Transfer of Win 7/64 SSD to new motherboard failed

[highstream]

I'm stuck in the installation of a new motherboard - Gigabyte GA-Z68X-UD3H-B3 - and the transfer of a Win7/64 Home Premium system SSD to it, and would appreciate some advice in how to extricate myself and get this working. The basic story is that a Sysprep'd SSD wasn't recognized as having an OS when I booted with the new motherboard and now it's not being recognized with the old motherboard either.

Update: trying again. Was able to restore Win 7 SSD from EaseUs backup and then make a System Repair CD and a Windows image. Hopefully, those will provide security if the changeover doesn't work again.

 

[highstream]

Folllow up: To get the Win 7 SSD to boot on the new motherboard, I had to restore a system image with a repair install, per Karl's instructions at http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/135077-windows-7-installation-transfer-new-computer.html. Finally!

The problem now is no mouse, or really, no power to the USB ports, front or back. What's strange is that there was no problem all day when I was doing the Windows system repairs. Probably something simple, but all the USB controllers are enabled in BIOS and the front case cable is plugged in a board header, so I'm not sure where to turn next. Any ideas? Thanks.

 

[jimbo45]

HI there
is the Corded Mose one of those older IBM PS/2 types (with the Round connectors).

Try at least initially with a "Bog standard" USB mouse - usually the cheaper the better as it will work from a generic driver.

Also ensure the USB hardware is recognized -- if you have any trouble initially then set the BIOS to USB in legacy mode. That should ensure at least USB1 type devices will work.

Don't forget to change it back again afterwards.

Once you've booted up you can then search for the appropriate drivers. - If you have a utilities disk that came with the mobo maybe you should run that as well. You can usually with Tab key etc get the CD to run without a mouse.

Cheers
jimbo

 

[highstream]

Sorry, I was testing and editing when you replied. I've tried four mice from three different brands, but wasn't sure it was a USB issue until I tried the one (corded) that has a light when it gets power; it never did.

 

[highstream]

Ok, I'm really stuck. The USB port mouse works when I boot from the Win 7 update disk, but when I boot into the Win 7 SSD there is no USB. That suggests the USB drivers didn't make the recovery and aren't getting loaded with the SSD. I tried running a repair install from the Win 7/64 DVD, but it returns the error message that its version of System Recovery Options is not compatible with what I have installed. Same response when I try the Windows System Recovery CD I made before running Sysprep with the old mobo. Any ideas how to solve this?

 

[kha0tic]

Have you installed the motherboard device drivers? For your USB 3.0 ports on this board to function at least, you need to install the Etron USB 3.0 Driver. It may be that your mouse is plugged in to one of the USB 3.0 ports?

 

[highstream]

Yeah, that (Gigabyte drivers) finally dawned on me after posting. The Win 7 install has AutoRun off, so I can't open the Gigabyte CD to run it. I'm doing it right now on the XP drive, where the mouse/USB ports are working, but that will do any good for the Win 7 one?

What I just discovered booting to the XP drive, which I hadn't used Sysprep on, is that all I had to do was reactivate it (or wait 3 days) and it's up and running. Would that have worked with the Win 7 one, or is Win 7 different that way?

 

[gregrocker]

I would Clean reinstall to the SSD to avoid all of these problems and possibly others. You want the freshest install to take advantage of the faster SSD performance.

Everything you need is here for OEM or retail: Clean Reinstall - Factory OEM Windows 7

Unplug all other HD"s and peripherals first. Delete all partitions during install. After install plug back in other HD's, boot XP using one-time BIOS Boot Menu key.

 

[highstream]

Are you suggesting a clean install, then a recovery, or a complete (ugh) reconstruction? I'm still going to have to restore the SSD's backup somewhere to get lots of files on it. I'm wondering if I'd be better off reinstalling the old board, turning off Autorun and installing the new board's utilities - if they'll take - backing it up and then doing the whole process over again. That wouldn't prevent a clean install.

In the meantime, with the XP drive I can't get an internet connection. Cable side is as it should be, per the cable company and lights on the modem. I power cycled the modem and wireless router (pass thru) and bypassed the router, and installed the Gigabyte utils from the CD, but no change. Where else should I look? Thanks,

 

[gregrocker]

Often changing mobo requires a XP Repair Install.

Just backup your files externally, unplug all other HD's, boot Win7 installer to Clean Reinstall.

 

[highstream]

I decided to start with an XP repair install, in the hope that might deal with the internet issue. The original XP CD crashes after not too long with a pci.sys error blue screen. An SP3 slipstream from three years ago runs all the way through registering components, then restarts the computer and the installation sequence all over again (happened twice). Never get to the Workgroup screen. So now I don't seem to have an XP drive either.

My brain aside, this install does not seem to lend itself to the usual solutions. For some reason on this board, certain HDD connectors only work right in certain positions, plus the SSD and the 3T HDD that XP is on need to be set for ACHI, so I use the two 6gb Marvell RAID/ACHI ports for them. But then XP doesn't see either of them in Win Explorer, tho BIOS does. That makes moving files a puzzler. Going back to the old mobo and starting again may be the best solution. Btw, my old board, also Gigabyte, also had a similar fickleness about where each SATA drive was physically plugged in. I never figured out the logic of it (master-lsave?)

P.S. I meant Auto-Play above, not Autorun.

 

[gregrocker]

Can you delete all partitions and Clean install Win7, then virtualize XP if you need it from within 7 using one of the virtualization freewares?

What is it exactly that you need XP for as we're finding that some programs thought to only work in XP can install and run in 7 in XP Compatibility Mode

XP really is a dying OS and hardly worth bothering with on new hardware which increasingly rejects it.

 

[highstream]

XP has been my backup for moments like this. I have spare HDDs and lots of space, so why not? Most of what it was copied over or replaced on the SSD, or wasn't needed anymore.

The problem with a clean install of Win 7 is the files I need are on that drive and the backups are in Easeus and Windows image format. Perhaps I'm wrong, but I'm not sure the files and folders in those images can be cherry picked between drives. Other than the time involved, what worries me is if I can't get to those files short of a full drive recovery. If I can't what's been gained: i.e., would I be recreating the same problem over again, i.e., losing the Gigabyte drivers and ending up unable to use the mouse to get them back?

 

[gregrocker]

Your files should be backed up separately before any operations like these.

You can mount the Win7 backup image .vhd file in Disk Mgmt to copy out your files: Virtual Hard Disk - Create and Attach VHD.

Then you can clean install Win7 to SSD to get the best performing install following these steps which are the same for retail: Clean Reinstall - Factory OEM Windows 7.

Be sure to unplug XP during Win7 install or it will place the Win7 boot files on XP which seems shipwrecked.

You can also try plugging in only the XP HD set first to boot, boot XP CD to open the first Repair Command Prompt, type bootrec.exe /fixmbr and bootrec.exe /fixboot, pressing the Enter key after both commands, then restart. If XP fails to boot then boot into XP CD second Repair prompt to as shown in this tutorial for an XP Repair Install

 

[highstream]

Thanks. Hadn't thought of a virtual disk option.

Update: I decided to buy some time and flexibility by going back to the old (AMD) mobo. Plus, virtual disk is easier to run from here. I'm writing this in Win 7/64, so obviously the mouse and internet work here (haven't tried XP yet).