Why is my SSD not booting after clone?
There are a lot of reasons that would cause the SSD won’t boot after clone. I've summarized some common reasons here:
✔ Bad sectors: If the source disk you cloned has bad sectors, it may cause cloned Windows 10/11 SSD won’t boot.
✔ Corrupted system: The system is corrupted during the cloning process, so the cloned drive won't boot.
✔ Missing System Reserved partition: Missed cloning the System Reserved partition.
✔ Missing boot files: The drive letter may have changed while you change HDD to SSD, causing boot files missing. As a result, SSD cannot boot after cloning.
✔ Wrong boot drive: Set the wrong drive to boot from.
✔ Wrong boot mode: Boot mode does not match the cloned disk’s partition style (GPT for UEFI, MBR for Legacy).
6 Ways to fix SSD won't boot after clone
After cloning HDD to SSD, if the SSD cannot boot, you can try the following solutions according to your situation:
Method 1. Correctly install the cloned SSD with a SATA cable
Use a SATA cable to connect the cloned SSD to your computer instead of a USB connector. Some Windows 10 users successfully booted their PC from the cloned SSD using this method.
Method 2. Set system partition as an active partition
In most cases, the active partition should be the primary one where the operating system's boot files reside. If the cloned SSD is not booting on a Windows 10 computer, it may be due to the system partition not being designated as active. You can use Command Prompt to change this.
1. Boot from the old hard drive since the cloned SSD won't boot.
2. Place the SSD in a hard drive enclosure and attach it to the PC.
3. Type “cmd” in the search bar. Right click on Command Prompt and select “Run as administrator”.
4. In the Command Prompt window, type the following commands one by one, pressing Enter after each:
- diskpart
- list disk
- select disk X (Replace "X" with the disk ID of the SSD)
- list partition
- select partition X (Replace "X" with the system partition ID)
- active
After performing the above commands, restart the computer.
Method 3. Set BIOS to boot from UEFI or Legacy
If you cloned the GPT HDD to MBR SSD, or cloned the MBR HDD to GPT SSD, it is necessary to change boot mode from UEFI to Legacy or from Legacy to UEFI. The wrong boot mode will cause the SSD not booting after clone.
To change the boot mode, you can refer to the following to configure it:
1. Continuously press a specific key (usually F2, F8, F12, Del) to enter BIOS Setup.
2. Then, use the arrow keys to select Boot tab. Here, you can select UEFI/BIOS Boot Mode as Legacy or UEFI.
3. Press F10 to save the settings and then exit. Then, restart your computer from the cloned SSD.
Method 4. Change boot order to boot from the cloned SSD
Wrong boot device could also cause the cloned drive won't boot. If there is more than one hard drive on your computer, you'd better set boot order manually.
1. Enter BIOS Setup and go to the Boot tab.
2. Set the cloned SSD as the first boot option and press F10 to save and exit.
- If your SSD is connected externally via a USB cable, move Removable Devices to the top of the list using the + key. (In some cases, you'll only be able to select a USB drive in this menu. If so, make sure that your external hard drive is the only USB storage attached to your computer when booting from it.)
- If your SSD is connected internally via a SATA cable, move Hard Drive to the top of the list and make sure your SSD is the first option under Hard Drive.
Your computer should boot successfully now. If not, go to the next solution.
Method 5. Repair Windows Startup from Windows RE
Sometimes, you need to get into Windows recovery environment (Windows RE) to repair Windows Startup if the cloned drive won’t boot in Windows 10/11. The Windows Startup repair will fix some errors and help you boot successfully.
1. Boot from the Windows installation disc. Select Repair your computer.
2. When you get into the "Choose an option" screen, select Troubleshoot -> Advanced Options -> Startup Repair (Windows 11/10/8). Then, it will start to repair the startup problem.
Method 6. Run Bootrec.exe
If Windows Startup Repair doesn’t work, you can use Bootrec.exe to fix cloned SSD won’t boot in Windows 11/10/8/7.
1. Boot computer from Windows installation disc. Select Repair your computer -> Troubleshoot -> Advanced Options -> Command Prompt.
2. In the pop-up command prompt, type the following commands to fix Windows 10/11 fails to boot.
- bootrec /fixmbr
- bootrec /fixboot
- bootrec /scanos
- bootrec /rebuildbcd
Quick fix: Clone HDD to SSD without boot issues
Is there any way can help users clone HDD to SSD without booting problems? Yes, and it's highly recommended to use the best cloning software for Windows 11/10/8.1/8/7/Vista/XP - AOMEI Backupper Professional. It allows you to clone HDD to SSD with simple steps, and boot from the cloned SSD successfully.
🌟 Multiple choices: Use the Disk Clone feature to transfer everything from one hard drive to another and use the System Clone feature to transfer OS only. Also, you can copy a specific partition via the Partition Clone feature. 🌟 Intelligent Clone: It allows you to clone larger HDD to smaller SSD only if the destination disk is large enough to store data on the source disk. 🌟 High compatibility: It supports various disk types, including SATA/IDE/PCIe disk, M.2 drive, NVMe SSD, etc.
Download AOMEI Backupper now!
Easiest hard drive/SSD clone software for Windows PC.
Steps to clone HDD to SSD without boot issues
Step 1. Connect the SSD to your computer and make sure it can be detected. Free download AOMEI Backupper, install and launch it. Click Clone -> Disk Clone.
Step 2. Select the HDD as the source disk.
Step 3. Select SSD as the destination disk.
Step 4. Here you will move to the final page. Check the box of SSD Alignment to optimize SSD performance and click Start Clone.
Note: If you are cloning a smaller disk to a larger disk, please click Edit Partitions and use Add unused space to all partitions or Manually adjust partition size to fully use the storage space on the target SSD.
Conclusion
While cloning a hard drive to SSD has some significant benefits, many users also encounter the problem of the cloned SSD not booting. In that case, using effective HDD to SSD cloning software may be a more efficient option than troubleshooting errors one by one.
With the help of AOMEI Backupper, you can easily clone HDD to SSD and ensure your computer can boot from the cloned SSD successfully. Moreover, it offers may other practical features, such as system/disk/partition/file backup, mirror folder, etc. You could download it and try it by yourself.
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