Question Unsure whether to remove broken Linux installation in dual-boot mode with Win 10 before cloning to SSD

[xzahn]

Hi folks,

I have a dual-boot setup with Win 10 and Elementary OS Juno in the HDD of my Lenovo Y700. The Linux worked great for a few weeks, then it started booting up to initramfs. I tried a bunch of commands I find online but none worked.

Last week I installed an SSD (970 Evo+ 500GB) and I want ideally to move the dual-boot setup to the SSD and leave the HDD for storage. However, I'm not sure what is the best way to do that. I checked my partition setup and for some reason, it looks like a mess.

Disk Management

AOMEI

I'm not sure If that's how it's supposed to be. Maybe it has something to do with why Linux does not work. I surely did not set it like that when I installed the Linux.

As far as I can tell, I have two options.

1. Repair the Linux and clone the entire dual-boot setup to the SSD. Not sure how that would work though, especially when my partitions look like that. I could repair the Linux with a USB drive but which partition do I clone to the SSD. The C:\ drive for the Windows and what else?

2. Remove the Linux and clone only the Windows and then install Linux again on the SSD. I tried following the guides online, including the one provided here but it did not work. When I tried to repair the bootloader, it said it couldn't find the directory. I tried deleting the partitions in AOMEI but it said they're being used by another program and it couldn't delete them. Also, I'm not quite sure which ones are safe to delete. And why do I have two EFI partitions?

Any ideas?

 

[USAFRet]

For others reading here, the backstory on this:

Question - Cleaning up my HDD partitions and cloning the OS (Win 10) to a Samsung SSD

Hi folks, I just installed a 970 Evo Plus in my Lenovo Y700 laptop. I have the stock 1TB HDD as well with a Win 10 and Elementary OS installed. The Linux is messed up and I don't really have valuable information there so my idea is to remove the Linux from the HDD and clone the Win 10...

forums.tomshardware.com

It's near impossible to tell what's going on, without a full image of your Disk Management window.
You're leaving off a bunch of stuff to the right.

Cloning the whole thing leaves it in its current exactly hosed up state, just on a different physical drive.

Personally, I would start over completely. A clean install of Windows on the SSD.
Then a clean install of Elementary on whatever drive you wish.

 

[AllanGH]

...a clean install of {some Linux distro} on whatever drive you wish.

This raises a good point...
These dual-booting scenarios always seem to work-out better if you do your windows-whatever installation on the primary boot drive, and an installation of Linux into a secondary drive, with the boot loader menu on the primary drive.

Theoretically-speaking, you can hose your Linux installation into the ground, and do a re-install without affecting your windows installation. Unfortunately, though, a re-installation of windows (which is far more likely to be necessary than it is with Linux) will hammer your boot loader, and require a re-installation of the boot loader, accounting for the presence of both OSses.

If your BIOS provides isolation and selection of fully bootable OSses, on two separate drives, this would certainly be worth looking into, instead of playing boot loader games.

 

[xzahn]

It's near impossible to tell what's going on, without a full image of your Disk Management window.
You're leaving off a bunch of stuff to the right.

Cloning the whole thing leaves it in its current exactly hosed up state, just on a different physical drive.

Personally, I would start over completely. A clean install of Windows on the SSD.
Then a clean install of Elementary on whatever drive you wish.

Unfortunately, re-installing Windows at this point would be quite inconvenient. However, I could install another Windows on the SSD and keep the one on the HDD as is.

Also, does the list at the top of the image not show all the necessary information? Why do you need the bottom part? It actually shows less information than the top part. 🙄

If your BIOS provides isolation and selection of fully bootable OSses, on two separate drives, this would certainly be worth looking into, instead of playing boot loader games.

How do I figure that out? I haven't updated my BIOS so it should be the one the laptop came with (CDCN27WW, I think).

 

[AllanGH]

To figure that out, I would boot the machine, enter the configuration utility and look for the pertinent options.

 

[USAFRet]

Unfortunately, re-installing Windows at this point would be quite inconvenient. However, I could install another Windows on the SSD and keep the one on the HDD as is.

Also, does the list at the top of the image not show all the necessary information? Why do you need the bottom part? It actually shows less information than the top part. 🙄

It is never a convenient time to have to reinstall an OS.
However, when things are in a badly broken state, it is the best thing to do.

Sure, you could do a clean install on the SSD. But you really need to "fix" the HDD contents.

As far as that screencap showing 'everything'? No. It needs both the top and bottom.
For instance, what physical drive are partitions E and F on? We had this same discussion in your other thread.