVO to a Sabrent SB-RKTQ-4TB NVME using EaseUS Partion master. After much troubleshooting and unrecorded fussing around, I can now finally boot to my NVME, but ONLY with the old 870 in it's slot (front-accessed quick-change drive slot). I cannot boot to the NVME if the old 870 is removed from the computer. I don't see the old drive in windows explorer, Disk Manager, DISKPART, or EaseUS Partition.

All I see are a 35MB Healthy (EFI System Partition) and a 3725.99GB Healthy (Boot, Page file, Basic Data Partition) in Disk Manager, etc.

Can you please suggest how to get to a point where I can boot into the new NVME without the old 870 in its slot (I'd like to use it for backups)?

Thank you.

Win10 Home
Aorus Z390 WiFi Pro (rev 1.0)
i9-9900K

 

[USAFRet]

Then you didn't do the clone properly.
At the end of the process, the one thing missed:

Power off
Disconnect the old drive
Allow the system to try to boot up from ONLY the new drive.

This is not optional.

If at all possible, redo the clone operation.

-----------------------------
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)
If you are cloning from a SATA drive to PCIe/NVMe, install the relevant driver for this new NVMe/PCIe drive.
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

If you are going from a smaller drive to a larger, by default, the target partition size will be the same as the Source. You probably don't want that
You can manipulate the size of the partitions on the target (larger)drive
Click on "Cloned Partition Properties", and you can specifiy the resulting partition size, to even include the whole thing

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.
-----------------------------

 

[gden]

Good info, but how do I deal with the fact that my old drive is not seen by the system any more? I.e., as-is, it's not possible to re-do the cloning, as my system no longer recognizes the From drive. Thank you.

 

[USAFRet]

Good info, but how do I deal with the fact that my old drive is not seen by the system any more? I.e., as-is, it's not possible to re-do the cloning, as my system no longer recognizes the From drive. Thank you.

Can you show us a screencap of the Disk Management window, with the 870 in whatever slot allows it to run?

 

[geofelt]

I suspect that the 860 still has a hidden recovery partition that is needed to boot.
The clone process should have moved it along with all of the rest of the C drive.
Why this happened, I can't tell you.

During a clone process, the source drive should have been left intact.
See if you can't boot with the old 860 drive.
Assuming you can, then redo the clone process.

 

[gden]

@USAFRet - I removed the new NVME M.2 and was able to immediately boot into the old Samsung 870 2.5" SSD

https://imgur.com/wWOWQZ0

View: https://imgur.com/wWOWQZ0
Old Drive Dsk Mgr
@geofelt - Thanks! Now that I'm back on the old drive, I'll re-clone as you and USAFRet have advised. I do have to install the new NVME M.2 so that it can be cloned-to, which may set me back to the jam I was in when I started this thread. If that occurs, I'll pick up a USB - m.2 adapter so that I can control when the NVME M.2 is connected.

 

[gden]

I think the answer is 'no,' but can I install my NVME M.2 drive while my computer is on?

 

[geofelt]

I think the answer is 'no,' but can I install my NVME M.2 drive while my computer is on?

NO NO NO!!!
Power off fully whenever you work on the innards of a pc.
And unplug from the wall.

Some ssd makers will provide nvme drivers .
If sabrent does, I would install that driver along with the drive.

 

[gden]

That's what I thought Thank you. I couldn't find a driver on the Sabrent website. Since it booted and basically worked (with the old drive installed...), I don't believe I need to add a driver. After a call this morning, I'll totally power off, reinstall the NVME M.2, hopefully boot to the Old drive, and clone from there. I'll post how it goes.

 

[gden]

OK, fresh clone (Acronis), computer off, removed old SSD, cannot boot to new m.2 nvme, Tried both CSM enabled and disabled. "Sabrent Rocket Q" and "Windows Boot Manager (Sabrent Rocket Q)" appear in the boot option priorities list,
No success, trying a Windows repair. Grateful for any other suggestions.

 

[gden]

"INACCESSIBLE BOOT DEVICE" error, is the closest I can get to starting Windows, so far.

 

[USAFRet]

Grateful for any other suggestions.

Cloning is great, when it works.
When it fails, it is not great.

Multiple tries, multiple fails...time to punt.

 

[gden]

@USAFRet
@geofelt

Yep, and the winner is...PUNT.

A final attempt at cloning, and a few different attempts at fixing the installation all failed. I've gone back to OS, programs, and a portion of my data on my 2.5" SSD, and my large LiDAR and imagery files on the M.2. Not a bad outcome, just not as simple as I was hoping for.

Thank you both for your input.

Stay well.