If I may make a suggestion!
Please clone the HDD you wish to play with on the new M/B as a back up as it sounds very important not to lose the software and data on it.
FWIW the BIOS/UEFI settings is always the first place I go to as well.
That's an excellent suggestion MeOnMine.
I think I'll stop by Staples and grab a new drive to clone to so I can leave the original alone.
This hard drive has four partitions, the main one with Windows, the factory partition and two others ( I don't know what they're for)
Any suggestions on the easiest way to clone the whole drive so all four partitions get copied? I want to make sure the MBR and all that boot stuff gets copied properly.
Jeff
I use Paragon Hard Disk Manager 15 Pro (in fact it is in use as we speak).
Macrium Reflect freeware is suggested on this forum.
You will need "Copy Hard Disk" as opposed to "Copy Partition"
Copy disk will clone everything so it will be a bootable unit.
So my question to the others more knowledgeable is, will Macrium free copy or clone Hard Disk ?
Hi All
I'm back to work after the holiday and still frustrated by this laptop.
I took MeoMine's advice and grabbed a new hard drive and Acronis 2016 and cloned the drive.
I now have the cloned drive of Windows 7 in the new laptop that had Windows 8 and here are the results.
I went into BIOS like Ranger4 suggested and turned the secure boot off and the boot mode to legacy.
Boot Mode = Legacy
Secure Boot = disabled
Despite being recognized in the BIOS the hard drive isn't bootable, I get the message:
"no bootable device"
So working up from there I tried:
Boot Mode = UEFI
Secure Boot = disabled
There are three possible results in this category:
1) if I tell it to start windows normally it freezes at "Starting Windows"
2) if I try to boot in safe mode it stalls after executing CLASSPNP.sys but if you wait about a minute you get a line of garbage accross the top of the screen before it hangs.
3) if I use F8 and choose repair your computer I just get the line of garbage accross the top of the screen and it hangs.
My theory is that the video driver is different between the original laptop and the new one but it's just a theory.
I've got a good new windows 7 COA/Key but the actual DVD isn't here yet (the seller sent me the key number by email.)
I was hoping to get this booted and change the key and get back to work, any suggestions?
JayArr
BTW... if I turn on Secure Boot and UEFI I get the attached error screen.
File: \windows\system32\winload.efi
Status: 0xc0000428
Info: The digital signature for this file couldn't be verified.
Hi, my first question is did you clone or copy disk or partition ?
No bootable device means no MBR to read from.
The MBR is the 100mb System Reserved.
I am not trying to be rude I am just trying to ascertain your level of knowledge.
Boot Mode = Legacy
Secure Boot = disabled
This should be correct, how old is the laptop compared to the laptop the OS came from.
Hi MeoMine
It was a clone not a copy, it duplicated the entire drive, all four partitions and made it bootable. I used Acronis 16 and I used it in rescue CD mode where you boot to the CD not from within windows.
The drive does boot, if there was no MBR then it wouldn't get to the "Starting Windows" splash screen.
The "old" laptop was only one year old, built in May of 2014, the new one is built in Feb of 2015 so they are only 9 months apart. They are basically the same model.
I would guess that the "old" laptop's hard drive is configured for UEFI and that's why Legacy doesn't work.
I've downloaded a Win 7 .iso and am making a USB stick with it to see if that will allow me to repair it.
JayArr
@ JayArr. I think you are going to have to wait until the Windows 7 DVD you ordered arrives. When you have that you should be able to reset all the BIOS settings & the necessary drivers will get loaded.
Changing the motherboard & expecting the hard drive to load normally, just does not work. It usually means having to reinstall the OS as well.
OK, but here's a quick question.
The DVD that's on it's way is exactly the same as the Win7 .iso I just downloaded right?
If I make a USB thumb drive with the .iso and I have the key from the software I bought, (he sent it by email) can I proceed to try to fix this?
JayArr
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