Trouble booting from cloned SSD

@planetaryman 

"It does show up in Device Manager, however, so Windows at least knows it's there (and of course since I already cloned it)."

Neither Dell nor Microsoft support cloning Drives.

windows policy for disk-duplication

Showing up in device manager does not mean that the proper drivers are there. INTEL and Samsung have specific NON windows drivers because of this.  You should have modified F2 BIOS SATA OPERATION to AHCI from the Default RAID configuration BEFORE trying to clone. This procedure to change it is not a single step single reboot water chicken install.

The other issue that can happen is called drive signature collision.

You cannot mount 2 cloned drives with the same signature.

When you use both disks having identical signatures in the same pc at the same time, you will run into the Disk Signature Collision problem.

The boot selection failed because a required device is inaccessible

The disk is offline because it has a signature collision

The disk is offline because it has a signature collision with another disk that is online.

have you tried to install os on the PCIe ssd rather than cloning os from hdd?  Try Dell method 3:

1. Ensure the latest compatible version of a UEFI BIOS is installed on your PC.

2. Set the Boot Order list in your BIOS so that the Windows Installation Media source is first. (Be that a thumb drive or optical drive.)

3. Save and Exit the BIOS and the Windows installation should begin.

4. On the Where do you want to install Windows? prompt :

   • If the SSD is listed, select it and click next.

   • If the SSD isn't listed then :

     1. Click Load Driver

     2. Navigate to the location you have saved the file from the manufacturer.

     3. Select the file and load it.

5. Your SSD should now be listed, select it and click on next.

6. Follow the remainder of the installation instructions until the install is complete.

7. In the BIOS set the SSD to be the Primary Boot device.

8. Save and Exit the BIOS.

9. Boot to Windows and open the Device Manager for your OS Version.

10. Under Storage Controllers find your device and right click on it and select Update Driver Software.

11. Navigate to where you have saved the latest version and load it.

12. Reboot your PC to finalize the installation.

you may also try Dell method 1 or 2 since 3668 has option to enable or disable the Legacy Option ROMs.

re: I cloned my HDD to my SSD.
If you want to boot from NVMe ssd in PCIe slot, and your os is cloned from hdd, was the os on hdd originally installed in uefi bios mode without legacy rom option?

speedstep, thank you for your reply.

If I do this:

"You should have modified F2 BIOS SATA OPERATION to AHCI from the Default RAID configuration BEFORE trying to clone."

...then go back and clone my HDD, do you think I'll then be able to boot from my SSD? I guess I'd have to pull the plug on the HDD to avoid disk signature collision?

I have not tried installing the OS on the SSD. That is undesirable for me because I just finished customizing my current HDD Windows install to have everything just the way I like it, and I don't want to have to do it all over again. But, thank you for the reply. I will keep it in my back pocket if I must go that route.

@planetaryman - First, reconnect the HDD. Then power on and tap F12 at the Dell splash screen to open the boot menu. Look for an option to boot from the SSD there.

Assuming that works, open Windows Disk Management and initialize the HDD. (WARNING: All files deleted so everything must be backed up elsewhere, not just on the SSD.)

Then power off normally and reboot. PC should boot from the SSD and you can use the HDD for storage.

NOTE: If that doesn't work, and BIOS is set to RAID, you should change it to AHCI, as was said above, but you have to do it the right way:

1. Open Cmd, run as administrator
2. Copy-paste this command, which will start Windows in Safe Mode the next time you reboot:
   bcdedit /set {current} safeboot minimal and press Enter
3. Restart the computer and enter BIOS setup
4. Change the SATA operation mode from RAID to AHCI
5. Save the change and exit Setup and Windows will automatically boot to Safe Mode.
6. Open Cmd again, as in step #1.
7. Copy-paste this command, which will start Windows in Normal Mode the next time you reboot:
   bcdedit /deletevalue {current} safeboot and press Enter
8. Reboot and Windows will automatically start with AHCI drivers enabled.

Now re-clone the HDD onto the SSD and try using the F12 menu to boot from the SSD again.

BIOS is not a boot selector.

You will need usb2 fat32 32 gig flash drive and the media tool to create a new installer.

You will need to set F2 BIOS Sata operation to AHCI

You will need to remove ALL STORAGE except the SSD and erase the drive and reinstall windows clean.

You cannot put 2 drives with same signature in and boot.

There will be a drive signature collision.

@planetaryman 

BIOS is not a boot selector. BEFORE Cloning you will have to switch from RAID to AHCI.

Cloning is not supported by Dell or Microsoft .

policy for disk duplication of Windows

To change from RAID to AHCI without reinstalling BEFORE CLONING.

1.Run cmd as administrator

2.Copy-paste this command, which will start Windows in Safe Mode the next time you reboot:
bcdedit /set safeboot minimal

3.Restart the computer and enter F2 BIOS setup.

4.Change the SATA operation mode from RAID to AHCI.

5.Save changes and exit Setup and Windows will automatically boot to Safe Mode.

6.Launch cmd again as adminstrator, as in step #1.

7.Copy-paste this command, which will start Windows in Normal Mode the next time you reboot:
bcdedit /deletevalue safeboot

8.Reboot and Windows will automatically start with AHCI drivers enabled.

You will need usb2 fat32 32 gig flash drive and the media tool to create a new installer.

sandisk-cruzer-32gb-usb-2-0-flash-drive

Media Creation Tool

https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=691209

You will need to set F2 BIOS Sata operation to AHCI

You will need to remove ALL STORAGE except the SSD and erase the drive and reinstall windows clean.

You cannot put 2 drives with same signature in and boot.

There will be a drive signature collision.

Are you telling me there is no way to use my existing Windows 10 install (with all the tweaks I've made to it) on my new SSD? I must install Windows clean onto my SSD and begin again to tweak my Windows 10 install?

@planetaryman  - Did you try what I posted about using the F12 menu to boot from the SSD with the HDD connected?

If it won't boot from the SSD that way, possibly because BIOS is set to RAID, change it to AHCI as I posted above, after booting from the HDD. Then just re-clone the image onto the SSD and try booting from the SSD via the F12 menu again...

before, or if necessary, after you change BIOS from RAID to AHCI (assuming it's set to RAID now)?

And if you follow the procedure I posted to change BIOS to AHCI, you won't have to do a clean install, assuming PC boots from the SSD via the F12 menu.

@planetaryman 

Neither Microsoft , Dell, or myself are going to support ANY cloning software.  That doesn't mean it wont work.  It does mean that I'm not going over 50 questions and endless posts to walk you thru the required steps.   If its not working for you Macrium or other 3rd party cloning software companies will have to help you.  There is support for this kind of thing but its not free.

Windows will not see the pci-e SSD in RAID mode.  You cant just switch from RAID to AHCI or you will get bugcheck stop 7B  windows ran into a problem inaccessable boot device.  Once you change from RAID to AHCI it will boot safe mode with BLACK Background Screen low resolution.  This is normal.

You then remove safe mode and go back to normal windows.

Once thats done where F2 BIOS SATA OPERATION is AHCI and it boots you clone it.

DO NOT LEAVE BOTH DRIVES INSTALLED after cloning.

Once the HDD is cloned to the PCI-E NVME Drive you can then F2 select UEFI boot mode with SECURE BOOT OFF.

This is not a one click one reboot water chicken install.

Whether you install clean or clone F2 BIOS SATA OPERATION must be AHCI.

F2 Bios security option SECURE BOOT MUST BE OFF.

F2 BIOS CSM Legacy mode must be OFF.

F2 BIOS Boot Mode must be GPT UEFI.

@RoHe Ron,

Thank you for your reply. I meant to reply sooner.

I did what you suggested in the first paragraph:

"First, reconnect the HDD. Then power on and tap F12 at the Dell splash screen to open the boot menu. Look for an option to boot from the SSD there."

It didn't work. This is the essence of my problem.

I then tried to change the SATA operation mode from RAID to AHCI, as you recommended here:

NOTE: If that doesn't work, and BIOS is set to RAID, you should change it to AHCI, as was said above, but you have to do it the right way:

1. Open Cmd, run as administrator
2. Copy-paste this command, which will start Windows in Safe Mode the next time you reboot:
   bcdedit /set {current} safeboot minimal and press Enter
3. Restart the computer and enter BIOS setup
4. Change the SATA operation mode from RAID to AHCI
5. Save the change and exit Setup and Windows will automatically boot to Safe Mode.
6. Open Cmd again, as in step #1.
7. Copy-paste this command, which will start Windows in Normal Mode the next time you reboot:
   bcdedit /deletevalue {current} safeboot and press Enter

But during this process I found that it was already set to AHCI.

Do you have any other recommendations on how to proceed?

@redxps630 thank you for your reply.

I believe the answer to your question is yes, but in case I'm wrong, this is how the Windows 10 was originally installed.

@planetaryman  You said you installed the Lexar 1T SSD in the PCIe x1 slot with an adapter.  The 3668 motherboard has 4 standard SATA data ports so why didn't you just get a standard 2.5" SATA SSD like one of these so you won't need an adapter?

Does the F12 menu actually offer an option to boot from the SSD, but it doesn't boot? Or there's just no option on the F12 menu to boot from the SSD?

I guess it's possible the PC can't boot from the x1 slot...

@RoHe 

I thought the interface would be faster going through the PCIe slot than the SATA data ports. Plus, whenever I upgrade, I could just take it out of the adapter and pop it into an M.2 slot for ultra-fast data rate.

Unfortunately, the F12 menu doesn't offer an option to boot from the SSD 8~\