Backup>Restore to new drive error code 0xc0000225

Project: Create disk image in preparation for C:\ drive RAID creation
Computer: Dell 8700 - Win8.1 w/update
Drives: A pair of WD 250GB SATA, 1st one operational (C:\ on Dell) - and 2nd one blank, in place
Acronis: True Image 2014

I currently have RAID 1 set up on D:\ drive, a pair of 1TB drives and all is well there. Now I'd like to set up RAID 1 for the 250GB OS drive, using the 2nd 250GB one for RAID creation.

As all data is destroyed during RAID setup, I want to create the OS image to reload once RAID is running. No partition changes, both drives are same capacity. Just load the image onto the new 250GB RAID array.

I'm testing out this plan in advance by using Acronis True Image 2014 to back up the current C:\ drive to an external USB3 drive and simply swapping the SATA cable from C: to blank: and proceeding to use the Acronis 2014 boot CD to load the inage onto blank:

But...no dice. I've tried the standard Acronis procedure as well as GroverH's tih2012-disk-option-restore.pdf.

While pretty much the same process, neither one works.

Upon reboot, with SATA cable still attached to blank: and C: still unplugged, here is what I get-
__________

Your PC needs to be repaired
A required device isn't connected or can't be accessed
Error code: 0xc0000225
You'll need the recovery tools on your installation media etc.

After pressing Enter-

Yout PC needs to be repaired
The application or operating system couldn't be loaded because a required file is missing or contains errors.
File: \WINDOWS\system32\winload.efi
Error code: 0xc0000225
You'll need the recovery tools on your installation media etc.
__________

So, after putting C: & blank: SATA cables back in place the computer starts as it should, to C:\, and in Windows Explorer I see blank: is no longer blank but has the proper folders. Switching to Disk Management is where it gets interesting-

Disk 0 (C:\) shows the following three partitions-
300 MB Healthy (Recovery Partition)
99 MB Healthy (EFI System Partition)
232.27 GB NTFS Healthy (Boot, Page File, Crash Dump, Primary Partition)

Disk 2 (F:\) shows the following four partitions-
306 MB Healthy (Recovery Partition)
102 MB Healthy (Active, EFI System Partition)
232.37 GB Healthy (Primary Partition)
63 MB Unallocated

So, besides the 63 MB difference between the two drives, something has changed between saving the full disk backup and then loading it onto the new drive. Besides all the partition-size changes, the "new" drive never seems to pick up the "boot" flag...or any other flag a normal boot drive should have. I have tried multiple backup creations/restores changing different options like "recover disk signature" or not, but always get the 0xc000025 BSOD at the end. Am feeling pretty foolish at this point - this should be click/click/go/done but there must be something I'm doing wrong with either backup or restore?