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    Alienware m17x r4 cloned ssd upgrade wont boot

    Discussion in 'Alienware 17 and M17x' started by Imonk86, Dec 3, 2018.

  1. Imonk86

    Imonk86 Notebook Enthusiast

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    So I cloned my OS hdd from bay 0 to a Crucial MX500 ssd using an external interface.
    The issue I am having is when I turn on the screen is black and claims no boot device is found.
    I changed from raid to AHCI and tried to reboot and more of the same. In the first bios tab I can see the ssd is detected in whatever bay I put it in, but I cant changed or detect anything in the boot tab.

    I am running unlocked bios a14 on windows 10 so I could update the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 675M firmware to work on windows 10.
     
    Last edited: Dec 3, 2018
    Imonk86, Dec 3, 2018
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  2. Mastermind5200

    Mastermind5200 Notebook Virtuoso

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    You'll just have to reinstall windows over it and recover the data, or use another desktop and clone the data and erase the MX 500, and put windows on it
     
    Mastermind5200, Dec 3, 2018
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  3. Rengsey R. H. Jr.

    Rengsey R. H. Jr. I Never Slept

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    Should use the free OS clone software.

    EaseUS ... it’s free and easy. Works for me all the time.
     
    Rengsey R. H. Jr., Dec 3, 2018
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  4. 2CPU

    2CPU Notebook Evangelist

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    I recommend Acronis if desire to pay for a product. Universal restore has been quite useful over the years.
     
    2CPU, Dec 3, 2018
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  5. Imonk86

    Imonk86 Notebook Enthusiast

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    Sorry for late reply, I ultimately went this route and started fresh less headache. Thanks for the suggestion!
     
    Imonk86, Dec 12, 2018
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  6. johnbb

    johnbb Notebook Consultant

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    After the cloning operation, make sure the only drive in the system is your cloned ssd. Otherwise Windows MBR/UEFI may **** up your assigned letter and then won't find the OS.
    If the only drive is the cloned one, in work 99% of the time without any headache.
    After windows boots, shutdown computer and reinstall the other drives. Then at next boot go into BIOS and set up the boot drive priority.
    Then you're good to go!!
    It saves you a windows installation.

    And if anything goes sideways, boot with recovery DVD and open command prompt:
    type diskpart
    type select disk 0 or 1
    detail disk
    and look for volume with C: drive. If it does not match your supposed windows partition, you need to rebind it with diskpart
    then exit diskpart
    type bootrec /fixboot
    type bootrec /fixmbr (if mbr drive, no use if gpt)
    type bootrec /rebuildbcd

    You should now be able to fix almost all kind of windows crap after disk cloning.

    Cheers mate
     
    johnbb, Dec 16, 2018
    #6