Solved Migrating Windows 7 installation from Sata SSD (MBR) to NVME. How to?

[subyroo]

View attachment 420242

The answer is in post #10

To fix that you need to point nt6repair at the sick windows partition and click FIX.

You had better borrow this boot media so you can boot it from usb and point nt6repair at your sick windows partition.

17514x64v30.iso

nt6repair is on the desktop of the booted media.

If I may butt in here SIW2, will your "nt6repair" also fix a boot problem on Windows 7 Ultimate?

 

[Megahertz07]

Now that you can boot the spare drive as MBR with the two partitions (system and Windows) you can try to convert it using MBRtoGPT.exe from a Win 10 installation drive.
- Create a Win 10 installation drive using MCT
- Boot from the Win 10 installation drive and launch a CMD window (Shift+F10)
- type the command
MBR2GPT /validate

If validate is OK, type:
MBR2GPT /convert

If successful, reboot, enter BIOS and set it to work as UEFI (see SIW2 instructions)
Boot the spare drive as UEFI

 

[gattovicentino]

Now that you can boot the spare drive as MBR with the two partitions (system and Windows) you can try to convert it using MBRtoGPT.exe from a Win 10 installation drive.
- Create a Win 10 installation drive using MCT
- Boot from the Win 10 installation drive and launch a CMD window (Shift+F10)
- type the command
MBR2GPT /validate

If validate is OK, type:
MBR2GPT /convert

If successful, reboot, enter BIOS and set it to work as UEFI (see SIW2 instructions)
Boot the spare drive as UEFI

I tried to use SIW2's software on the NVME disk too (doing the same operation I did on the spare disk), and also the NVME disk can boot now, even as MBR, without converting it to GPT.
But there are 2 differences compared to the original SSD Sata:

(1) Windows 7 is no longer authentic. (It's authentic in the original SSD, with regular serial key)
(2) desktop access is veeery slow (you have to wait more than two minutes before the icons appear), instead of 2 or 3 seconds (in the original SSD).

Point (1) can be fixed, but it's still slow as mentioned in point (2).

These issues concern both of cloned disks (the spare disk and the NVME one).

 

[Megahertz07]

You can try this way.
- Detach the HDD, SSD and the NVMe
- Boot from a Win 7 installation drive as legacy and do a clean install on the spare drive (delete all partitions on the spare drive).
- After the first phase (copy files) it will shutdown to reboot. Shut it down, don't let it reboot.
- Attach the HDD and the SSD. Boot from the (HDD + SSD)
- With Macrium Reflect, delete the Windows partition on the spare drive and then clone the Windows partition from the SSD into the spare drive.
The Spare drive must now have a System, a MS Reserved, and a Windows partition.
Detach the HDD, SSD and try to boot from the spare drive.

 

[SIW2]

The problem seems to be the tool he is cloning with.

 

[gattovicentino]

I tried again; it didn't boot at first try, but nt6repair can fix it and it's as fast as the original ssd now (or faster, maybe).
So... I let it go the system partition, I only cloned the windows partition and then fixed the boot with nt6repair.
This way it works.
It doesn't matter if it's in english at the beginning (in the loading phase, "starting windows"), it's not a problem, since when I access the desktop everything is OK and identical to the original.
NVME boots even in MBR... so I can mark the issue as solved!
(Thank you SIW2 and Megahertz07)

 

[SIW2]

it didn't boot at first try, but nt6repair can fix it and it's as fast as the original ssd now (or faster, maybe).

What is the exact make and model and of nvme disk?

 

[gattovicentino]

What is the exact make and model of nvme disk?

It's a Western Digital Blue SN550 (Windows defines it "WDC WDS500G2B0C").
It's considered a "SCSI Device" (I couldn't find any info about it in my MB's BIOS: Ahci vs. Raid selection is for SATA devices only, non NVME).

But it works. It uses "stornvme.sys" driver by Microsoft.
Western Digital's Dashboard software says it's not the "best" driver to use, so the temperature and other infos are not available (but neither the Dashboard software itself nor WD provide a "better" driver).

 

[SIW2]

which one is it ?


I am not aware of any win7 wd nvme drivers for their consumer editions.

You can try the msvme driver in this zip View attachment msvme_Win7x86x64.zip

 

[gattovicentino]

The only info I can see in WD's Dashboard...

- - - Updated - - -

You can try the msvme driver in this zip View attachment 420263

Windows loves its stornvme driver. Trying to install any other driver: "The proper driver is already installed".

Curiously, Samsung Magician shows the WD Nvme temperature, but WD Dashboard software does not!
(Neither program shows the status of the drive).