# HDD to SSD not working



## fenpeppertree (Nov 19, 2015)

Hello, I have just tried cloning my C: Drive 500 gb to a Samsung Evo 850 500 gb SSD, but have encountered a major problem. My computer is an HP Pavilion 23-b010 all in one desktop.

The first problem I had was the fact that the SSD could not fit into the HDD cage so that it would be situated correctly to attach to the connection plug, and yes, I did use a 2.5" to 3.5" adapter. I am not very tech saavy, but I am trying to get the basics of computer operation, and have been working to this end for about 4 1/2 years, now. I ended up just sort of taping it to the cage in a way that it could plug in to the connection.

When I turned on the computer after I had taped in the SSD, there was a message saying "No bootable disk found" or something to that effect. There was also, before that message, something that said to go to the "startup menu" press the esc key, but when I tried to do that nothing happened, it just went to the next page, which was the one saying "no bootable disk". There wasn't anywhere to go on that page, so I had to take out the SSD and reinstall the HDD.

When I reinstalled the HDD, I encountered the problem I am dealing with now, which is a total inability to access anything on the computer. Everything seems to be available, but when I click on a folder or an app, I get a message box saying "there was a problem sending the command to the program". 

I have run a dskchk which said the OS was in read only, which from what I have read on the internet, is the cause for the "Error: The volume bitmap is incorrect".

The one thing that does seem to operate are the "startup" programs. Any program that starts with the system or that has been placed in Startup seems to be operational and starts up when the computer is restarted.

The other thing is an external WD 320 gb drive I have been using to clear out some memory storage from the computer before I installed the SSD. This drive does not get acknowledged at all. The light on the drive is on, but when the computer is restarted a message appears saying, among other things, that "the drive cannot be found, may have been moved or deleted...". So, I do not have access to my desktop, since it is on that drive. Basically, I can't do anything.

What has gone wrong here? I only removed the HDD to install the SDD, and then put it back.

With the SSD, I did begin by going to disk management and giving it a "letter" designation, that is, allocated it, and then I proceeded to clone it, using Marcrium Reflect Free software. Since then, I have formated it, and it is now empty.


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## storage_man (Nov 6, 2003)

Hope you have a Macrum Reflect backup of your system before you started the clone ! 

First question - When you cloned the drive, did you do it using the Macrum Reflect WINPE bootable Disk ? 

Second question - before doing the clone did you create a Windows 10 recovery DVD ?


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## fenpeppertree (Nov 19, 2015)

I just downloaded the free version of Macrium Reflect and followed the cloning instructions. I don't know what WINPE is.

I do not have Macrium Reflect Backup. I do have IDrive Online Backup, but not for my entire computer. There is Disk Imaging available with my IDrive account, but I have only had it for about a year, and like I said, I'm a relative noobie, and have not got around to disk imaging, as yet.

I did not create a Windows 10 Recovery disk.

Am I missing something here? I just removed the HDD and then replaced it, basically. Shouldn't everything be intact and operational just as it was before it was removed?

I do know my computer is GPT format not MBR, but ... noobie... I don't know if I exactly knew it at that time of cloning, or if there was any choice to make regarding format of partitions. Could it have made a difference if I had somehow opted with MBR? But that really couldn't matter about the problem I have now, could it?

I am right now running my third HP maintenance/tune-up scan from the "Diagnostics" F-2 startup options, and they have all passed. How can that be?


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## managed (May 24, 2003)

Just put the original hard drive back onto the data cable (the thinner one) it was connected to before you started trying to clone, and connect a power cable to it as well of course.
Disconnect all other hard drives. Does it boot into windows now ? If not did you change anything in the Bios ?


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## fenpeppertree (Nov 19, 2015)

Just a quick update, I unplugged everything and plugged it in again, now the system is working again.

I'm back to the "original" problem, namely "how to install the SSD", and get my folders and everything too.

If I clone the HDD to the SSD; then I simply exchange them, and the computer takes the SSD as the primary disk? or is there something more to it? I do not want to get the message
"No bootable disk found".


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## managed (May 24, 2003)

Samsung have their own software for doing this and I believe it's very easy to use :-

http://www.samsung.com/global/business/semiconductor/minisite/SSD/global/html/support/downloads.html

When the cloning is finished it's very important that you do not boot up the original hard drive with the clone drive connected, so physically disconnect the original hard drive before booting the clone. If you put the cloned SSD on the same data cable as the HDD was on it should boot up straight away.

EDIT : I would download and read the User guide PDF file first and if you have any questions post them here before you start the cloning.


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## Bailifeifei (Nov 25, 2011)

And now this time, before you do the clone agian, you'd better create a bootable disc/USB so that you can restore the system in case anything goes wrong. Take a look at Macrium reflect or easeus todo backup free(what I'm using), there should be a feature of creating bootable media.


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## fenpeppertree (Nov 19, 2015)

Feelin' kinda stupid. I did not include all the partitions for disk 1/C: drive. 

Everything is fine now.

Sorry for the bother.


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## managed (May 24, 2003)

Glad you got it sorted. No need to say sorry. 

(If you're sure it's fixed please mark the thread Solved)


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## fenpeppertree (Nov 19, 2015)

Sorry to bother again, but I'm having another problem.

I decided to use the HDD I removed to make a disk image using my IDrive account. The problem is, it seems to register as Drive E: Removable Disk, but that is all. It cannot be opened and gives a message saying "Please insert a disk into Removable Disk E". When I disconnect the HDD, the E: Drive Removable Disk remains, but I do not have any other removable drive connected.

I'm going to try restarting and unplugging/plugging in the computer.


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## managed (May 24, 2003)

Why not make the Image from the SSD ?


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## fenpeppertree (Nov 19, 2015)

What I would like to do is store the disk image on the HDD, since my IDrive account does not have a way to store it online. I have to have my own disk.

I am brand new to disk imaging. Do I need the same number of GB for the disk image as the GB that are going to be imaged?

I would really like to keep it online, and not have to use a physical drive at all. If you know of a way to do this without having to buy into anything, I would like to know. I would also like to keep it current by scheduling some kind of differential/incremental backup for it. IDrive does not have this.

Acronis, so I've read online, is suppose to have a way to keep a disk image current by backing it up on a schedule, but I have Acronis True Image 2015 (paid version), and all I see is the "Clone" tool. Are cloning and disk imaging the same thing?


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## managed (May 24, 2003)

An Image is similar to a Zip file, it's a compressed version of what's on a drive/partition and will be smaller than the used space on the hard drive.

A Clone is a an exact copy of the source onto the destination although the best programs skip copying empty sectors which can speed up the cloning.

You can store the Image file anywhere that has the room for it, the fastest is to put it onto another internal hard drive.

You may be able to upload the Image file(s) to your IDrive, I have no personal knowledge of that though.

If you use a HDD to store the images it's best to format it as NTFS because FAT32 has a maximum file size of 4GB.

I'm sure Acronis has imaging capability and I think it can do both incremental and differential scheduled backups, which effectively keep the images up to date.

I would read through the Acronis help file, it might seem daunting at first but it will make things clearer to you.


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## fenpeppertree (Nov 19, 2015)

Thanks for the information.

I'm still confused about this hard drive, though. I restarted the computer and the E: Removable Drive was gone, which is what it should be. I mentioned in my previous post the HDD I removed seems to be unusable. When I connect it using the "SATA" cable, I get that E:Removable Drive listing, but it does not open. In the properties box it shows all zeros for amount "used", "free", and also "capacity". I did not format the disk. It should still have the entire data amount (about 210 GB) I cloned to the SSD.

This cable, which I just bought along with the SSD, is the cable I used to connect the SSD to the computer, so it was working, and I do not own another "SATA" cable.


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## managed (May 24, 2003)

So as in the picture below the HDD is connected to the motherboard with a Sata data cable and a Sata power cable is connected to the HDD as well ?


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## fenpeppertree (Nov 19, 2015)

I am not really sure why you posted this image, but I just posted a new thread asking the question: "How to connect two SSDs to a PC computer". 
If I wanted to attach two SSDs internally with just the one connection point would that be possible? Of course I would need to use some kind of "y" splitter adapter or something, wouldn't I.

I just shut down my computer and unplugged and plugged in, but I am still getting the HDD I removed from the computer showing on the "This PC" page as Removable Disk with no available storage, and the message "please insert a disk into Removable Disk" when I try to open it.


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## managed (May 24, 2003)

I posted the image as part of my question, which you haven't answered, to check you connected the HDD correctly.

You can use a splitter for the power connection but you need a separate data cable for each Sata drive.


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## fenpeppertree (Nov 19, 2015)

Like I said previously, I am using the brand new SATA III cable I used to connect the new SSD to the computer. This cable has 22 pins 15 + 7, and is not two separate cables to each connection, but is a one piece connection on one end, and it connects to a USB 3.0 port on the other end.

If I could connect two SSDs internally with just the one connection, would that slow down performance in comparison to using a single SSD drive that equaled the total amount of two SSDs? 

What kind of cable, exactly, would be used to connect two SSDs internally?


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## managed (May 24, 2003)

Ok, that clears things up. You're using an adapter cable which converts the drive into what is usually called an external/removable drive, so when the computer 'sees' the HDD connected with that cable to a Usb port it will correctly identify it as a removable drive.
I don't know why it sees the drive as empty but you should be able to format it and then use it for storage.

Internal Sata drives use a data cable like the one in my pic in my previous post because the connectors on the motherboard are for just one drive. (You may be thinking of the older IDE type drives, you could put 2 drives on one data cable with those).

So to fit 2 internal Sata drives you will need 2 data cables, plus 2 power cables which may be there already coming from the PSU or if not you can get adapters to change a 4 pin white 'molex' power connector to 1 or 2 Sata power connectors.


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