I'm trying an image recovery to a dell inspiron n7110 with a new ssd

I created a win 7 repair dvd and a system image to a seagate freeagent go external drive.


I then removed the keyboard and cover to access the hdd, removed wd 750gb hdd and replaced with an hp ssd m700 2.5 240 gb

the wd hdd had about 160gb used and the remainder free

i shrunk the volume on the seagate freeagent drive as much as recomended, but it's still slightly larger than the available space on the ssd. The only file on this drive is the windowsimagebackup.

next, i ran the win7 repair disk and attempted a system image recovery.

the image is recognized, but:

"the system image restore failed

no disk that can be used for recovering the system can be found"


not sure why this is happening...any advice appreciated.

As ssd needs special settings in Windows its recommend you do a clean install so you get correct settings g

Please confirm.
External disk = Segate
Laptop original HDD = wd 750gb hdd with about 160gb used and the remain free
SSD = hp ssd m700 2.5 240 gb

Some disk image programs doesn't allow to clone a big disk to a smaller disk, even if the source disk has less used space than the target disk. You have also to consider that a OEM computer has more than C: partition (System and Factory recover partitions).
Open disk management and take a snapshot using snipping tool and post it here as an attachment. Use the paper clip (top right menu) -browse to the image file - upload

thanks to all for the replies.

i'd like to avoid switching back the hdd if possible since it's a bit of a pita http://www.insidemylaptop.com/disass...ron-17r-n7110/


if i did a clean install on the sdd, i assume i still wont be able to restore the image due to its size.

can i do anything to the existing image to reduce its size? as i mentioned there's about 160gb used

lastly, i though i would be able to boot windows by connecting the hdd remotely with a usb3/sata2.5 cable but that doesnt seem to work

thanks again

Megahertz07 said:

Please confirm.
External disk = Segate
Laptop original HDD = wd 750gb hdd with about 160gb used and the remain free
SSD = hp ssd m700 2.5 240 gb

Some disk image programs doesn't allow to clone a big disk to a smaller disk, even if the source disk has less used space than the target disk. You have also to consider that a OEM computer has more than C: partition (System and Factory recover partitions).
Open disk management and take a snapshot using snipping tool and post it here as an attachment. Use the paper clip (top right menu) -browse to the image file - upload

the external is the segate freeagent go 500gb


i'll try your recommendation shortly

Open disk management and take a snapshot using snipping tool and post it here as an attachment. Use the paper clip (top right menu) -browse to the image file - upload

I recently did exactly this with my wife's laptop. I used Macrium Reflect Free to create an image backup of the hard drive. I also created a Macrium emergency boot disk.

I then removed the hard drive and installed the SSD. (The SSD was a lot smaller than the hard drive -- HD was 750 GB; SSD was 240 GB.)

I then booted with the emergency disk and restored the image to the SSD.

Finally, I made sure TRIM was enabled on the SSD.

Everything worked perfectly after doing the above.

I think you need to reinstall your hard drive, and then do a backup and an emergency boot disk with Macrium Reflect Free. If you use Macrium rather than whatever you were using, you will have success.

samuria said:

As ssd needs special settings in Windows its recommend you do a clean install so you get correct settings g

I ended up doing this.


i can access all of my old hdd with the ubs/sataiii cable, so i can move what i want to the new ssd.


many thanks for the replies.

mrjimphelps said:

I recently did exactly this with my wife's laptop. I used Macrium Reflect Free to create an image backup of the hard drive. I also created a Macrium emergency boot disk.

I then removed the hard drive and installed the SSD. (The SSD was a lot smaller than the hard drive -- HD was 750 GB; SSD was 240 GB.)

I then booted with the emergency disk and restored the image to the SSD.

Finally, I made sure TRIM was enabled on the SSD.

Everything worked perfectly after doing the above.

I think you need to reinstall your hard drive, and then do a backup and an emergency boot disk with Macrium Reflect Free. If you use Macrium rather than whatever you were using, you will have success.

if i did my homework first, i would've done this.