Welcome to City-Data.com Forum!
U.S. CitiesCity-Data Forum Index
Go Back   City-Data Forum > General Forums > Science and Technology > Computers
 [Register]
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
View detailed profile (Advanced) or search
site with Google Custom Search

Search Forums  (Advanced)
 
Old 11-30-2012, 03:38 AM
 
961 posts, read 2,021,796 times
Reputation: 481

Advertisements

Basically I've got a new computer which came with Windows 8. I bought an SSD at the same time and I've installed it. I've managed to create a "clone" of Windows 8.

However I can't get it to load there. The BIOS detects the SSD, and also it's detected in the regular windows C: drive.

I messed around with some program called "EasyBCD" and was able to get to the point where I had a dual boot screen that let me boot Windows 8 or "Windows 8 (SSD)" (that's what I called the "clone"). The "Windows 8 (SSD)" went to a black screen and hung for two minutes, so I stopped it and went back.

Is there anyway to do this?

If the only way is to buy Windows Pro disc, I can wipe out/format the SSD drive again and do a clean install on the SSD I'll do it grudgingly I suppose--but can that be done when Windows is already in the system on other drives?

By the way the computer is brand new. I figure I might as well mess around before there's valuable data on the machine to worry about.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message

 
Old 11-30-2012, 05:17 AM
 
Location: Wandering.
3,549 posts, read 6,646,557 times
Reputation: 2704
If you unplug the other drive does the SSD boot?
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 11-30-2012, 07:36 AM
 
2,265 posts, read 3,695,476 times
Reputation: 1815
I had nothing but problems with Windows 8 when I tried to downgrade to Win7. Make sure secureboot is enabled in the BIOS and make sure the boot manager in the bios see's the SSD (unplug the regular hard drive). Also from what I read, a fair number of cloning applications, if not all of them, cannot clone a GPT formatted drive.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 11-30-2012, 07:54 AM
 
10,924 posts, read 21,932,574 times
Reputation: 10567
You can't do a standard clone from an HDD to an SSD, you won't have proper sector alignment. Unless you use a cloning app that is SSD aware and will do it properly (along with it being GPT aware). There's a procedure you need to follow to do it correctly. There's plenty of tutorials for Windows 7 online, haven't found one for you for Windows 8 yet.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 11-30-2012, 08:26 AM
 
961 posts, read 2,021,796 times
Reputation: 481
Quote:
Originally Posted by NHDave View Post
You can't do a standard clone from an HDD to an SSD, you won't have proper sector alignment. Unless you use a cloning app that is SSD aware and will do it properly (along with it being GPT aware). There's a procedure you need to follow to do it correctly. There's plenty of tutorials for Windows 7 online, haven't found one for you for Windows 8 yet.
It's a few weeks old though.

I'm a student, so i might be able to get Windows Pro disc for a discount. Is a clean boot to the SSD from a Microsoft disc a viable (and simple) option on the machine?

Is there anything I have to do to the SSD before I go that route? (remember there's a mirror of my c:/ drive sitting on it right now).
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 11-30-2012, 08:29 AM
 
10,924 posts, read 21,932,574 times
Reputation: 10567
Quote:
Originally Posted by superseiyan View Post
It's a few weeks old though.

I'm a student, so i might be able to get Windows Pro disc for a discount. Is a clean boot to the SSD from a Microsoft disc a viable (and simple) option on the machine?

Is there anything I have to do to the SSD before I go that route? (remember there's a mirror of my c:/ drive sitting on it right now).
If you go the clean install route with a genuine MS Windows 8 DVD, you will want to delete all of the current partitions on the drive, then create a new one during the initial Windows 8 setup, this will create a properly aligned partition, then just do the install as usual.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 11-30-2012, 08:44 AM
 
2,265 posts, read 3,695,476 times
Reputation: 1815
Also a note - Windows 8, using GPT, will create more than one partition because of UEFI. Completely normal, but best done on a completely clean disk/SSD. That's where I ran into trouble installing Windows 7, it doesn't boot off the CD/DVD in native UEFI mode. Worked great once I set it up to boot off the right file on the DVD. I'm pretty sure Win8 boots off the disc in UEFI though.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.

Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.


Reply
Please update this thread with any new information or opinions. This open thread is still read by thousands of people, so we encourage all additional points of view.

Quick Reply
Message:

Over $104,000 in prizes was already given out to active posters on our forum and additional giveaways are planned!

Go Back   City-Data Forum > General Forums > Science and Technology > Computers

All times are GMT -6. The time now is 04:46 AM.

© 2005-2024, Advameg, Inc. · Please obey Forum Rules · Terms of Use and Privacy Policy · Bug Bounty

City-Data.com - Contact Us - Archive 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37 - Top