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SSD migration failure

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I am upgrading the Samsung SSD in my Lenovo P50 laptop. The new SSD is a Crucial P5 Plus 2TB. 

I installed the Crucial SSD in an external case.

I then proceeded to use the Cloning feature for the Boot/OS/Programs partition (data is on a separate SSD). The files copied, but the partition on the Crucial SSD were in RAW format, not NTFS.

I then deleted all partitions from the Crucial SSD, so it was completely unallocated. I then tried another cloning. The files copied, the format was NTFS, but the partition was marked as a data partition, not a bootable partition, hence it would obviously boot from the external enclosure.

Third try. I again deleted the partitions from the SSD, then used the Backup/Restore method. Everything copied, the single partition was NTFS, but it was not bootable from the external enclosure. Disk Management showed that the partition was a data partition, not a boot partition.

I wanted to test a fully bootable SSD prior to removing the current Samsung SSD and installing the new Crucial SSD. Is this possible? Must I physically remove the Samsung SSD, then install the Crucial SSD in the slot, and THEN perform the Acronis Restore process?

Is there something about an external enclosure which prevents a successful Cloning or Restoration?

I would appreciate your guidance in this matter.

1 Users found this helpful

Michael, welcome to these public User Forums.

First important point.  Microsoft prevents Windows from being booted from external drives!

Next, please see the following about cloning where laptops are involved.

Please see KB 56634: Acronis True Image: how to clone a disk - and review the step by step guide given there.

Note: the first section of the above KB document directs laptop users to KB 2931: How to clone a laptop hard drive - and has the following paragraph:

It is recommended to put the new drive in the laptop first, and connect the old drive via USB. Otherwise you will may not be able to boot from the new cloned drive, as Acronis True Image will apply a bootability fix to the new disk and adjust the boot settings of the target drive to boot from USB. If the new disk is inside the laptop, the boot settings will be automatically adjusted to boot from internal disk. As such, hard disk bays cannot be used for target disks. For example, if you have a target hard disk (i.e. the new disk to which you clone, and from which you intend to boot the machine) in a bay, and not physically inside the laptop, the target hard disk will be unbootable after the cloning.

I installed the Crucial SSD into the laptop. I booted with the Acronis Recovery Flash drive.

I then performed the recovery from the TIB backup on an external spinner hard drive.

While making the recovery selections, I did receive an error message, "Index is corrupted". The recovery process was then able to proceed.

Recovery failed. When rebooting, error message 0xc000000f. A required device isn't connected or can't be accessed.

Any suggestions for fixing this disturbing problem? I purchased the latest version of Acronis for specifically to clone to the new SSD. 

Additional info:

The Recovery process created the Windows partition as a Basic Data partition. It is not a Boot partition as it should be. This is annoying as blazes. This should be a simple process. I carefully followed the instructions provided by Acronis. 

I'm at my wits end with the cloning process. It just does not work.

I carefully read the instructions and watched the videos

I removed the source SSD from the laptop and placed into an external USB enclosure

I booted from the Acronis Recovery USB flash drive.

Followed all instructions as shown in the video. Selected the option for including the bootable OS.

Clone process completed. 

Restart laptop.

Error message: "0xc000000f. A required device isn't connected or can't be accessed."

Used Hiren's utility to view the cloned SSD. I see the EFI partition and the Windows partition. The Windows partition is "Basic Data" rather than "boot, primary" partition.

Any suggestions?

Michael,

The error code you post and the "Index is corrupted" suggests that your file system is corrupted on the source (Samsung) disk.  

Run chkdsk /f on all partitions on the Samsung drive including any non-lettered partitions by temporarily assigning drive letters to such partitions as drive letters are necessary to add focus to chkdsk.

After any/all errors are fixed make a backup of the Samsung drive using Acronis then use the Recovery method again with the file you created in this step as the source.  With the error(s) corrected the recovery should result in a bootable disk.