Cloned OS hdd to ssd, now ssd will NOT boot

alphaniner said:

In diskpart, the "Boot Disk" represents the disk that you booted from. You may have multiple bootable disks connected, but only one will be tagged as the Boot Disk.

OTOH, the MBR partition scheme allows for one partition to be flagged as bootable. In Windows terminology, a partition being 'active' means it is flagged as such. In your first post you seemed to indicate that the System Reserved partition on the SSD was 'active'. If that's the case, I think the problem lies elsewhere. But as AddRAM indicated, a screenie of Disk Management when booted to the HDD (and the SSD plugged in) is the bare minimum necessary to make sure we're all on the same page.

There is only one drive connected at all times since this laptop only has one interface for a HDD.

The original drive has 3 partitions, in this order: System Reserved (100MB), Windows (146GB), and Samsung Recovery (18.49GB).

Originally, I assumed the System Reserved was the Boot partition, but thanks to EasyBCD, I found out it was the Samsung Recovery. So, I figured that was my issue, since I was not cloning the Samsung Recovery partition. With EasyBCD, I made System Reserved the Boot partition. I verified the original drive would still boot after the changes and then proceeded to clone the drive using Macrium, minus the Samsung Recovery since it wasn't required anymore. Same error: "Operating System Not Found" when trying to boot with the SSD.

I tried re-cloning it again, though this time I made the Windows partition the Boot partition. I still selected the System Reserved in the clone process and left out the Samsung Recovery. Same error: "Operating System Not Found" when trying to boot with the SSD.

Finally, I decided, maybe for whatever reason, the Samsung Recovery partition must be included in the clone. So, this time I used Acronis True Image, which I was really impressed with compared to EaseUS and Macrium. Mainly b/c it was the only one that actually had the correct partition sizes for the System Reserved and Samsung Recovery partitions. I thought for certain this would work now...Not!
Same error: "Operating System Not Found" when trying to boot with the SSD.

whs said:

Copy the bootmgr to C before you clone it.

Bootmgr - Move to C:\ with EasyBCD

Wish it was that easy, but the bootmgr is already on the C (Windows partition).

Should the partition data be different between the two drives if it was an identical clone as Acronis showed that it was?

Comparing the hex values of the MBR (sector 0) between the two drives, I have 16 bytes that are different. Four of them are related to the disk signature, so that's seems acceptable, but the other twelve are with partition 1, 2, 3. In partition 1, I believe the three differences relate to the Ending Head, Ending Sector, and Ending Cylinder based on the offset 0x1C4, 0x1C5, 0x1C6 respectfully. Could any of this be a cause of concern or is this considered acceptable for a clone?

alphaniner said:

Modifyinc said:

There is only one drive connected at all times since this laptop only has one interface for a HDD.

Except when you boot to Windows Repair Disc, assuming it's actually a disc and not a disk (ie. written to USB, in which case diskpart would flag the USB as the "Boot Disk"). I can't confirm this when booted to optical disc, but it seems natural in that case you wouldn't see anything configured as "Boot Disk".

On the other hand, diskpart could be relying on information from the BIOS to determine what to consider the "Boot Disk". If you boot to Windows Repair Disc with your HDD connected, is the HDD flagged as "Boot Disk"? If so that might indicate BIOS configuration problems when you have the SSD installed.

Speaking of which: this should have been asked earlier, but are you absolutely sure that your BIOS is actually configured to boot from the SSD when it's installed? You'd think it would happen automatically because it replaced the HDD, but not every BIOS works this way. "Operating System Not Found" and similar errors can be caused both by (1) BIOS configured to boot from an improperly configured disk and (2) BIOS not configured to boot from a properly configured disk. So far it seems like we have only considered the former.

Edit: Regarding hex values of MBR. As you say a different disk signature is normal. Based on the Wikipedia MBR page I believe you're correct about what the offsets 0x1C4, 0x1C5 and 0x1C6 represent, but I've never dug that deep into MBR layout before to know if it's cause for concern. Maybe partition alignment optimization for SSD, but I thought sane partition alignment had become the default even for HDDs since Vista.

I appreciate you help thus far, but I think I have found the culprit to all this madness.

The OCZ-Vertex4-(PM) SSD is recognized on the main screen of the BIOS. But, when I check under the boot tab which has a lists of each type of item that can boot, and if it detects that specific device is attached, it will display its name out to the side of it such as the following:

1. AHCI CD : P1-TSSTcorp CDDVDW TS-L633
2. AHCI HDD : N/A
3. USB Key : N/A
4. USB CD : N/A
5. USB FDD : N/A
6. USB HDD : N/A

Notice that the AHCI HDD shows N/A. I compared it while the original drive was connected and it showed:
AHCI HDD : P0-WDC WD3200BPVT-35ZEST0

I also tested it with another SSD I had, a Samsung 850 EVO 250, and it correctly showed the drive:
AHCI HDD : P0-Samsung SSD 850 EVO 250

So, for some reason the BIOS is not detecting the OCZ-Vertex4-(PM) drive in the boot priority list, yet it is on the main BIOS page, which explains why I can still access it from the command prompt, but certainly possible why nothing else is working as it should be.

I have the latest FW for the BIOS, "03UC", and the latest FW is on the SSD. So, what are my options at this point? Any suggestions?

I don't know about laptops, but with desktops there's usually a menu allowing you to choose one among a number of similar devices, eg. "HDD priority" or some such, and it's possible for that menu to be configured with all devices disabled. Again, you would think this would be unnecessary with only one device - especially since you confirmed that was the case with the EVO - but it's best to be sure.

alphaniner said:

I don't know about laptops, but with desktops there's usually a menu allowing you to choose one among a number of similar devices, eg. "HDD priority" or some such, and it's possible for that menu to be configured with all devices disabled. Again, you would think this would be unnecessary with only one device - especially since you confirmed that was the case with the EVO - but it's best to be sure.

I attached photos that show what my options are and what I am seeing in the BIOS.

OK, that's not the type of BIOS I'm thinking of. I'm more familiar with AMI than Phoenix. But the help at the bottom (Enter Select > Sub-menu) indicates there may be sub-menus for each type. What happens if you select AHCI HDD and press Enter?

Edit: Now that I think about it that help frame is probably generic, and indicates that an option with a ">" has a sub-menu. But it still wouldn't hurt to try.