Windows 10: Installed a cloned drive but when booting up I get "Operating system not found."

Having recently returned a laptop running Linux to Windows I decided to upgrade the machine by installing additional RAM and by installing a new SSD to replace the old HDD. I downloaded and ran AOMEI Backupper Standard to clone the old drive onto the new one. After installing all the new hardware the laptop would not boot. It informed me that "Operating System Not Found."I assume I did something wrong when running the cloning process. In any case, as the old drive only had Windows 10 loaded onto it and no files or data I'm wondering what I can do to rescue this effort. Is it possible to re-ins

:)

 

Change default boot drive after cloning system drive

Hello all.

My HP '2 in 1' laptop-tablet came with two internal SDDs, Disk 0 (C which is the system drive and has Windows and its system files and Disk 1 (D which is empty. They're two separate disks, not a partition. The issue is, however, that Disk 0 came only
with about 29GB of total space, and it became filled up by Windows and its updates. Disk 1 has about 460GB of free space.

I want to move the system drive from Disk 0 to Disk 1, and to do such I've been advised to clone C: to D: (making D: the system drive) and then reformat C:. Thus, Windows and the system files will be on D:, the larger drive.

However, I am concerned with the fact that seemingly I am not able to change which drive the PC boots from when it starts. The BIOS menu has a boot order list, but it does not contain any info about the internal drives, only a "OS boot manager" (which is
set as primary option) and then external alternatives (CD, USB, etc.). There's no option for changing the default boot drive from C: to D:.

So if I clone C: to D:, but the system keeps booting from C: (or is unable to boot at all if I reformat C, the whole operation is useless and I am still stuck with Windows being installed on a smaller drive.

Is there anyway to change the default internal drive the PC boots from?

 

Error: "An operating system wasn't found. Try disconnecting any drives that don't contain an operating system"

Hi Stephen,

I realize the inconvenience you are facing in accessing the operating system. Now that you have me with you let me take care of this.

Do let us know if you are able to see Windows 7/ Windows 10 operating system while rebooting the device?

As you are unable to boot the operating system, this issue might have occurred when the boot files are missing or corrupted.

I suggest you re-built the boot rec by following the below commands and check if it helps.
You will have to use Windows 10/7 installation media to follow the steps to boot into Recovery Environment and try to rebuild BCD.

Step 1: I suggest you to create an installation media for
operating system using the media creation tool

If system boots to Windows 10:
Installing Windows 10 using the media creation tool

If system boots to Windows 7: Download Windows 7 Disc Images (ISO Files)

Step 2: After preparing the installation media, insert it hard reboot the device and follow the below:

• Boot into Windows Recovery Environment using the Windows 10/7 installation media.
• Click on Repair your computer.
  
• Click on Troubleshoot and in the Advanced options.
• Select Command Prompt. Type the following commands into the prompt and press Enter key after each command.

• bootrec /fixmbr

• 
  bootrec /fixboot
  
• 
  bootrec /scanos
  
• 
  bootrec /rebuildbcd
  

5. Restart the computer.

NOTE: Modifying BIOS/ complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) settings incorrectly can cause serious problems that may prevent your computer from booting properly. Microsoft cannot guarantee that any problems resulting
from the configuring of BIOS/CMOS settings can be solved. Modifications of the settings are at your own risk.

Hope it helps. Reply to the post with an updated status of booting the operating system for further assistance.

Thank you.

 

boot from cloned ssd installed on cd drive

I have to assume that the cloning software you used made the SSD bootable. You can only confirm that by checking the software's documentation and confirming that you followed the procedure correctly.

I also assume that you have made a system image of the HDD. I also assume that you made a Recovery drive or a System repair disk unless you have an installation disk [which can also do the same job]. You will need this if the cloning has not worked correctly
and you need to restore your system.

The BIOS might not be capable of booting from a SSD/HDD in the CD bay. Whilst that can be a convenient location for doing the cloning, you will almost certainly need to remove the original HDD and fit the SSD
in its bay instead.

Put the old HDD in a USB enclosure so that it can be used as a storage drive but do not connect it to the computer while you are trying to get the SSD to boot. Bootable HDDs & SSDs have "signatures" that the system will look for during booting and finding
multiple signatures will confuse it & probably stop it booting at all.

If, when the SSD has proved itself, you decide to fit the old HDD in the CD bay as an onboard additional storage drive then you will need to format it first so hold off on this until you are completely confident in the SSD.

- - - - - - - - -

When I did this job last year, I used Acronis TI to "clone" to the SSD. Actually, what I did was use Acronis TI to restore a system image to the SSD. That is, in effect, cloning it but I thought that it would be a more reliable way of doing it as TI system
images are tolerant of changed hardware being found.

• I put the SSD in the CD bay to do the image restoration.
• I removed the old HDD and put the SSD in its bay.
• The SSD booted correctly.
• After a while, I reformatted the old HDD and fitted it in the CD bay as an onboard additional storage drive.

Best of luck,

Denis