Cloning laptop hdd to new sdd, failed, need help :(
August 2nd, 2016
I’m pretty sure I might be getting a Crucial sdd soon from a friend (they want a bigger one and will give me this one):
http://www.crucial.com/usa/en/ct512mx100ssd1
He said it comes with a ‘Acronis True Image HD 2014 16-digit Short Key’ to be used for cloning your drive, that he never used.
I already have one of these:
The laptop is a HP g7-1368dx.
Any glitches in doing this? I wanted to clone so I didn’t have to re-install all the stuff I have set up like I want. I’ve heard some HP laptops have a proprietary boot sector (???) and was wondering if this could cause me problems and any work around if so.
Using Acronis, you don’t clone via cable.
It will create an image, and you then use that image to do the cloning.
Best to do this by creating a bootable usb using the Acronis option to do so. Make sure the Acronis version has the Universal Restore feature, as this allows you to clone to dissimilar hardware.
Connect both drives..Using Acronis True Image select the the drive to drive restore option..
No need to create an image unless if you need it for backup..
The only issue doing a cable to cable is that when you stick the new HD into your laptop, is that Windows might complain about different hardware.
That’s why I would opt for the cloning and Universal Restore … avoids this ‘potential’ issue; on some drive replacements I have had the issue / on others I haven’t
Clonezilla, Google it.
Thanks for the info guys.
@, the two drives are about the same size so I expect no problems that can occur from doing a direct drive to drive transfer as suggested.
The cabling is similar to placing the drive in a ‘SATA to usb’ box (without the box).
I do use google , that’s why I tried to be specific about the hardware ssd drive/laptop and software supplied with the drive. I’ll have to get back with you on the zilla if it goes south on me.
Thanx
Well, I got the ssd and key for Acronis True Image HD (note the HD version is not the full version). 
I’ve spent 2 days making and remaking both clones and backup/restores using every combination of cables, enclosures and even borrowed an optical drive hard disk caddy from a friend that connects directly to the sata ports of the computer.
All efforts resulted in failure. I finally decided to use my system restore disk to install a factory restore to it but the damn thing only halfway boots and then freezes with the ssd attached. I’m at my wits end and running out of grey hair to pull out. Any ideas?
edit: Oh yeah I forgot to mention the ssd works fine either in an enclosure or as a second drive using the caddy.
I’ve also tried clonezilla as suggested with the same results.
Spent several hours reading Crucial’s ssd forums and I’m still stuck.
HELP! Anyone….
There is the full Acronis True Image here..
http://www.google.com?t=20757225&highlight=
Make sure it fast formats your SSD first off.
Thanks , didn’t work.
I did mention it was a hp.
Their ever so helpful support politely told me they could only provide support if I paid for it. Duh, that ain’t gonna happen!
I tried posting on their support forum here
http://h30434.www3.hp.com/t5/Notebook-Hardware/Pavilion-G7-1368dx-won-t-recognize-my-ssd/m-p/4790503
I’ve tried to post this reply unsuccessfully. (hotlinks edited for wbb) [reply]Thanks for the reply.
Resetting the BIOS to default does nothing. It’s not really a bios, just a way to change the boot order, heck I can do that with the F9 key.(Oh yeah. I forgot it can change the time too!)
BIOS Version/DateInsyde F.46, 2/22/2012
Is F.6A something I really need? Well I upgraded it anyway no change as far as I can tell.
Version/Date F.6A, 6/11/2013
Fix/Enhancement
– Provides enhanced performance of the VGA on systems with 2GB of memory installed.
My computer has 8GB, and I’ve never had any reason to use the VGA port.
As for the compatiblity upgrades your link is the right one. If you click on the little tab ‘view more compatible ssd upgrades’ you’ll see the Crucial Mx100-512GB there.
As you can see in this capture http://s6.postimg.org/jnvwd3u81/mx100.jpg
Well I finally got it to work somewhat…
What I did:
Used the CD/DVD hard drive caddy to connect the drive to the sata.
Used diskpart to set it to clean.
Took the iso downloaded from MS and used Rufus v1.2.0 to make a bootable Win7 flash drive.
Downloaded the “Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI) Support Environment for HP Pavilion g7-1368dx v4.3.3.0” from here http://us.driverscollection.com/?H=Pavilion%20g7-1368dx&By=HP&dpage=8
Used winrar to extract the files from the exe:
Packages>Drivers>SBDrv>hseries>AHCI>W764A
amd_sata.cat
amd_sata.inf
amd_sata.msi
amd_sata.sys
amd_xata.sys
Then copied them to another flash drive.
Rebooted the computer and used F9 to choose the Win7 usb.
When I reached the part that allows you to load drivers, I browsed to the usb drive I put those on and let it install them.
After that Win7 install went without a hitch.
I then proceded to using Paragon Hard Disk Manager to copy the Windows system from my original drive over the one just made by the new install.
Rebooted it 5 or 6 times to be sure but it seemed fine, I even ran CrystalDiskMark to see what speeds I was getting. Here’s a capture. 
Now we come to the ‘somewhat…’ part I mentioned. When I connect the drive to the sata that the optical drive normally uses everything’s great but if I connect it to the sata the hard drive was on I get boot disk error press ctrl/alt/delete everytime.
Any ideas as to why?[/reply]
Not speaking from experience, just a guess:
support.microsoft.com/kb/937251
Thanks for the link Jack, but this doesn’t have a bios with any way to do much more than change boot/password/localtime.
Just a crippled joke of one.
Could using something like diskpart fix it?