Pre-Installed (Acer) Windows 8 to SSD

bjefferies

New Member
Messages
5
Hi everyone! I decided to head to my local PC store today and treated myself a new Acer M51BC.

Everything was pretty much what I wanted, with the exception of an SSD. I figured that would be no issue as I'd stick my old SSD in there and reinstall.

Now, today I decided to create the recovery USB in Windows, put an old SATA drive I had in as a test and re-installed Windows 8. It ran perfectly and before I knew it I had Windows 8 up and running.

Now, I decide to use the SSD since I knew what I was doing, this is where my problems start.

I still have the USB in the computer, and everything is exactly the same before with the exception that this SSD still has my Win 7 OS on it. I guess there is a chance the Windows 7 installation may be causing issues, which is why I mention it, Maybe I need to put it back in the old PC and format before I do this?

Anyway, here's why it's not working. When I go to 'Reset your PC' I get the same options as before, However this time I'm told 'Unable to reset your PC. A required drive partition is missing.'

Any help is greatly appreciated!

Updated:
Since I can open a command prompt, I have been trying to look online at how I can see how Windows can view the disk,

From Command Prompt, I typed in diskpart, then list disk.

I get:
Disc 0 - Online - 223GB
Disk 1,2,3,4,5 - No Media - 0B
Disk 6 - Online - 14GB

Edit:
If I do 'sel dis 0' followed by 'list par'


I get:
Partition 1 - 100MB - Offset 1024kb
Partition 2 - 223GB - Offset 101MB

I hope this is of some relevance!
 
Last edited:

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1
I ran into the same issue when I put an SSD in my ASUS Laptop. I never did get the recovery drive to work with the SSD. I got the same error message you did. I also tested it on the original spinner drive and it worked fine. I even tried replicating the partition structure as best I could. The original drive was 750 GB and the SSD was 128 GB, no way to replicate all the original partitions and make them the same size. I eventually gave up and did a clean install of Windows 8.0. I wasn't an MVP at that time so I had to resort to bit-torrent to get a TechNet ISO. That ISO read and used my OEM embedded key automatically. 8 Core was installed automatically with no prompt to enter a product key. Activated online without issue too. I had also tried to image the important system partitions but all I got was a BSOD. Wish I could be more help. There are some clever lads and lasses here so wait a while and see if somebody else can sort it out for you.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 10 Education 64 Bit
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Asus
    CPU
    AMD Phenom II X4 980 Black Edition Deneb 3.7GHz
    Motherboard
    ASUS M4N68T-M V2 µATX Motherboard
    Memory
    8GB 4GBx2 Kingston PC10600 DDR3 1333 Memory
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVIDIA Geforce GT640 2 Gig DDR3 PCIe
    Sound Card
    VIA VT1708s High Definition Audio 8-channel Onboard
    Monitor(s) Displays
    22" LG E2242 1080p and 2 19" I-INC AG191D
    Screen Resolution
    1280x1024 - 1920x1080 - 1280x1024
    Hard Drives
    Crucial MX100 256 GB SSD and 500 GB WD Blue SATA
    PSU
    Thermaltake TR 620
    Case
    Power Up Black ATX Mid-Tower Case
    Cooling
    Stock heatsink fan
    Keyboard
    Logitech Wireless K350 Wave
    Mouse
    Logitech M570 Trackball and T650 TouchPad
    Internet Speed
    80 Mbps Down 30 Mbps Up
    Browser
    Internet Explorer 11
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender
    Other Info
    HP DVD1040e Lightscribe - External USB2

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 Pro 64-bit
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Acer V3 771G-6443
    CPU
    i5-3230m
    Motherboard
    Acer VA70_HC (U3E1)
    Memory
    8GB DDR3 PC3-12800 (800 MHz)
    Graphics Card(s)
    HD4000 + GeForce GT 730M
    Sound Card
    Realtek High Definition Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    17" Generic PnP Display on Intel HD Graphics 4000
    Screen Resolution
    1600x900 pixels
    Hard Drives
    Samsung SSD 850 EVO 250 GB
    ADATA SSD SP900 128GB
    PSU
    90 watt brick
    Mouse
    Bluetooth
    Antivirus
    Comodo
    Other Info
    Asus RT-AC56R dual-band WRT router (Merlin firmware). Intel 7260.HMWWB.R dual-band ac wireless adapter.
I ran into the same issue when I put an SSD in my ASUS Laptop. I never did get the recovery drive to work with the SSD. I got the same error message you did. I also tested it on the original spinner drive and it worked fine. I even tried replicating the partition structure as best I could. The original drive was 750 GB and the SSD was 128 GB, no way to replicate all the original partitions and make them the same size. I eventually gave up and did a clean install of Windows 8.0. I wasn't an MVP at that time so I had to resort to bit-torrent to get a TechNet ISO. That ISO read and used my OEM embedded key automatically. 8 Core was installed automatically with no prompt to enter a product key. Activated online without issue too. I had also tried to image the important system partitions but all I got was a BSOD. Wish I could be more help. There are some clever lads and lasses here so wait a while and see if somebody else can sort it out for you.

Sounds painful! I was tempted to try an ISO, I must admit, I just couldn't find one that definitely matched my needs. I tried using a M$ program which supposedly would give me an ISO in exchange for my product key (which I got using a program) but it rejected my product key which made me assume the ISO wouldn't work.

I think you might have to set Disk 6 as the recovery. Have to name it Recovery and set the id string value. It is here someplace, will try to find.

Sounds interesting, I'd be keen to know more.

I've also posted the question somewhere else as I'm getting a little desperate for help, they said the following:

"I assume the SSD is a MBR disk. I think that at a minimum you'll need to delete the partitions. And maybe have to convert it to GPT.

You installed OK on the old SATA drive, so I'm wondering about the major difference(s) from the SSD. The SSD is MBR and fully populated with two partitions. I'm guessing that the old SATA drive MBR and sufficient unallocated space for the needed three partitions to be created. If that guess is correct then deleting the partitions on the SSD should be all you need to do."

Any further help on this would be hugely appreciated too.

Cheers guys!
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1
See my edit above. Read through post #26.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 Pro 64-bit
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Acer V3 771G-6443
    CPU
    i5-3230m
    Motherboard
    Acer VA70_HC (U3E1)
    Memory
    8GB DDR3 PC3-12800 (800 MHz)
    Graphics Card(s)
    HD4000 + GeForce GT 730M
    Sound Card
    Realtek High Definition Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    17" Generic PnP Display on Intel HD Graphics 4000
    Screen Resolution
    1600x900 pixels
    Hard Drives
    Samsung SSD 850 EVO 250 GB
    ADATA SSD SP900 128GB
    PSU
    90 watt brick
    Mouse
    Bluetooth
    Antivirus
    Comodo
    Other Info
    Asus RT-AC56R dual-band WRT router (Merlin firmware). Intel 7260.HMWWB.R dual-band ac wireless adapter.

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 10 Education 64 Bit
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Asus
    CPU
    AMD Phenom II X4 980 Black Edition Deneb 3.7GHz
    Motherboard
    ASUS M4N68T-M V2 µATX Motherboard
    Memory
    8GB 4GBx2 Kingston PC10600 DDR3 1333 Memory
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVIDIA Geforce GT640 2 Gig DDR3 PCIe
    Sound Card
    VIA VT1708s High Definition Audio 8-channel Onboard
    Monitor(s) Displays
    22" LG E2242 1080p and 2 19" I-INC AG191D
    Screen Resolution
    1280x1024 - 1920x1080 - 1280x1024
    Hard Drives
    Crucial MX100 256 GB SSD and 500 GB WD Blue SATA
    PSU
    Thermaltake TR 620
    Case
    Power Up Black ATX Mid-Tower Case
    Cooling
    Stock heatsink fan
    Keyboard
    Logitech Wireless K350 Wave
    Mouse
    Logitech M570 Trackball and T650 TouchPad
    Internet Speed
    80 Mbps Down 30 Mbps Up
    Browser
    Internet Explorer 11
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender
    Other Info
    HP DVD1040e Lightscribe - External USB2
See my edit above. Read through post #26.

Will do that now, thank you.

The only official download, http://www.eightforums.com/tutorials/18309-windows-8-windows-8-1-iso-download-create.html?filter won't accept OEM keys for the download. < this is likely the one you tried. I think the ISO would work, but you can't download it to even try it.

Just tried again, sadly it says:
This product key cannot be used to install a retail version of Windows 8.1. :mad:
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1
Was your computer originally 7 and you upgraded or was it 8.1? I was thinking your recovery USB was 8. I admit to not being sure what you are dealing with.

And yes, the SSD needs to have all partitions deleted before you try to put 8 on it.

If you clone/image the SATA drive onto the SSD then go through the steps it should work. That is assuming the SSD is big enough to accept at least a minimal clone/image of the SATA drive with all partitions.

EDIT: I am talking about the original drive that came with the computer being cloned to the SSD.
 
Last edited:

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 Pro 64-bit
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Acer V3 771G-6443
    CPU
    i5-3230m
    Motherboard
    Acer VA70_HC (U3E1)
    Memory
    8GB DDR3 PC3-12800 (800 MHz)
    Graphics Card(s)
    HD4000 + GeForce GT 730M
    Sound Card
    Realtek High Definition Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    17" Generic PnP Display on Intel HD Graphics 4000
    Screen Resolution
    1600x900 pixels
    Hard Drives
    Samsung SSD 850 EVO 250 GB
    ADATA SSD SP900 128GB
    PSU
    90 watt brick
    Mouse
    Bluetooth
    Antivirus
    Comodo
    Other Info
    Asus RT-AC56R dual-band WRT router (Merlin firmware). Intel 7260.HMWWB.R dual-band ac wireless adapter.
My "old" computer (which the SSD has come from) is running Windows 7.

The new computer which the recovery USB was made from is 8.1.

Could you please advise the best way I can go about formatting/removing the partitions on this SSD? I'm assuming having a completely blank drive is going to help. It is currently my C: in my old PC which I am using right now to type this. I'm assuming that if I can get this formatted then it should make the process a lot more convenient!

Edit:
Okay so here's my current thinking.

If I boot into Windows 8 using the SATA drive that worked, and then add the SSD as a secondary drive, if I then format the SSD using Disk Management, then swap the two discs over and try installing again, it should work right?
 
Last edited:

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1
If you can slave the SSD in another PC, yes you can use disk management to delete all partitions and leave it blank, or partition it and format it the way you want.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 10 Education 64 Bit
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Asus
    CPU
    AMD Phenom II X4 980 Black Edition Deneb 3.7GHz
    Motherboard
    ASUS M4N68T-M V2 µATX Motherboard
    Memory
    8GB 4GBx2 Kingston PC10600 DDR3 1333 Memory
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVIDIA Geforce GT640 2 Gig DDR3 PCIe
    Sound Card
    VIA VT1708s High Definition Audio 8-channel Onboard
    Monitor(s) Displays
    22" LG E2242 1080p and 2 19" I-INC AG191D
    Screen Resolution
    1280x1024 - 1920x1080 - 1280x1024
    Hard Drives
    Crucial MX100 256 GB SSD and 500 GB WD Blue SATA
    PSU
    Thermaltake TR 620
    Case
    Power Up Black ATX Mid-Tower Case
    Cooling
    Stock heatsink fan
    Keyboard
    Logitech Wireless K350 Wave
    Mouse
    Logitech M570 Trackball and T650 TouchPad
    Internet Speed
    80 Mbps Down 30 Mbps Up
    Browser
    Internet Explorer 11
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender
    Other Info
    HP DVD1040e Lightscribe - External USB2
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