New SSD in laptop can't boot

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Vlatko

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Feb 28, 2006
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Hi Everyone,

I have a Dell N5110 laptop and bought a new SSD and installed it in the DVD rom spot using a drive caddy.
The SSD is recognized by the bios and WIndows 7.

Here is how the whole setup looks:
Disks.png


I cloned the C: partition to the SSD (A: ) but the laptop won't boot from the SSD. I made the System reserved partition on the HDD inactive (as I assume the bootloader is there) but then it won't boot at all.
When I insert the WIn7 bootable USB and try to repair it repairs the HDD boot section.

I've seen that I need to disconnect the HDD and then use the WIn7 bootable media to repair but that is not an option. Removing the HDD on this laptop means completely dismantling it, and it is not really mine.

I need to boot from the SSD while the HDD is still in.
Any help is appreciated?

Thx
 
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Vlatko

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I am not sure I get it. The System reserved partition is active on the HDD and I boot from that. What do I do so it boots from drive A, the SSD.
 
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Shaun o

Shaun o

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Oct 7, 2007
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There are hidden protected system files on a hard drive with windows installed on it.
When you clone a drive some times the boot loader, or boot strap in not copied over because it is system protected.

This happens because you are also trying to use windows when it is up and running with the cloning software.

So it is missed out.

Add to the point that you also cloned the source drive but the destination drive does not hold the same drive letter assignment will all so foul up the boot process.

And if memory serves me right the letter assignments of A: and B: are often reserved for floppy devices.
And hard drives start from C: to Z: or any other device with removable media usb/cd rom.
 
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Vlatko

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Feb 28, 2006
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Ok thx for the info. So any tool I can use for this or some steps to follow?

How do I clone so it includes the protected files? Can I boot from windows 7 DVD and use diskpart for this?
Also how would I change the drive letter outside windows?
 
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USAFRet

USAFRet

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You probably need to boot from a USB media with a cloning tool....CloneZilla or similar. Get an image of the whole HDD and migrate the whole drive to the SSD.

I don't think this can be done from inside Windows.
This is why I rarely advocate the whole cloning thing. Far too much likelihood of issues like this.
 
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