Migrating OS to SSD

M

Mike7

Expert Member
Joined
Nov 3, 2011
Messages
2,688
Reaction score
2,693
I recently bought my first ssd, crucial mx100 256GB.

I've tried cloning my hdd to my ssd but the problem is I can't boot from the ssd. It says no boot device found, I think the mbr is not being cloned?

Which free cloning software can I use that clones the drive and makes the SSD bootable?
 
Probably you did clone a partition, not entire physical drive. Many software will do it, just select correct option. Ordinary RAW copy always work. Which software did you use?
 
Tried different free programs and eventually ended up buying Paragon Migrate OS to SSD. I think it costs 19$.
 
sajunky said:
Probably you did clone a partition, not entire physical drive. Many software will do it, just select correct option. Ordinary RAW copy always work. Which software did you use?
Click to expand...

EaseUS todo back and aomei backupper.

I downloaded Acronis True image but that functionality is not available on the trial version.
 
Paragon works very well (used twice and it worked both times).

Just used arconis true image hd (come with drive) yesterday for the wifes laptop and it worked well.

If its just the mbr boot the windows recovery shell on the primary drive, get a repair console on the ssd and run fixmbr
 
usually ssd's come with cloning software? check the manual or box for details. Otherwise a free software I can recoomend is clonezilla it works, is power full and is free. However its appearance makes it look complicated. Like a Linux install wizard. If you are a power user you will be fine, but if you use your cd rom as a cup holder avoid!
 
Not sure if this may be your issue.. but look out for the error: "the sector size of destination disk and source disk is inconsistent" which I got when using EaseUS Todo Backup.

To check sector sizes on your disks:

eg. fsutil fsinfo ntfsinfo c:

on my old HDD Bytes Per Sector : 512
on my new SSD Bytes Per Cluster : 4096

After hours of googling and trying different apps I gave up and did a fresh install on the SSD and copied my data across.
 
I have migrated many OS's from spindles to SSD, I always use macrium reflect free.
Never had a hassle with any of them.
 
Mike7 said:
I downloaded Acronis True image but that functionality is not available on the trial version.
Click to expand...
If you have WD or Seagate drive, download vendor specific version of this software.

Oher, some paid apps with free copy function: DMDE, HDCLONE, Unix standard command line utility, Clonezilla, Paragon Software and more...
There are a number of utilities on Hiren's Boot CD.
 
Last edited:
MBR:
Code: 
dd if=/dev/sda of=/dev/sdb bs=446 count=1

MBR + Partition Table
Code: 
dd if=/dev/sda of=/dev/sdb bs=512 count=1

As simple as that.
 
I used clonezilla If I'm not mistaken.
Just be sure to do a disk clone and not a partition clone.
 
ponder said:
MBR:
Code: 
dd if=/dev/sda of=/dev/sdb bs=446 count=1

MBR + Partition Table
Code: 
dd if=/dev/sda of=/dev/sdb bs=512 count=1

As simple as that.
Click to expand...

+1 get "dd for windows" if you don't have Ubuntu. It comes standard on OS X too. Otherwise Clonezilla is apparently good.
 
Acronis true image. Works perfectly every time & supports TRIM. It's all I use when I upgrade SSD
 
i did mine about a 2 months ago to the exact same drive used hd clone ... free! and it worked on the first
try booted up in like 3 seconds! was awesome ... then i installed BF3 and 4 on it and the game loading
times are amazing!!!!
 
Mike7 said:
I downloaded Acronis True image but that functionality is not available on the trial version.
Click to expand...
Make a rescue disk, or whatever they call it, burn it to a DVD, then boot off that and clone from there. You can clone the entire disk.
 
Rocket-Boy said:
I have migrated many OS's from spindles to SSD, I always use macrium reflect free.
Never had a hassle with any of them.
Click to expand...

I used macrium reflect and it worked perfectly thanks!!

Thanks for all the suggestions guys.
 
Boot normally in your normal HHD to your default windows.

Assuming the SSD as mounted on E: and Windows installation medium is in D:

Drop into command prompt

C:\> D:
D:\ cd boot
D:\Boot> bootsect /nt60 E:

dont worry about error message about not beig able to lock blah blah blah

then make E: bootable, either via the disk management tool in the control panel or via command prompt again

c:\ diskpart
DISKPART> list disk
DISKPART> select disk x (x is the disk u want to make bootable)
DISKPART> select partition 1
DISKPART> active
DISKPART> exit

then reboot the machine.
 
Rocket-Boy said:
I have migrated many OS's from spindles to SSD, I always use macrium reflect free.
Never had a hassle with any of them.
Click to expand...

I swear by Macrium Reflect now. I will buy the full package one day to support them.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top
Sign up to the MyBroadband newsletter
X