Swapped SSD from older system, not booting

[carmen617]

Client has older custom built system, originally Windows 7, upgraded to Windows 10. He's a cheap son of a gun, and has a lot of data. About a year ago, I swapped out his original drive for a 1TB SSD, at the time it was a simple clone job, everything working fine. Well, his old system died, and is no longer bootable, but it has a newish 1TB SSD with his exact configuration, software, whatever. So (remember, he's cheap) I suggested he buy a new desktop with a spinner in it, and I swap out the spinner for his SSD. He picked up a cheap consumer grade HP desktop, and I thought this was going to be an easy job. Obviously his old system wasn't UEFI, but I've successfully done this before, didn't think I'd have a problem.

Computer is not seeing the drive. Went into BIOS, swapped RAID for AHCI, turned off Safe Boot. Those are the only settings I can find that seem relevant, but the system still won't see an OS on the SSD. What might I be missing, or does a newer consumer grade HP desktop not have the ability to boot a non-UEFI drive no matter what? I can do a clean install on the SSD but sure would love to be able to just swap it out and save a bunch of hours.

 

[Markverhyden]

Have you gone to boot order to see if you can enable legacy?

 

[carmen617]

Have you gone to boot order to see if you can enable legacy?

Yeah, I don't see legacy as an option. I'm thinking it's not happening.

 

[Philippe]

Don't forget to look for a BIOS update and to reboot after switching secure boot off. You might be able to find new options...

 

[Sky-Knight]

Converting from BIOS to EFI is possible...

Convert BIOS to UEFI - Configuration Manager

Learn how to customize an OS deployment task sequence to prepare a FAT32 partition for transition to UEFI.

docs.microsoft.com

However... I do NOT recommend it. It's a HUGE time sink, and a fresh install is simply faster and more reliable. If you attempt above do so on a drive you can afford to lose the data and install on.

 

[nlinecomputers]

There’s some systems that do not support legacy mode. UEFI is the only option.

 

[Diggs]

Went into BIOS, swapped RAID for AHCI

I'm confused. If you turned on RAID and off AHCI then yes, it won't boot if it wasn't in RAID before and probably won't boot if RAID was enabled before. RAID drives do not transfer well between machines.

 

[Sky-Knight]

There’s some systems that do not support legacy mode. UEFI is the only option.

Read anything Intel based manufactured from 2020 onward simply no longer has CSM, and cannot be anything but EFI.

There were tier one limitations in the BIOSs imposed before this point in many cases. So yes, every year that goes by we will see this more and more.

Everyone should also keep in mind that all hardware inside our computers needs to be compatible with that too. For example graphics cards launched before 2013 may not have the vBIOS required to interface with an EFI platform and therefore won't work on an EFI only mainboard. This reality applies to every other bit of hardware too. So it's entirely possible to have a network interface or SATA controller that cannot be used at boot time due to its own age and driver limitations.

All of the above means, fresh install, FABs over the data, and reinstall all applications. It's our place to manage this transition as gracefully as possible, but our clients need to know that they can't just keep dragging forward their old junk forever. This is a break point... a big one.

 

[nlinecomputers]

The term you are looking for is "planned obsolescence".

 

[Sky-Knight]

The term you are looking for is "planned obsolescence".

More like, this old thing needs to die in a fire because it has a litany of issues we can't support anymore while moving forward.

I mean yes, planned obsolescence applies, but there is nothing nefarious here. It's just old insecure, limited tech being replaced by more modern hopefully more secure, and not so limited tech.

The boot process EFI uses alone is worth the march, not to mention the ability to boot to devices larger than 2tb.

 

[carmen617]

Well definitely confirmed, there is no legacy boot option on this (and I presume many other) HP consumer desktop, even with an updated BIOS (thanks for the suggestion). So much for the simple drive swap route, will not suggest this to clients going forward. However, I found a way to do what I wanted by putting his SSD into a bench system, backing up C only with Acronis, then restoring C to the crappy spinner on the HP system. Last step was cloning that set up back onto his existing SSD and installing it into the new system. Yes, I know it sounds like a lot of effort when a clean install is simple and FABS works so well, but this guy is a real pain in my butt and VERY particular about how things are set up - this process took time but most of it was downtime, and when I return the system to him I won't get 10 calls wanting me to "get it back the way it was" and complaints if I bill him for those because I didn't "do the job correctly".

 

[carmen617]

I'm confused. If you turned on RAID and off AHCI then yes, it won't boot if it wasn't in RAID before and probably won't boot if RAID was enabled before. RAID drives do not transfer well between machines.

Nah, turned off RAID and turned on AHCI. Turned off safe boot. But no legacy boot option anyway, so didn't matter.

 

[fincoder]

backing up C only with Acronis, then restoring C

Just the C partition? I wouldn't have thought that would work. Maybe Acronis 'adapts' the partition in some way when restoring to the UEFI install.

Anyway, that solution is a good find and not too fiddly. I'll try and remember that if moving from legacy to UEFI in the future.

 

[carmen617]

Just the C partition? I wouldn't have thought that would work. Maybe Acronis 'adapts' the partition in some way when restoring to the UEFI install.

Anyway, that solution is a good find and not too fiddly. I'll try and remember that if moving from legacy to UEFI in the future.

Yup, Acronis lets you back up and restore just C. I had to do a Windows update to get drivers sorted out, but after the restore it booted directly into his desktop the way he likes it, all applications intact.

 

[YeOldeStonecat]

. RAID drives do not transfer well between machines.

For desktops with fake RAID...true.
But as an all encompassing statement...not true. On the better grade servers, the hard drives hold the RIS file...Raid Instruction Set file, you can take drives that were members of a complex RAID setup on one server..move them to another server of the same brand/vintage/RAID controller or higher..and the RAID controller will read the RIS files and put humpty dumpty back together.

 

[lan101]

Maybe pick up something like a dell optiplex 3020 or 3040 and throw it in there. I've had some pretty good luck doing that with systems that would be a complete PITA to restore countless programs etc. I like to do fresh install with FABS etc. but lets face it...some people need their hand held for EVERYYYYTHING and it's very time consuming...and to save a lot of hassle/headaches...I like to be able to just grab the SSD and toss it in a new machine and call it a day.

 

[gadgetfixup]

Well definitely confirmed, there is no legacy boot option on this (and I presume many other) HP consumer desktop, even with an updated BIOS (thanks for the suggestion). So much for the simple drive swap route, will not suggest this to clients going forward. However, I found a way to do what I wanted by putting his SSD into a bench system, backing up C only with Acronis, then restoring C to the crappy spinner on the HP system. Last step was cloning that set up back onto his existing SSD and installing it into the new system. Yes, I know it sounds like a lot of effort when a clean install is simple and FABS works so well, but this guy is a real pain in my butt and VERY particular about how things are set up - this process took time but most of it was downtime, and when I return the system to him I won't get 10 calls wanting me to "get it back the way it was" and complaints if I bill him for those because I didn't "do the job correctly".

Trying to follow your steps and I think you're saying you backed up the C partition (mbr) from the original drive and restored it to the C partition (GPT) of the drive already loaded with a UEFI partition scheme. Is that correct? I'm guessing Acronis has a method for protecting the GPT partition, inserting data from a backed up MBR partition without losing the C: partition GUID on the GPT disk???

 

[carmen617]

Trying to follow your steps and I think you're saying you backed up the C partition (mbr) from the original drive and restored it to the C partition (GPT) of the drive already loaded with a UEFI partition scheme. Is that correct? I'm guessing Acronis has a method for protecting the GPT partition, inserting data from a backed up MBR partition without losing the C: partition GUID on the GPT disk???

Yes, that's exactly what I did. Even used a WD specific version of Acronis, although neither drive was WD (the Acronis installer is on a WD external that I use to back up and restore when I transfer from larger spinner to smaller WD SSD, which I find works better than cloning. As long as that is attached at all times Acronis will run)

I ran the backup from within Windows on the original drive, then had to boot with an Acronis recovery USB to restore just the C partition onto the drive that came with the new system. There were some decisions to be made in the recovery environment to get just C restored, but it was pretty obvious which choices had to be made. The restore took about an hour, and then Windows churned and burned for a while at reboot, but eventually it booted right into the client's desktop and I just had to connect to Windows update to get proper drivers.