Cloned OEM drive to new mSATA, but have boot issues

dwainew

New Member
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3
Greetings,

I have an HP ENVY TouchSmart 15-j063cl that originally came with a 1 TB drive with Windows 8.

Goal was to move the system drive over to a 256 GB mSata and keep the original drive for data, VHDs, etc., and I have completed most of the work to get there.

Basically I wish I had just started with a clean install on the mSata, but that's not what transpired. I wanted to try to leverage the current installation with HP drivers in place. So I went down this path...

I used Macrium to clone the 1 TB drive to the 256 and that succeeded with a little finagling. But then I couldn't get UEFI to boot into the new drive. I finally performed a "refresh" from the MS Win8 install media (and unfortunately left the data drive in during the process).

To my surprise, everything worked and all was well. however, I later discovered that I couldn't back up to the 1 TB because the EFI partition on that disk is being used as the UEFI boot (as per MiniTool Partition Wizard data).

I've tried everything to get the (cloned) EFI partition on the mSata to be the boot, but all attempts have failed. I've tried to use EasyBCD to copy the boot environment (error), windows repair to repair the boot environment (can't repair), but nothing works. system is dead without the 1 TB drive installed and b/c it contains the active / boot EFI partition at runtime, I can't use any imaging tools to backup the mSata to the data drive.

Any suggestions? I'm trying to avoid a new install, as I've put some time into the current installation.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1
http://www.eightforums.com/installation-setup/17083-how-migrate-os-new-hard-disk.html

1) Remove the HDD after cloning.

2) Set UEFI/BIOS firmware to boot from mSATA.

Theog, thanks for the quick reply and link. Sorry for the delay in response.

That's one of the problems with this new system (and HP's apparent lack of concern about BIOS/UEFI options), there is NO option to set any drive as the boot drive!

This is an Insyde bios (ver F.36) with very few options on the "system configuration" menu. The relevant options for booting include only "Legacy Support" (HP's Compatibility Support Module, or CMS, for BIOS mode) on/off, "Secure Boot" on/off, and then the boot order lists:

the UEFI Boot Order list contains only:
OS Boot Manager
Internal CD/DVD ROM Drive
USB Diskette on Key/USB Hard Disk
USB CD/DVD ROM Drive
! Network Adapter

(note the lack of "Notebook Hard Drive", let alone mSata slot)

Lastly, there's the "Legacy Boot Order" which has exactly the same options as UEFI, but OS Boot Manager is replaced with "Notebook Hard Drive"

All of the HP forums about this situation seem to end with.... can't be done because mSata "wasn't designed to be bootable."

I like this system (got it for a GREAT price), but am trying to re-think my configuration based on this and the OP experiences.

by the way, I DID try a similar method to that suggested in your proposed link (just not using paragon). Install to the mSata (in the system, with HDD disconnected) went fine. But the bottom line seems to be that once anything is installed in the HDD bay, that is the first drive used for boot. period. very frustrating.

Any suggestions would be appreciated. I'm willing to keep the HDD/mSata installed as a pair, with the mSata as a second boot option, but the inability to back the system up or even create a Windows system image (even to an external USB) is unnerving. Perhaps I should bite the bullet, stick with this setup and look for BU/imaging software that can handle the setup? Is this a known issue with built-in windows BU/imaging tools that I just have to accept and if so, what are the best known BU products I should try to get around this frustration?
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    ME, XP,Vista,Win7,Win8,Win8.1
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Other Info
    Notebooks x 3

    Desktops x 5

    Towers x 4
Thanks again for your input. FYI, I settled on a "compromise" that looks like the best of both worlds. I ended up with the stock HP install on the 1TB drive and then activated the mSata as a cache drive (64 GB). No dual boot. looks like very similar performance to a native install on the mSata from my limited experience. upgraded to 8.1 pro and system image still works! disappointed in HP's implementation of UEFI boot selections, but this looks like a pretty good setup.

Not sure why this solution isn't suggested more often. seems a lot of people (me included) are hung up on a fresh install on an mSata and using the hdd as data only. Of course you are left with a system that you can't keep constant backups of the system on another device, but this seems like a good compromise.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1
Request for some details

Thanks again for your input. FYI, I settled on a "compromise" that looks like the best of both worlds. I ended up with the stock HP install on the 1TB drive and then activated the mSata as a cache drive (64 GB). No dual boot. looks like very similar performance to a native install on the mSata from my limited experience. upgraded to 8.1 pro and system image still works! disappointed in HP's implementation of UEFI boot selections, but this looks like a pretty good setup.

Not sure why this solution isn't suggested more often. seems a lot of people (me included) are hung up on a fresh install on an mSata and using the hdd as data only. Of course you are left with a system that you can't keep constant backups of the system on another device, but this seems like a good compromise.


My refurb 15-j063cl will be shipped in a week or so. Can you provide a few more details?
(1) I assume the slot for the 16GB SSD cache is mSATA, and you used that. True?
(2) Any clue on whether 64GB is overkill? Alternatively, would 128GB or 256GB provide additional advantage?
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    8.1
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