3 replies to this topic

[Theo Guldimann]

My System:
Sony Vaio with 1 300 GB HD with Windows 7-64, Win 7-64 was fully re-installed in Nov 2011

My intention:
Substitute my current HD with a faster SDD drive.

Process:

• Format the new SSD using Windows Disk formatting tool. I formatted the new drive as NTFS Volume C:)

• Create a bootable USB recovery key using WHS 2011(Compters and Backup -> Addtl client computer backup task -> tools -> Create key). No problems, worked fine.

• Boot the PC using USB Flash Drives with the Recovery Key (after changing the BIOS boot sequence)

• Windows is being started, I selected the Win 7-64 Option, set the keyboard and language options as needed

• then using the "Full System Restore Wizard" selection of the computer to be restored as well as the apropriate backup (the last one).

• now, after some size checks the restore process is started, takes about 2 hours and is successfully terminated.

• After the succesful restore I removed the USB stick, - and restarted the system. System starts up, BIOS is being started, but after the BIOS screen all I can see is a blinking cursor in the upper left corner of the PC monitor (instead of a windows start-up). That was it!

• for whatever reason the restored SDD device seems not to be bootable!

• re-installing the old HD and re-booting the system works fine (thanks god) , no problems.

Any ideas??


Thank you for feedbacks.

[Garry]

Theo Guldimann, on 22 February 2012 - 12:44 PM, said:

My System:
Sony Vaio with 1 300 GB HD with Windows 7-64, Win 7-64 was fully re-installed in Nov 2011

My intention:
Substitute my current HD with a faster SDD drive.

Process:

• Format the new SSD using Windows Disk formatting tool. I formatted the new drive as NTFS Volume C:)

• Create a bootable USB recovery key using WHS 2011(Compters and Backup -> Addtl client computer backup task -> tools -> Create key). No problems, worked fine.

• Boot the PC using USB Flash Drives with the Recovery Key (after changing the BIOS boot sequence)

• Windows is being started, I selected the Win 7-64 Option, set the keyboard and language options as needed

• then using the "Full System Restore Wizard" selection of the computer to be restored as well as the apropriate backup (the last one).

• now, after some size checks the restore process is started, takes about 2 hours and is successfully terminated.

• After the succesful restore I removed the USB stick, - and restarted the system. System starts up, BIOS is being started, but after the BIOS screen all I can see is a blinking cursor in the upper left corner of the PC monitor (instead of a windows start-up). That was it!

• for whatever reason the restored SDD device seems not to be bootable!

• re-installing the old HD and re-booting the system works fine (thanks god) , no problems.

Any ideas??






Thank you for feedbacks.

New ssd's don't usually come with an initialized partition. Also you need to change the BIOS to AHCI. This
means that it will require a different driver in order to work. The driver used in your restore most
likely does not have the necessary driver for the new drive.

There is hope however. A utility to transfer the data from your old drive to the new ssd is either
usually provided in your kit or can be downloaded from the ssd manufacteror. Or you can just
start from scratch and install the o/s from the installation disk. In the end it will be worth it.

[Theo Guldimann]

Garry
thank you. At the end of the day, I came to the conclusion, that a complete re-installation of Win7-64 plus all programs is the safest, but not the easiest way. In the meantime my SSD system is up and running.

[Shidoshi]

Theo Guldimann, on 29 February 2012 - 02:22 PM, said:

Garry
thank you. At the end of the day, I came to the conclusion, that a complete re-installation of Win7-64 plus all programs is the safest, but not the easiest way. In the meantime my SSD system is up and running.

I understand you went the route of reinstallation from scratch (which I'm usually an advocate of, especially in most cases where you're going from IDE or IDE Emulation to AHCI), but it seems like the boot sector/MBR of the HDD wasn't copied when your system was backed up. When you created your backup configuration, did you also include the 100MB System Reserved Partition, and did you include that in the restore on the SSD?

Alternatively, for future reference, a blinking cursor issue can usually be solved by (re)writing a new MBR from the Windows 7 install disc "Repair" via Command line.

Anyway, its neither here nor there for you, as you're already back up and running.