Unable to boot from new SSD - Black screen with cursor

[jjboxall]

Hi everyone, in real need of some help here.

I recently installed a 480GB Kingston HyperX Savage SSD into my custom built PC, went through the installation process, and now when I try and boot from the drive, I get a black screen with a twitching white cursor.

Here's how I got here:

I backed up my data from my 2TB HD to a portable drive, and when the used space on the HD was about 400GB, I used the Kingston "Acronis" software to clone my HD to the new SSD, as per all the tutorial videos I had watched.

(The software did produce some sort of warning/message about partitioning the new drive right before I cloned the drive, but it didn't seem like anything serious - something along the lines of "Are you sure you want to edit the partitions of the drive?" - so I assumed all was fine and proceeded.)

EDIT: This is the message I am talking about https://gyazo.com/6803aa3dfa10461d13eddfa3e89563d0

I went into my BIOS when the cloning process had finished, and changed the boot priority to my SSD. I booted the PC and was met with a windows loading screen for about 10 seconds, then the black screen. I have since been back into the BIOS 15-20 times to tweak settings and every time it was the same result. They are now back to default.

I have given the black screen about 30 minutes to see if anything happened, but nothing.

The drives are all healthy. I now see this when open Disk Management:

https://gyazo.com/bb2dc97eddaf97d9ea07772162334178

My system info including BIOS version is here:

https://gyazo.com/91e31eeccc36ec0bfbe1719c21b1c780

I have also updated my Intel Management Engine Interface driver:

https://gyazo.com/159824421adcd188f856313fdc95e294

No luck so far. If anyone has a fix or any advice it would be greatly appreciated! Thank you.

Build:

Case: Corsair CC-9011084-WW Carbide Series SPEC-ALPHA
CPU: Intel i7-6700K @ 4 GHz
GPU: GeForce GTX 750 Ti
Motherboard: Asus Z170-P D3 Socket ATX
RAM: 2 x 8GB HyperX Fury DDR3 @1866 MHz
HD: Seagate Barracuda 2TB

 

[USAFRet]

OK, let's start over:

Return the system to the original config, with the old drive. Leave the SSD disconnected.
Does the system boot properly, with just the original drive?

If yes, we can move on from there.

 

[jjboxall]

Apologies, I should have made this clear, yes the system boots fine from the HD with the original config. I'm posting from it now in fact!

 

[USAFRet]

Apologies, I should have made this clear, yes the system boots fine from the HD with the original config. I'm posting from it now in fact!

OK then....redo the cloning operation, exactly like this:
-----------------------------
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
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 original boot partitions, 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
-----------------------------

If you note, Macrium Reflect is linked up there. Acronis might work, but I have no experience with that one.
Those steps are proven and tested.

 

[jjboxall]

Thank you. Just before I try this, I have a couple of questions

Should I be deleting the boot partitions before I do this, or after?

Would you say 350GB used space is significantly enough below the size of the 480GB SSD?

Is the free version of Macrium Reflect enough to do what I need to do?

Thanks again.

 

[USAFRet]

Thank you. Just before I try this, I have a couple of questions

Should I be deleting the boot partitions before I do this, or after?

Would you say 350GB used space is significantly enough below the size of the 480GB SSD?

Is the free version of Macrium Reflect enough to do what I need to do?

Thanks again.

1. Do not delete ANYthing from either drive until this process is done and verified working on the new drive
2. Yes, 350GB used space is fine for a 480GB drive
3. Yes, the free version works just fine.

 

[jjboxall]

Brilliant. Worked perfectly. Swapping the cables seemed to be the solution. Both drives working perfectly now, thanks so much for the speedy response! I used Acronis in the end too, worked fine.

 

[RyanM912]

Brilliant. Worked perfectly. Swapping the cables seemed to be the solution. Both drives working perfectly now, thanks so much for the speedy response! I used Acronis in the end too, worked fine.

When you “swapped” the cables, what SATA cable did you plug into the SSD after swapping the port? Did you use the cable that was originally used for the HDD, or the cable that was already plugged into the SSD? I’m currently running into the same issue as you.

 

[RyanM912]

Apologies, I should have made this clear, yes the system boots fine from the HD with the original config. I'm posting from it now in fact!

OK then....redo the cloning operation, exactly like this:
-----------------------------
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
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 original boot partitions, here:
https://social.technet.microsoft.co...thy-efi-system-partition?forum=w8itproinstall
-----------------------------

If you note, Macrium Reflect is linked up there. Acronis might work, but I have no experience with that one.
Those steps are proven and tested.

When you say to “swap the SATA cables around” do you mean to use the SATA cable that was originally used for the HDD, or just switch the SATA cable already plugged into the SDD to the port originally used for the HDD?

 

[USAFRet]

When you say to “swap the SATA cables around” do you mean to use the SATA cable that was originally used for the HDD, or just switch the SATA cable already plugged into the SDD to the port originally used for the HDD?

Connect the new drive to the same port on the motherboard as the old drive was.
Usually this is not a problem, but we've seen (not often) issues otherwise.
Takes only seconds, and removes one possible fault.

 

[RyanM912]

Unfortunately, even after following the steps you provided I am still met with a black screen. Any other suggestions?

 

[USAFRet]

Unfortunately, even after following the steps you provided I am still met with a black screen. Any other suggestions?

Since this is a continuation of a 2 year old thread, please start a whole new one, for your particular situation.
Include as much detail as you can. parts list, OS, what you did exactly, etc, etc, etc.