SSD not registered on boot after HDD to SSD cloning

[DBDx316]

SSD not recognized on boot after HDD to SSD cloning

Hello everyone,

I recently purchased an SSD to upgrade my Dell Inspiron 17R SE 7720 that runs Windows 8. This is the SSD I purchased and it came with cloning software: Amazon.com: Samsung Electronics 840 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5-Inch SATA III Single Unit Version Internal Solid State Drive MZ-7TE250BW: Computers & Accessories

I placed it in an external enclosure and cloned my HDD to the SSD using the program. After the cloning procedure the disk management looks like the figure below.

To me this looks good. But when I replace the internal HDD with the SSD it does not boot from the SSD at all. It takes me to the boot options and I don't see the SSD listed anywhere. I may just not be used to the Windows 8 setup. Do I need to manually add something?

What is going wrong with this because I thought I performed everything properly?

 

[Winuser]

Did you go into the bios and set the SSD as the boot drive?

 

[DBDx316]

When I went in to the BIOS I did not see the SSD at all.

 

[Winuser]

Check the connections to make sure you have it connected correctly. One of the plugs may have come loose.

 

[DBDx316]

I had it place inside my laptop, so I think I had it hooked up properly. May have to try again though. On the boot screen the only thing that shows up is Under UEFI Boot: "Windows Boot Manager" and "Network Boot." Then Bios Setup, Diagnostics, and Change Boot Mode Settings.

Also, do I want Secure Boot on or off?

I remember on previous versions of windows it would have all the different boot options laid out and numbered, but even when I go in to this with my HDD hooked up, it still just has the "Windows Boot Manager" instead of my HDD name. But then when I go on, it registers the HDD.

 

[Winuser]

I don't know much about UEFI and Secure Boot. If the drive is connected correctly I would think it would show up in the bios settings.

 

[DBDx316]

Well I am not familiar with the UEFI stuff on Windows 8. I tried selecting boot priority to Legacy(instead of UEFI) and when I do that a lot more options show up that list all my drives like I am used to. However, even when I have my HDD loaded in and have it as the top option, it gives me Operating System Not Found. When I go back to UEFI priority, then it boots normally (Both HDD and SSD are GPT). The SSD shows up when I use the Legacy boot, but that priority does not seem to work? As mentioned i my previous post, the only options under UEFI are "Windows Boot Manager" and "Network Boot" no matter what drive is inserted. It does not list out the drives. I can select "Add Boot Option" but do not know what to type in there. Thank you for trying to help Winuser!

 

[my2cents]

I have two questions for you:

Why is you new drive shown as disk 1?
Why is you new drive labeled as the G drive?

I have a Windows 8.1 UEFI installation and here's what mine looks like:



BTW, did you swap the position of the cloned drive after completion? It almost looks like you did not because I would think it should be listed as the C drive and disk 0 (like mine). Also, forget about trying to toggle between Legacy and UEFI at this point. Since you did a UEFI install, your options should be set for UEFI.
Let us know.

my2cents

 

[brummyfan]

Click the UEFI and select Legacy mode, then select the SSD as first boot, you can then revert back to UEFI mode.

 

[DBDx316]

I have two questions for you:

Why is you new drive shown as disk 1?
Why is you new drive labeled as the G drive?

My picture is from after I cloned the drive so that is why my HDD is disk 0 and the SSD is disk 1.
I don't know why the new drive is G drive. In the picture it is plugged in the USB via an external enclosure. I think i have enough spaces so this USB port is delegated G.

 

[DBDx316]

Click the UEFI and select Legacy mode, then select the SSD as first boot, you can then revert back to UEFI mode.

I am at work now so I will have to try this later. Wouldn't it try to boot from the SSD by default in UEFI mode if it is the only drive installed?

Thank you all for trying to help me with this issue.

 

[brummyfan]

Click the UEFI and select Legacy mode, then select the SSD as first boot, you can then revert back to UEFI mode.

I am at work now so I will have to try this later. Wouldn't it try to boot from the SSD by default in UEFI mode if it is the only drive installed?

Thank you all for trying to help me with this issue.

Yes, you could try replacing the HDD with the SSD and it should boot.

 

[DBDx316]

Click the UEFI and select Legacy mode, then select the SSD as first boot, you can then revert back to UEFI mode.

I am at work now so I will have to try this later. Wouldn't it try to boot from the SSD by default in UEFI mode if it is the only drive installed?

Thank you all for trying to help me with this issue.

Yes, you could try replacing the HDD with the SSD and it should boot.

That is what i initially did and it didn't work. Although I didn't go to legacy and select ssd then switch back to UEFI. I just switched drives and tried booting with no success.

 

[my2cents]

I think I can see why it is not booting when you made the swap. Specifically, your SSD drive is not marked as a boot drive. Please compare your G drive to my C drive (looking at the partition structure) and you'll see what I mean. Unfortunately, its been ages since I used cloning software so I have no idea how your specific procedure works; however, at some point, that new drive has to be marked as a boot drive or it will not work. With that said, please review the procedures for cloning your hard drive to you new SSD and see if you missed a step and/or tell us what happens (specifically) when you make the swap. It also might be better to do this test with the old drive removed.

 

[my2cents]

I have two questions for you:

Why is you new drive shown as disk 1?
Why is you new drive labeled as the G drive?

My picture is from after I cloned the drive so that is why my HDD is disk 0 and the SSD is disk 1.
I don't know why the new drive is G drive. In the picture it is plugged in the USB via an external enclosure. I think i have enough spaces so this USB port is delegated G.

Thanks for that clarification; however, that picture only confused the issue without the above explanation. I hope you are not trying to boot from it (as shown in you disk management view). Again, go over your procedure, remove the old, install the new, check your procedure for how to activate your new drive as the boot drive, and see what happens.

 

[dencal]

Hello everyone,

I recently purchased an SSD to upgrade my Dell Inspiron 17R SE 7720 that runs Windows 8. This is the SSD I purchased and it came with cloning software: Amazon.com: Samsung Electronics 840 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5-Inch SATA III Single Unit Version Internal Solid State Drive MZ-7TE250BW: Computers & Accessories

I placed it in an external enclosure and cloned my HDD to the SSD using the program. After the cloning procedure the disk management looks like the figure below.

To me this looks good. But when I replace the internal HDD with the SSD it does not boot from the SSD at all. It takes me to the boot options and I don't see the SSD listed anywhere. I may just not be used to the Windows 8 setup. Do I need to manually add something?

What is going wrong with this because I thought I performed everything properly?

Download the free Easybcd software.
Connect the HDD in the computer, and the SSD in the external enclosure....What is listed in View Settings?....are both listed in the bootloader?
If not Add Entry.....then click on BCD Deployment to write the MBR.
If you need more info click on Help for Documentation.
Hope you find this helpful.

 

[Saltgrass]

When you copy over the EFI partition, you are copying the BCD store information also. Because you have changed the partition configuration, I would guess the system is not able to find what it needs. Installing just the SSD and doing a Startup Repair type operation, might help fix the situation. But since I am not certain of exactly what the system can do on its own to modify the BCD store, I do not know exactly what you might need to do. Possibly using the bcdboot command to rebuild or create a new copy of the BCD store would help. But you would need the install media unless you have a recovery drive which may or may not work.

Had you set the SSD up exactly as the HDD configuration, the current Boot Manager would have probably booted.

A couple of questions, please. Why did you change the partition order (EFI-recovery to Recovery-EFI) and why did you remove the 40 mb partition and possibly the MSR partition? The MSR partition may or may not actually be required, but not having it does change the partition volume for the BCD store.

You might open an administrative command prompt and use the bcdedit /enum all command and attach it or just keep it for future reference. Using just the bcdedit command will show only the Boot Manager and Boot Loader entries in the store.

You can copy from a command prompt by right clicking and select mark. When the content is highlighted, right click again to copy.

 

[DBDx316]

When you copy over the EFI partition, you are copying the BCD store information also. Because you have changed the partition configuration, I would guess the system is not able to find what it needs. Installing just the SSD and doing a Startup Repair type operation, might help fix the situation. But since I am not certain of exactly what the system can do on its own to modify the BCD store, I do not know exactly what you might need to do. Possibly using the bcdboot command to rebuild or create a new copy of the BCD store would help. But you would need the install media unless you have a recovery drive which may or may not work.

Had you set the SSD up exactly as the HDD configuration, the current Boot Manager would have probably booted.

A couple of questions, please. Why did you change the partition order (EFI-recovery to Recovery-EFI) and why did you remove the 40 mb partition and possibly the MSR partition? The MSR partition may or may not actually be required, but not having it does change the partition volume for the BCD store.

You might open an administrative command prompt and use the bcdedit /enum all command and attach it or just keep it for future reference. Using just the bcdedit command will show only the Boot Manager and Boot Loader entries in the store.

You can copy from a command prompt by right clicking and select mark. When the content is highlighted, right click again to copy.

As to your questions: I did not change the partition order or remove the 40mb partition or the MSR partition. I haven't done anything to the partitions like that since I have had the computer.

Thanks for the advice, I will let you know how it turns out!