SSD and boot problem

[linw]

This has got me beat ATM. Got a new 240GB SSD to replace a spinner. Attached it and booted from a Macrium boot disk then cloned the spinner to the SSD.

SSD wouldn't boot so rebooted with Macrium CD and clicked on the fix boot tab. It couldn't find the SSD so that was a no go.

Had a look at the SSD from a USB interface and it said format RAW so I formatted it with NTFS. Looked fine and could read and write to it.

Put it back in the first PC and tried to boot from the Macrium CD. Wouldn't boot and just displayed the BIOS (UEFI) splash screen. Press DEL and it recycles back to the splash screen.

No matter what I do, if the SSD is plugged in, there is no attempt to boot from the CD or the spinner.

Stupid thing is I have done this exercise before on another computer with no problems.

The SATA mode was AHCI but I changed it back to IDE with no change

Sort of run out of ideas so would welcome some insights!

[wainuitech]

Sounds a bit like the problems I was having with active@diskimage. The version I had was quite old and couldn't get W10 right, after testing the latest 21 day Trail first, made a Bootable CD from the trial right away, and (touch wood) a month and half later its still working. When it stops working ill have to crowbar open the wallet and buy a newer version

The older version couldn't copy the partition layout correctly. Theres lots of post exactly the same problem as yours, most is to do with the Software being used the causing fault.

Haven't tried a W10, but AOMEI Partition Assistant has a Migrate to SSD option. ( both Free and Pro Versions)

[linw]

Macrium v6 is the latest and I have used it to clone a SSD a few months ago. It probably worked today as well till the custard effect got applied.

The biggest problem is that I can't get the comp to get past the BIOS with the SSD connected. I have just found that this affects both my main comp and the one I am trying to get set up. The common factor is that both these have ASUS motherboards, P8H67-M and P8H77-M PRO. I updated the BIOS on the P8H67-M to no avail. Another comp I tried was fine - not ASUS!

Both these mobos, and the Crucial SSD, were bought from Computer Lounge so will see what they have to say tomorrow.

Really frustrating as I was in a hurry to get this job done.

Cheers and thanks.

[linw]

WT, going back to your first supposition re Macrium being a possible cause, I came across another case that sounded just like mine. He has used Macrium to restore an image to a SSD many times in the past but just now he has what looks like the same BIOS lockup. as mine. His mobo is a Asus P8Z77-V LX.

Mmmm, latest Macrium/ASUS P8 combination problem??

[wainuitech]

Hi linw Haven't used Macrium in years, but I did download the latest version last night. In the past I've not had much luck when using it. The clones often failed ( along with other software) These days I usually make an image , then drop that back onto another HDD. Its double handling, but seems to work better. Its more possible because of the UEFI setups these days something is turning to custard. This is where Active@ fell over on my older version.

Don't have an ASUS board ( thats working anyway) or any SSD's spare, but I may try to see if a clone V Image with Macrium makes any difference. Wont be till later today, got work to do.

[linw]

Hey, get on with your work, mate!

Well, I have success at last. I used the diskpart 'clean' command to reset the SSD. I then initialised it from Disk Management. Then I found the comps would start up with SSD attached. Good start!

I updated Easeus ToDo Backup and created a Recovery CD then booted the comp with SSD attached. The clone command worked like a charm. It even automatically adjusted the three partitions to fit into the SSD. (However, MiniTool Partition Wizard will have some work to do to resize the partitions!!). Never mind.

Unhooked the spinner and started the comp - wow, booted fine - no boot fixes needed.

Reset boot priorities in BIOS and all good to go.

Easeus Backup has a lot going for it. I'll still use Macrium Free for backups as I know it well and it is reliable. Now with Differentials and disk management it is still a great tool but I know what I will use in future for cloning!!!

Thanks for support, WT. Appreciated.

[wainuitech]

Good you got it sorted.

I had a play with both the programs, I'll stick to what I use thanks

Tried a clone with Macrium, couldn't get it to clone more than two of the three partitions at once, even then it blew the system reserve partition to half the size of the drive and wouldn't let me resize it

Cloned the drive with ToDo -- God knows what it was doing . The original partition blew up from 779MB to 76GB, the main partition shrunk, and the third partition 450MB also blew upto 76.03GB. and took over 15 minutes of mucking about to finally boot. Hmmmmmm.

Went back the software I normally use, active @ to make a image, dropped it onto another drive, booted as normal all partitions original size apart from the main as it was going from a 500GB HDD to a 320GB. Cloned the original drive with the partitions software I use, AOMEI Partition Assistant Pro ( a giveaway version - but the Free does the same) and that cloned perfectly and booted instantly.

Everyone to their own as to what ever software works for them

BTW this was on the latest Windows 10 Insider Preview version

[linw]

It is interesting to hear about our different software experiences. It is quite a major/stressful task getting everything over to new hardware and having it boot afterwards!

Yes, ToDo gave me weird partition sizes but I was just grateful to recover from my earlier impasse!!

Next time I might try AOMEI Partition Assistant. Interesting that it was able to make intelligent decisions with the partition re-sizing.

Till next time!!!

[dugimodo]

I used to use Active@ and before that Acronis but last time around they both screwed up on me and AOMEI came to the rescue. Small sample but it seems like a trend Also UEFI BIOS boot orders can be a little less than obvious and it sounds like whenever the BIOS thought the SSD was bootable it was prioritising it. I had a similar issue recently with an HP AIO I could not convince to boot off USB after a failed windows setup on a new SSD (my own fault, another story). When there is no bootable hard drive the boot order doesn't really matter as modern BIOSes will find an attached boot device and use it but as soon as something higher in the list appears bootable it takes over.

My problem was picking the wrong USB device in the boot priority, there were at least 3, USB floppy, USB hdd, USB CD/DVD, and I think a USB UEFI as well. I think the USB hdd turned out to be the one I needed.

[linw]

We seem to have so much fun it's a wonder every one isn't doing it!!

Got another cloning job this weekend so think I will try AOMEI. HDD to HDD this time, but same problem (or non-problem, hopefully!).