Windows 10: Cloning my SSD created boot files in my external SSD

Windows Version 20H2 I recently purchased an external SSD from Samsung and used their migration tool to copy all my files into it. Then I learned that I can't boot Windows from an external drive so I formatted the external SSD and started using it. But, apparently formatting doesn't delete everything. Now when I check my partitions, there are EFI partitions, MSR partitions etc. and they (EFI and MSR partitions) are causing problems when I am trying to dual-boot. I checked from diskpart and shared screenshots. Are those unnecessary files since I can't boot from external drive? Should I/Can I delete them?

:)

 

Unable to boot Windows after cloning it to SSD

Hi,



Thank you for writing to Microsoft Community Forums.



I understand that you are facing issues while booting the PC after cloning Windows to new SSD. I would like to know what happens when you try to boot the PC to desktop using SSD?



The reason you are not able to boot the PC is that the files required to boot Windows are still recognizing the HDD as the main drive. I would suggest you to try rebuilding the BCD files and see if you are able to boot the PC using
SSD.



Kindly follow the steps below to rebuild the BCD.

1. Create a bootable media and boot the PC using the media.
2. On the Install Windows screen, select Next >
   Repair your computer.
3. On the System Recovery Options screen, select
   Troubleshoot> Advanced options > Command Prompt.
4. Now type in the commands and hit enter: BOOTREC /FIXMBR
   
   BOOTREC /FIXBOOT
   
   BOOTREC /scanos
   
   BOOTREC /rebuildbcd
5. Restart the PC.

If the issue persists, please get back to us with the results of the troubleshooting steps to assist you further.



Regards,

Prakhar Khare

Microsoft Community – Moderator

 

Unable to Boot to Windows 10 after Cloning old SSD to new SSD

Hi,

I'm not using the SATA ports. I'm using M.2 with the SSD, and the external SSD is connected to my PC using USB. My MB only has only one M.2 socket, so I can only plug in one SSD at a time. (I bought a wrong adapter that doesn't work with NVMe) So I cloned
my old SSD to an external SSD (Samsung M3 Portable SSD), and then swapped the old one, cloned the external SSD to my new SSD.

I tried AOMEI too, but the free version does not come with disk clone functions. I would probably try Macrium Reflect as suggested above. Thank you!

 

Migrating to a SSD - clone or fresh install?

Also to make it clear when cloning both the source (your hard drive) and the destination drive (your SSD) must both be connected.

When Imaging only the source (hard drive) and an external USB drive to store the image need be connected. After the Image Backup is created you remove the hard drive, connect the SSD and restore the image (using the image backup product's "Recovery Media"
which you need to create and boot from) to the SSD. Most products also have a "SSD" option check box to properly configure the SSD offset.

You can read a product's user's guide to see exactly what step are required for cloning or imaging.

: http://www.pagestart.com