HDD to SSD upgrade

Harry Bloomfield

Harry Bloomfield

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Old Acer laptop, which I am trying to revive and give a bit more ooomph to.

8Gb memory, Win 10, 1000Gb HDD. I bought a 500Gb Crucial SDD, with which to replace the internal HDD. All is working when HDD fitted, before and after. I used the Crucial Acronis version, with a USB to SATA adaptor, to clone HDD to SDD, all seemed to go well, ending with 'you can now swap the drives over.

BIOS is seeing the drive, but it is not booting from it. I think it is suggesting it has nothing to boot from. Swap them back and it boots from the HDD. What am I missing please?

[EDIT] I've just checked it via the USB/SATA adaptor and the files seem to be on the SSD.
 
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Make sure the new drive is the only drive in the system. Then boot from installation CD, and get into command console that's part of the repair facility. Run the following commands in the console:

bootrec /fixmbr
bootrec /fixboot
bcdboot C:\Windows /s C:

The console also gives you access to diskpart. You shouldn't need to do this, but just in case: google "diskpart set drive as active boot"

After the drive is working, you may be presented with multiple choice of OS to boot from. From windows run msconfig to remove the choice associated with the old drive. If you remove the wrong one, you may have to go through these steps again.
 
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I have just got round to trying Macrium Reflect, which someone else suggested to try, along with changes in the BIOS - the free version, and it looks as if it just simply worked. No need to change anything in the BIOS.

I've also did a bit of research on Acer Aspire ES1 and Crucial sell the actual drive as being suitable for the laptop and well as offering the Acronis software as a download, to clone data from HDD, to a bootable SSD. Shame I just could not get it to work, but now sorted using Macrium. It only took two days, but worth it - it boots up and loads software very quickly now, making it very usable.

The loss of Internet was a strange one. My main router (FTTC) is in the loft - powered via a remote control plug, so it can be easily remotely rebooted. Whilst tearing my hair out, trying to get the SSD to boot, my LAN 'went a bit funny', so I decided to reboot the lot, including the main router at 7pm. It refused to connect. I rang my ISP Plusnet next day and they claimed the router was attempting log in, but offering the wrong password to their server. Once I knew that, I could reset the login password, and away it went.

Strange the password should become corrupted, just as a result of powering down and back up and the first issue I've had with the Plusnet connection in five+ years, apart from my own supply of fancy modem/router failing several years ago, and having to use the Plusnet supplied one, which I had put to one side as a spare.
 
A Bit late - Macrium Reflect (free) is a great tool.
Apparently :- '...Macrium Reflect is popular imaging/backup software that has been available in free and commercial editions. However, the parent company, Paramount Software, has recently announced that the Macrium Reflect Free version will be retired as of 1st January 2024...'
davescomputertips.com

Macrium Reflect Free Version To Be Retired | Daves Computer Tips

Macrium Reflect is popular imaging/backup software that has been available in free and commercial editions. However, the parent company, Paramount Software, has recently announced that the Macrium…
davescomputertips.com

-0-
 
A new battery, will be the next thing for my old Acer. I switched it on last evening, without mains power, just to fire off a quick email, and it died soon after it had booted.
 
Harry Bloomfield said:
Old Acer laptop, which I am trying to revive and give a bit more ooomph to.

8Gb memory, Win 10, 1000Gb HDD. I bought a 500Gb Crucial SDD, with which to replace the internal HDD. All is working when HDD fitted, before and after. I used the Crucial Acronis version, with a USB to SATA adaptor, to clone HDD to SDD, all seemed to go well, ending with 'you can now swap the drives over.

BIOS is seeing the drive, but it is not booting from it. I think it is suggesting it has nothing to boot from. Swap them back and it boots from the HDD. What am I missing please?

[EDIT] I've just checked it via the USB/SATA adaptor and the files seem to be on the SSD.
Click to expand...
Memory seems tiny , my oldest Mac [17 years old] has 16gb.
 
foxhole said:
Memory seems tiny , my oldest Mac [17 years old] has 16gb.
Click to expand...
Maybe, but that's not exactly comparing like for like!

In 2006, the base iMac and MacBook came with only 512MB of ram with an officially supported maximum capacity of 2GB.

Mac Release Dates 2006 - Macs By Year Introduced: EveryMac.com

Tech specs for all Apple Mac models released in 2006. Dates sold, processor type, memory info, storage details, configuration options, model numbers, and more.
everymac.com everymac.com

A new MacPro with 16GB of ram would have cost way more than £2500, in 2006 - thats a pretty tidy sum in today's money.
 
RandomGrinch said:
Maybe, but that's not exactly comparing like for like!

In 2006, the base iMac and MacBook came with only 512MB of ram with an officially supported maximum capacity of 2GB.

Mac Release Dates 2006 - Macs By Year Introduced: EveryMac.com

Tech specs for all Apple Mac models released in 2006. Dates sold, processor type, memory info, storage details, configuration options, model numbers, and more.
everymac.com everymac.com

A new MacPro with 16GB of ram would have cost way more than £2500, in 2006 - thats a pretty tidy sum in today's money.
Click to expand...
Have the old quad core , bought cheap second hand and maxed out the memory , still runs fine and also runs windows 10.
 
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