Can't boot from SSD after being cloned

benja8151 said:

No I haven't, I've only cloned the second disk. But if I replace the disks, the system reserved partition is still on the main hard drive right, I mean it's not changed, so why would it cause problems?

EDIT: If I understand you correctly I should first move system reserved partition to the Kingston disk and then clone it?

I thought you were going to try imaging, not cloning.

If imaging, as said previously, you need to image and restore System Reserved as well as C.

You wouldn't "move" anything. You wouldn't "clone" anything. You make images of those 2 partitions and then restore them by booting from a recovery disk made within the imaging program. Did you do any of that?

benja8151 said:

Okay I'll try. Than again if I would image both partitions, do I need to restore them both on a new SSD or do I need to restore system reserved to a hard drive (the current location)? This might be a dumb question but I would like to be sure before doing anything with system reserved. :)

You'd restore both to the SSD.

The idea is to be able to boot with ONLY the SSD connected. On the other hand, if you have C on the SSD and System Reserved on the hard drive, both of those drives would have to be connected.

I'd probably make one image file, containing both C and System Reserved. Then restore it to the SSD.

You need to make a boot disc within Macrium. Choose the "WinPE" method rather than the "Linux" method. If this disc won't boot your PC, you cannot restore your image files to the SSD.

Allright but restoring System reserved to SSD would mean I then have 2 System reserved partitions on my laptop, doesn't it? The one on the hard drive and the one on the SSD. Would everything be still okay?

benja8151 said:

Allright but restoring System reserved to SSD would mean I then have 2 System reserved partitions on my laptop, doesn't it? The one on the hard drive and the one on the SSD. Would everything be still okay?

Yes. When you are done, make sure it will boot with JUST the new SSD connected. If it does, you can then delete the old System Reserved.

If imaging fails and cloning fails, then you have to do a clean install to the new SSD. That could happen. Imaging and cloning aren't 100% reliable, but they are both worth trying.

How to Download FreeFileSync without Malware

You might want to look at post 15 in the above thread. It describes how you can put Macrium on a USB thumb drive and use that to make and restore image files. Or just use the standard method of installing Macrium and burning a boot disk.

Okay let me just go through it all, so that I'm sure what I need to do.
1) I backup system reserved and the partition on current SSD to an external disk using Macrium Reflect.
2) I create a boot DVD with Macrium.
3) I replace the SSDs and boot with Macrium DVD.
4) I restore both partitions to the new SSD and boot from the new SSD.
5) If it works I can delete the old system reserved freely.

see comments in bold

Here's a tutorial:

Imaging with free Macrium

benja8151 said:

Okay let me just go through it all, so that I'm sure what I need to do.
1) I backup system reserved and the partition on current SSD to an external disk using Macrium Reflect.

Yes. More exactly you are making an image of those 2 partitions. These will be roughly half the size of the occupied space of those 2 partitions. So, if C uses 100 GB now, that image file will be roughly 50 GB in size. I think you can make one image file containing both partitions, but because System Reserved and C are on different drives, you might have to make a separate image file for each partition.

2) I create a boot DVD with Macrium.

A CD will work fine. I assume a DVD would also work. Burn it with your favorite burning app and make sure it boots the PC.

3) I replace the SSDs and boot with Macrium DVD.

Yes. I'd make sure that the new SSD and your external drive containing the image file were the ONLY drives connected. If the burned CD/DVD won't boot your PC, you are out of luck.

4) I restore both partitions to the new SSD and boot from the new SSD.

Yes. Then take a look at Windows Disk Management. You may find that some of the space on the new SSD is "unallocated space". You can then add that unallocated space to C. The restoration process might take 15 minutes or more, depending on how big that image file is and how fast your PC is.

Macrium's interface is intuitive. You just have to navigate it correctly, find the image files you made, and then direct the restoration to the new SSD.



5) If it works I can delete the old system reserved freely.

If it boots with ONLY the new SSD connected, you can do whatever you want with any of the partitions on the old SSD.

You might have fixable issues after the restoration or you might fail completely, but if cloning doesn't work, imaging or a clean install is all you have left to try. So give it a go. It's not going to hurt anything.

Good news, it worked.

However, the computed had to be booted form the hard drive, not the new SSD, so I guess I won't be touching original System reserved partition. I also had some trouble extending the C: partition into an unallocated space on SSD (the software said there is no free space). In the end I just merged both partitions (C: and Unallocated space) and it seems fine. Current state is:

Thanks to everyone for helping me solve this annoying problem!