2

I have cloned my C: partition from an existing HDD to a new SSD using gparted from my Linux-SDD. This went well data-wise. I can see the files, yet the new Win7SSD is unable to boot.

At first, the cursor was blinking. When I set it to boot, it said bootmgr is missing.

Recherching further, I realized that my HDD has three partition, the expected C: for Win7 and D: for data; yet there is also a system-reservered bootable partition at 100 MB.

Screenshot of system-reserved disk

So I thought I could fix it via repairing the mbr. Hence, I tried entering the resuce prompt via Repair Computer and ran:

Bootrec.exe /ScanOs

yet this only lists C:, not E: as well.

I did not see a way to force BootRec.exe to do its magic on E:, I did run a /fixmbr and /fixboot while I was on E:, yet am unsure if this did anything at all on E: or if I "fixed" my working C: instead.

I still can boot from C: but I rather use my new SSD instead.

How can I make the SSD bootable?

k0pernikus
  • 2,652

2 Answers2

0

Instead of using gparted, it may make sense to use dd instead from the a live system, namely when you clone a hard disk to an SSD of at least the same size with root rights:

dd if=/dev/old_sata_spinning_disk of=/dev/new_ssd bs=64K conv=noerror,sync status=progress
  • if stands for "input file", of for "output file"
  • bs means blocksize, 64KB was documented as good enough to obtain high speeds, the default may otherwise be very slow. For me, the speed maxed out at 100MB/s during the copying process which was the maximum for my hdd.
  • conv=noerror,sync explanation
  • status=progress will inform about the copying process

Your drives will be at /dev/sda, /dev/sdb/,/dev/sdc`, etc. pp, make sure you target the right device, otherwise you may experience data loss.

In my case I had a hdd at /dev/sda, my Ubuntu live Stick at /dev/sdb, and my new ssd at /dev/sdc, and hence the command I run was:

#sudo dd if=/dev/sda of=/dev/sdc bs=64K conv=noerror,sync status=progress

(Command is commented, adapt to your needs.)

k0pernikus
  • 2,652
0

I managed to make the SSD bootable by both:

  1. Cloning both paritions, the hidden and the C:, to the SSD. I exapanded the hidden partition to the full size of the hdd.
  2. Windows wasn't bootable directly after it. I had to insert the OEM Win7 DVD and boot from it. Instead of reinstalling I chose Repair option. Instantly, a window popped up that an issue was discovered and prompting me to fix and reboot.

After rebooting, the partition was checked and since then the SSD works fine.

k0pernikus
  • 2,652