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So I've got a laptop with a 300GB HDD which I want to replace for a 120GB SSD. The 300GB HDD will then act as a secondary hard disk. I've tried cloning my hard disk with EaseUS ToDo Backup and EZ GIG IV however none worked. When I boot from the SSD, The windows 7 logo screen (black background) loads and then a Blue Screen of Death. I've searched and many people claim to have managed cloning the hard disk.

I don't want to do a fresh install of Windows due to the many settings I've changed (and due to the fingerprint reader). The Windows 7 is the one that came pre-installed. Also I've cloned all partitions from my HDD.

Also when I access the start-up repair I'm able to see the ssd however windows can't fix the error automatically.

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  • I assume you shrunk the system partition to something to less then 120GB?
    – Ramhound
    Jan 24, 2014 at 18:57
  • Have you tried using bootrec and bcdboot from the command line on the start-up repair? I assume you verified the disk cloned correctly?
    – GnP
    Jan 24, 2014 at 18:57
  • @Ramhound yes I had to to fit all partitions Jan 24, 2014 at 19:53
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    What did the bugcheck actually say?
    – JdeBP
    Jan 25, 2014 at 0:14
  • @gnp Ok, I haven't tried the commands since I didn't know they existed. If you can guide me through them I'd appreciate it. Also if you mean by verifying as in checking that the size on hdd = size on ssd, well then there's a 0.4 GB difference between the HDD and the SSD (sdd has 0.4 less but I'm assuming that's due to the size on disk would be less, correct me if I'm wrong). Jan 25, 2014 at 13:46

5 Answers 5

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Try running three separate startup repairs:

The first step in the process is to mark the desired volume/partition as "Active" so that WinRE (Windows Recovery Environment) will know which volume you want to become "System" when the startup repairs are run.

The second step in this process is to run at least 3 separate startup repairs to create a new set of boot files to the new "Active" volume/partition, be sure to complete all 3 steps of Option One below to complete this entire process.

Also, maybe syspreping the install will help. By running sysprep on it it should become hardware independent.

If none of this work, your best bet seems to be to run a repair reintall or a full reinstall.

EDIT: I just found this

Are you getting a 0x0000007B error when it BSOD's?

Did you load the driver of the storage controller of the new PC onto the old PC before you imaged it? The OS is probably looking for the drivers of the storage controller on the NEW PC, but the image/clone of the old PC won't have those. That often causes a BSOD.

I'm not sure how to do that though. Again, sysprep might be the way to go.

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  • great tips, i'll try them out tonight.
    – sonjz
    Sep 16, 2014 at 18:04
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Ok, so I managed to do this. All I had to do was use my SSD manufacture's cloning software. However I still don't know why the others didn't work.

I posted the same thing to Yahoo Answers and here is the full answer that helped.

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Research Clonezilla, it's free and works well. Just be sure that your image off the 300GB drive isn't too large to fit on the 120GB.

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    tried it but it couldn't do it due to the sizes Jan 24, 2014 at 19:53
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I was struggling with this issue for a while and figured it out.

My hardware:

  • 1TB HHD (original primary drive)

  • 250GB Samsung 840 EVO

  • Lenovo Ideapad Y580

  • SATA to USB 3.0 adaptor or Optical Drive SATA Hard Drive Caddy (best to have SATA/USB 3.0 adaptor in all cases)

Tools:

  • EaseUS Partition Master Free

  • Macrium Reflect Free

Steps:

First, delete as much as you can from the partitions from your primary 1TB HHD.

Second, I used EaseUS Partition Master to drop the size of my drives. In my case I copied 4 paritions for my Lenovo box :

  • MBR 200MB (don't shrink)

  • OS 170GB (shrunk from 800GB)

  • LENOVO 4GB (shrunk from 20GB) - a drive with some installers from Lenovo

  • LENOVO_PART 13GB (shrunk from 24GB) - Levovo's full system restore drive

  • I created a 200GB partition to store the backup (see next step)

  • tried to leave about 25GB or 10% space for Over-provisioning...

Third, I used Macrium Reflect to make a backup the entire 1TB drive except 200GB partition you use for the backup (just uncheck it when its doing the backup). My backup using medium compression took 156GB.

Fourth, attach your SSD with the SATA/USB 3.0 adapter or the Optical Drive caddy. Go back into Macrium Reflect and restore your backup of the 1TB drive. Shutdown.

Fifth, remove ALL hard drives from your computer!! This includes the old HDD, any microSSD hard drives you might have, as these will give you BSOD if you have these devices online at the same time as replacing the OS drive. Now install your SSD into the primary HDD slot. Boot windows, you shouldn't have any BSOD issues. Windows appears to ID the new SSD and vet the hardware setup from scratch. Shutdown and reboot a couple times to verify all is well.

Sixth, attach your drives back, your microSSD (which caused my BSOD), and if you are putting your 1TB in the optical bay hard drive caddy. I would do it one at a time and Shutdown and Boot for each. Be sure to change your CMOS to always point to your new SSD to boot, this may change automatically as you start adding drives back.

Be sure to run your SSD software to maximize the life of your drive and improve the startup performance. The Samsung Magician (only for Samsung 840 EVO) is pretty comprehensive in that regard including an over-provisioning to extend drive life.

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After all else failed, I did a Reset on the new hard drive. Everything was perfect after that! I figured that Windows was there but configured wrong somehow.

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