How can I copy a drive image to a new SSD and make it bootable?

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I recently purchased a G.SKILL Phoenix Pro 120GB SSD, and attempted to make an image of my current drive, and restore that image to the new SSD. The current drive is a 320GB HDD in an HP Envy 14 laptop. These are the steps I took:

  1. Resize the partition on my HDD (using GParted) to 105GB in order to fit on the new SSD
  2. Make an image of my HDD (using clonezilla) and save to an external hard drive
  3. Create a partition on the SSD larger than 105GB
  4. Restore the image of my HDD to the SSD using clonezilla 4.
  5. Attempt to boot from new SSD

Everything went fine, until I attempted to boot from the SSD (I tried booting with it both physically inside the laptop, and in the docking station). I received an error message, asking my to please insert a bootable disk. I then booted into the BIOS and ran a disk check, which showed no problems.

Again, this is on an HP Envy 14 running Windows 7 Home Premium. I should also note that when I insert the SSD into the USB/eSATA docking station I have, it is not visible in Windows. I don't know if that's of concern or not. However, when I attach or remove it, a message does pop up from the Intel Rapid Storage Technology notifier saying that a disk has been detected.

Edit: now includes pictures showing the boot order, selecting to boot from the SSD, and the error message.

Boot Order:

Boot order

Choosing to select the boot device: Boot pause

Selecting the SSD to boot from: Boot select

The error message when attempting to boot from the SSD: alt text

Travis Northcutt

Posted 2010-10-19T14:34:14.737

Reputation: 901

This makes me glad I use Casper...that sounds like a lot of work! (I'm not sure why it didn't work, I'm afraid.) – Shinrai – 2010-10-19T14:42:38.010

@Shinrai: this makes me glad I use OS X :P – Robert S Ciaccio – 2010-10-19T14:52:04.710

@calavera Would be much easier there, yes. Nothing wrong with OS X, except the part where none of my favorite applications run on it. ;) – Shinrai – 2010-10-19T15:44:52.523

Answers

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Have you tried a repair of the installation yet? You might be able to get away with booting from the install disc (or a recovery disc) and using the repair startup wizard. If that doesn't work, going to the command line from there and typing "bootrec" might solve it as well.

Robert S Ciaccio

Posted 2010-10-19T14:34:14.737

Reputation: 1 470

I have not tried that. To clarify, do you mean having the SSD in the laptop, booting from a Windows 7 install disc, and attempting to repair the installation on the SSD? – Travis Northcutt – 2010-10-19T14:40:44.487

exactly... however reading your question over again it sounds more like the BIOS is not even trying to boot from the SSD. Which connection are you using from the docking station? The USB or eSATA? – Robert S Ciaccio – 2010-10-19T14:42:34.500

I have tried both connections from the docking station - same behavior with each (Intel RST notices the drive, but it is not visible in Windows). This was the case both before and after I created the partition on it and restored the HDD image to it. I may update the BIOS to see if that fixes it - does that seem like a good thing to try? – Travis Northcutt – 2010-10-19T14:46:47.907

So you say that the drive is not visible in Windows using either connection. However, have you tried booting from the drive using both connections? i.e. have you tried booting using the USB connection, and failing that, reconnecting it with the eSATA and trying again? – Robert S Ciaccio – 2010-10-19T14:50:13.247

No, I haven't tried booting with the SSD in the docking station. I'll try that now. – Travis Northcutt – 2010-10-19T14:53:16.313

Ok I guess I was still confused. So you have the SSD actually inside the laptop and the original HD removed? Can you edit the question with the specifics of the hardware connections? Just a line or two about what we just discussed here and what you've tried so far, eg. "when booting with the SSD installed inside the laptop", etc. – Robert S Ciaccio – 2010-10-19T14:56:04.340

I have now tried booting with the SSD both inside and outside of the laptop, but either way, I get the message about inserting a bootable disk. – Travis Northcutt – 2010-10-19T15:09:50.267

what is the boot order set to in the BIOS? Also, can you post the exact error message you receive? – Robert S Ciaccio – 2010-10-19T15:18:42.370

Updating OP with pictures of boot order, boot drive selection, and error message. – Travis Northcutt – 2010-10-19T15:41:50.253

UPDATE: I just now tried booting from a Windows 7 install disc and running the repair tool, and it worked!! Thanks calavera. – Travis Northcutt – 2010-10-19T16:27:14.273

@tnorthcutt: awesome, glad it worked out... I suppose I should have stuck with my first instinct :P – Robert S Ciaccio – 2010-10-19T18:09:14.230

Asked: 2010-10-19T14:34:14.737

Viewed: 2 561 times

Active: 2015-12-16T09:58:21.607