HDD to SSD clone boot issues

[field]

I recently bought an M.2 SSD and cloned my boot HDD to it to improve start up times etc, but today after cloning and activating the ssd partition I went to load into windows 10 from my new boot drive only for it to tell me no OS could be found. I went into my BIOS to make sure the boot order was correct, to no avail. After plugging my original HDD back into my computer I can boot into windows still but I can't seem to figure out the issue with the SSD and I fiddled with the bcdboot commands in the command prompt but it didn't work. I watched a couple videos on cloning and booting from the cloned drive but none of them show how to actually get the drive to boot after it's actually been cloned. Everyone I've seen is just able to boot into the new ssd immediately after removing the previous drive and booting from the cloned one. Should I try cloning the HDD to the SSD again to see if it boots? I also read a forum where that worked with someone else. But I don't want to waste the 2-3 hours waiting for the cloning process if I don't have to.

 

any help would be appreciated, thanks.

[NelizMastr]

Which software did you use? The thing is that it didn't clone the entire drive but probably just the data partition. Windows has a bunch of small other partitions that take care of recovery and the boot files (EFI partition). They all need to be cloned to the new disk. Just cloning C: so to speak won't do the trick.

[field]

3 minutes ago, NelizMastr said:

Which software did you use? The thing is that it didn't clone the entire drive but probably just the data partition. Windows has a bunch of small other partitions that take care of recovery and the boot files (EFI partition). They all need to be cloned to the new disk. Just cloning C: so to speak won't do the trick.

I used Macrium Reflect. 

This is the video I watched that showed me how to use it, I followed it exactly but maybe it's a little vague. 

 

[Sir Asvald]

That's why it's best to do a fresh install when upgrading from HDDs to SSDs. So you can avoid these problems. 

[field]

2 minutes ago, Abdul201588 said:

That's why it's best to do a fresh install when upgrading from HDDs to SSDs. So you can avoid these problems. 

I'd rather not reinstall all of my things, or sift through them looking for things to back up which would just take as much time as the cloning itself.
Plus I've already gone through with it so I may as well get it working correctly lol

[Sir Asvald]

1 minute ago, field said:

I'd rather not reinstall all of my things, or sift through them looking for things to back up which would just take as much time as the cloning itself.

Not really. You It'll take a max of 30-45 minutes depending on your file size and the write and read speeds of your HDD just make a backup. Also as you mentioned below, It can take 2-3 hours. This will be done withing an hour or so. To make the process faster, reinstall Windows via a USB

 

15 minutes ago, field said:

Should I try cloning the HDD to the SSD again to see if it boots? I also read a forum where that worked with someone else. But I don't want to waste the 2-3 hours waiting for the cloning process if I don't have to.

 

[field]

I have a Windows USB, but I really only want to restore if I can't resolve my current issue.

[Sir Asvald]

Just now, field said:

I have a Windows USB, but I really only want to restore if I can't resolve my current issue.

I didn't ask you thins; did you disconnect the HDD once you connected the SSD and cloned it?

[field]

5 minutes ago, Abdul201588 said:

I didn't ask you thins; did you disconnect the HDD once you connected the SSD and cloned it?

Yes I did. I've since reconnected it though until I figure out what to do, since it's easier to use the forum on my computer rather than my phone.

[TechyBen]

20 minutes ago, field said:

I used Macrium Reflect. 

This is the video I watched that showed me how to use it, I followed it exactly but maybe it's a little vague. 

 

Same. I upgraded my 1TB HDD (larger but slower) laptop to a 128GB SSD using Macrium Reflect flawlessly. Then just yesterday used it again to upgrade the SSD to a nice Samsung 740 250GB.

 

Works flawlessly, but check the "advanced settings" when cloning to make sure it is set to resize and to "trim" SSD.

[field]

Just now, TechyBen said:

Same. I upgraded my 1TB HDD (larger but slower) laptop to a 128GB SSD using Macrium Reflect flawlessly. Then just yesterday used it again to upgrade the SSD to a nice Samsung 740 250GB.

 

Works flawlessly, but check the "advanced settings" when cloning to make sure it is set to resize and to "trim" SSD.

Okay, I'll give it a shot, should I just wipe my ssd and try cloning again afterward?

[Sir Asvald]

4 minutes ago, field said:

Yes I did. I've since reconnected it though until I figure out what to do, since it's easier to use the forum on my computer rather than my phone.

That's your problem. You've got 2 drives with windows on them and the PC is trying to figure out with OS to boot from.

[TechyBen]

1 minute ago, field said:

Okay, I'll give it a shot, should I just wipe my ssd and try cloning again afterward?

Macrium may ask to delete the SSD for you. So it is really helpful.

[field]

Just now, Abdul201588 said:

That's your problem. You've got 2 drives with windows on them and the PC is trying to figure out with OS to boot from.

Well I haven't tried since rebooting from the original HDD. I'll unplug this one and give it another shot. I'll take a picture this time if the same thing happens and post it.

[field]

this is what is happening when I try to boot into the ssd. hdd is unplugged.

[NelizMastr]

56 minutes ago, field said:

this is what is happening when I try to boot into the ssd. hdd is unplugged.

 

Means the boot partitions weren't cloned. They're still on the hdd.