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When your clone won't boot...and all else fails
First off let me say that, while simple, this is very dangerous even for those at the expert level. I used XXClone for years but a functioning version is no longer available. I tried EaseUS that I've also used for years for other partition tasks, and tried AOMEI for the first time. I presumed I would have the same problem with the other cloning software such as Paragon, Acronis, Macrium, and Clonezilla.
The symptom was that Windows would get past the splash screen then get stuck on the welcome screen. I tried working with the BCD file and the disk signatures, but to no avail. After many hours (too many) of troubleshooting, I figured out that why XXClone works so well is that it rewrites the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\MountedDevices key. I believe this is what it is busy doing during the WinPE phase on the first boot to the clone.
I have no idea what other range of problems with booting this may help or what other software may have this as the main problem. There are many reasons for boot failure so, like I said, try this after all else fails. However, come to think of it, checking the above key could be good for troubleshooting. I am in the process of writing a batch file to automate this, like XXClone does, but I will not post it. If this is not your problem it probably would royally screw things up.
*** DO NOT ATTEMPT THIS, if you are not already very familiar with registry manipulation. You will be working with the cloned registry through the registry of the Windows installation you were cloning. You can find more detailed information elsewhere for that procedure; I am only providing a general outline.
1. Open regedit,
2. Go to the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE key,
3. From the File menu choose Load Hive,
4. Navigate to the SYSTEM hive on your cloned drive,
5. For Key Name, enter MountedDevices,
This is where it gets confusing, and particularly dangerous. You will end up having 3 instances of MountedDevices.
6. Inspect the values for your main drive and the clone. If they are ARE reversed from the values in the registry on your main drive, this is NOT your problem, so back out of all you've done (Unload Hive, etc.),
7. Reverse the value names for your main drive and cloned drive,
8. Update your BCD file.
This works whether you boot from the Reserved Partition on your main drive or you've cloned your Reserved Partition and boot from your internal backup drive.
If anybody tries this on GPT/UEFI, I would like to know how it works out, or if it's even a problem on that configuration.
Last edited by MRCS; 06 Jun 2017 at 04:42. Reason: wording improvement