Installing cloned SSD in caddy and keeping previous HDD in case

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J

juager

Commendable
Dec 2, 2016
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1,510
I purchased a new laptop with a 1TB HDD in the unit and then went out and bought a new 250 GB SSD. I installed the 250 GB SSD in the optical drive using a caddy.

My goal is to clone the OS (Windows 10) and recovery from the HDD onto the SSD, remove all of the information from the HDD and then use the SSD as my boot disk and the 1TB HDD as my storage disk. Leaving the SSD in the caddy and the 1TB HDD in the computer case.

I tried this last night using a couple different programs (EaseUS, Samsung Migration, Reflect) and it all seemed to go fine until I booted into Windows. The screen would then flicker on and off and made the computer unusable.

A lot of the directions talk about removing the HDD and replacing it with the SDD in the case but I am trying to avoid that since I bought and HP and the access to the HDD would require completely dissembling the laptop.

Any idea on how to make this work?
 
Solution
Boogieman_WD
Hey there, juager.

Well basically, it would be nice if you could try the SSD with a different computer and test it for errors, just to make sure that it's working fine. You could try that with both the caddy and without it. This way you should be able to determine if the caddy is working properly as well.
If everything seems OK, then I guess you'll have to try connecting the SSD by using the HDD's slot, to see if the same thing happens, or get in touch with the laptop manufacturer's customer support, to see if the guys there can help out with a different solution.

Cheers!
Boogieman_WD
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Boogieman_WD

Boogieman_WD

Judicious
Jul 31, 2014
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Hey there, juager.

Well basically, it would be nice if you could try the SSD with a different computer and test it for errors, just to make sure that it's working fine. You could try that with both the caddy and without it. This way you should be able to determine if the caddy is working properly as well.
If everything seems OK, then I guess you'll have to try connecting the SSD by using the HDD's slot, to see if the same thing happens, or get in touch with the laptop manufacturer's customer support, to see if the guys there can help out with a different solution.

Cheers!
Boogieman_WD
 
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Solution
A

ArtPog

Admirable
Sep 17, 2014
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Can we assume that you cloned the ENTIRE contents of your 1 TB HDD to the SSD? Presumably the total contents contained on that 1 TB HDD was LESS than the 250 GB SSD?

Assuming that's the case, then follow Boogieman's instructions...

Just a couple of other things...
1. We've come across more than a few situations where an optical drive caddy is simply incompatible with a particular laptop-notebook make/model.

2. Another fairly common situation we've encountered is while a secondary HDD/SSD installed in the caddy will work fine - the system will refuse to boot to an otherwise bootable drive installed in the caddy.
 
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J

juager

Commendable
Dec 2, 2016
2
0
1,510


Yes, I did clone all of the contents of the 1TB drive to the 250GB SSD. The drive has a windows and a recovery partition which are both smaller that the 250 GB drive (approx 35 GB of information with the recovery and the Windows drives).

I will drive doing the drive again tonight, if it does not work I will purchase the cables to try the drive as a USB with and without the caddy:

Just the Drive:
https://www.amazon.com/USB-Sata-Adapter-Cable-Rerii/dp/B0154F0J24/ref=sr_1_17?s=pc&rps=1&ie=UTF8&qid=1480691424&sr=1-17&keywords=usb+sata+adapter&refinements=p_85%3A2470955011

With the caddy:
https://www.amazon.com/13Pin-Slimline-Laptop-Optical-Adapter/dp/B00C574Q5G/ref=sr_1_45?s=pc&rps=1&ie=UTF8&qid=1480691450&sr=1-45&keywords=usb+sata+adapter&refinements=p_85%3A2470955011

I am confused by the flickering screen after the boot. From what I can tell, it is booting from the HDD (no information in Disk Management that shows it booted from the SSD) so it seems odd for the screen to flicker on and off.
 
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