Cloned HDD to SSD. Success but have a question...


jhiker

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Windows 11
My aging desktop PC has (had) a 1Tb HDD and I decided to replace it with a 1Tb SSD (Crucial MX500), SATA3.
I used Macrium Reflect to clone the HDD to the SSD and the clone was successful. Both were plugged in to the motherboard for cloning.
I unplugged the HDD and attempted to reboot and got a 'BOOTMGR missing' error message. I think this happened because I left my DVD drive plugged in and it must have tried to boot from that drive. Anyway, I went in to the BIOS and successfully changed the boot order so it picks up the SSD first. The 'old' HDD is still connected and is untouched so, for the moment, it's acting as a sort of backup I guess.

It is now apparently booting from the SSD. Everything is very much quicker and all appears to be well, except.....
I have a 'new' drive (F) showing up as a system reserved partition - this appears to be on the 'old bootable HDD'.
There is a matching system reserved partition on the 'new' SSD.

Where has it come from and what's it's purpose?
I'm inclined to leave it as it seems to be doing no harm but it's a bit of a puzzle.

I have not tried disconnecting the old HDD and rebooting yet - at some point I may wish to take advantage of the 1Tb storage space but for now I'll keep it as a bootable disk.

Many thanks for any insights.
Jeff
PS - I have just realised I've posted this in 'elevenforum' tho' I'm running Win10 - hope that's OK.
Manage.png
Screenshot#1.png

Screenshot#2.png
 
Windows Build/Version
Windows 10

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 11
My procedure in cloning is that when finished was to shut the computer down, unplugged the original drive then start up, see if it does and test for awhile. I've had times when leaving the original drive connected Windows won't work if that drive is removed, ended up with a re-install of Windows with only that drive connected.
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Win11 Pro RTM
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    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Dell Vostro 3400
    CPU
    Intel Core i5 11th Gen. 2.40GHz
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    12GB
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    256GB SSD NVMe
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    Windows 11 Pro RTM x64
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    Dell Vostro 5890
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    Intel Core i5 10th Gen. 2.90GHz
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The solution to this is simple: Right-click that partition, the one with F: assigned, and choose to change the drive letter. Simply remove the drive letter. That partition should not be assigned a letter.

Done!
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Win11 Pro 23H2
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Home Built
    CPU
    Intel i7-11700K
    Motherboard
    ASUS Prime Z590-A
    Memory
    128GB Crucial Ballistix 3200MHz DRAM
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    No GPU - CPU graphics only (for now)
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    Realtek (on motherboard)
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    HP Envy 32
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    2560 x 1440
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    1 x 1TB NVMe Gen 4 x 4 SSD
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    2 x 512GB 2.5" SSDs
    2 x 8TB HD
    PSU
    Corsair HX850i
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    CODE backlit mechanical keyboard
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  • Operating System
    Win11 Pro 23H2
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    Manufacturer/Model
    Lenovo ThinkBook 13x Gen 2
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    Intel i7-1255U
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    16 GB
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    Intel Iris Xe Graphics
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    Backlit, spill resistant keyboard
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    WiFi 6e / Bluetooth 5.1 / Facial Recognition / Fingerprint Sensor / ToF (Time of Flight) Human Presence Sensor
Or in Command Prompt with Admin privileges:
Code:
diskpart
select volume F
remove
exit
exit
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Windows 11
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Homebuilt
    CPU
    AMD Ryzen 7 3800XT
    Motherboard
    ASUS ROG Crosshair VII Hero (WiFi)
    Memory
    32GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    EVGA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti
  • Operating System
    Windows 11 Education
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Dell Inspiron 7773
    CPU
    Intel i7-8550U
    Memory
    32GB
    Graphics card(s)
    Nvidia Geforce MX150
    Sound Card
    Realtek
    Monitor(s) Displays
    17"
    Screen Resolution
    1920 x 1080
    Hard Drives
    Toshiba 512GB NVMe SSD
    SK Hynix 512GB SATA SSD
    Internet Speed
    Fast!
Removing the letter wont make any difference.

It looks like the active partition on the old disk. It shouldnt cause an issue unless bios picks it up first. If you want to avoid any possible complications, remove the active flag.

diskpart
sel vol f
inact
exi
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Win7
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    CPU
    i5-8400
    Motherboard
    gigabyte b365m ds3h
    Memory
    2x8gb 3200mhz
    Monitor(s) Displays
    benq gw2480
    PSU
    bequiet pure power 11 400CM
    Cooling
    cryorig m9i
  • Operating System
    win7
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    CPU
    pentium g5400
    Motherboard
    gigabyte b365m ds3h
    Memory
    1x8gb 2400
    PSU
    xfx pro 450
Removing the letter wont make any difference.

It looks like the active partition on the old disk. It shouldnt cause an issue unless bios picks it up first. If you want to avoid any possible complications, remove the active flag.

diskpart
sel vol f
inact
exi
Is this reversible in case it causes any problems with booting?
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 11
If you ever want to boot from the old disk, mark that partition active again and make sure it is picked up first by bios ( or select from the one time boot menu)

bios will hand control to the mbr executable code at the beginning of the first bootable device it sees. It wont look any further.
By taking off that flag, bios will not regard it as bootable and will look at the next device.

It is not essential. As long as bios keeps picking up your new disk first it will keep handing control to the mbr code on the new disk,

Drive letters have nothing to do with it.
 
Last edited:

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Win7
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    CPU
    i5-8400
    Motherboard
    gigabyte b365m ds3h
    Memory
    2x8gb 3200mhz
    Monitor(s) Displays
    benq gw2480
    PSU
    bequiet pure power 11 400CM
    Cooling
    cryorig m9i
  • Operating System
    win7
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    CPU
    pentium g5400
    Motherboard
    gigabyte b365m ds3h
    Memory
    1x8gb 2400
    PSU
    xfx pro 450
If you ever want to boot from the old disk, mark that partition active again and make sure it is picked up first by bios ( or select from the one time boot menu)
Thank you. How would I mark it active again at a later date?
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 11
How would I mark it active again at a later date?


if you have left the letter F on it

diskpart
sel vol f
act
exi

if you have taken the letter off for unknown reasons

diskpart
sel dis 1
lis par
( in most cases the partition containing the boot critical files is 100mb by default and is partition 1 but it is always worth checking)
sel par 1
act
exi

or from any decent boot media you could use diskmgmt or any 3rd party partitioner to flag it active.
Gparted and simliar Linux partitioners call it the boot flag, it is the same thing.
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Win7
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    CPU
    i5-8400
    Motherboard
    gigabyte b365m ds3h
    Memory
    2x8gb 3200mhz
    Monitor(s) Displays
    benq gw2480
    PSU
    bequiet pure power 11 400CM
    Cooling
    cryorig m9i
  • Operating System
    win7
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    CPU
    pentium g5400
    Motherboard
    gigabyte b365m ds3h
    Memory
    1x8gb 2400
    PSU
    xfx pro 450
The partition will remain active even after you remove the drive letter.
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Windows 11
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Homebuilt
    CPU
    AMD Ryzen 7 3800XT
    Motherboard
    ASUS ROG Crosshair VII Hero (WiFi)
    Memory
    32GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    EVGA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti
  • Operating System
    Windows 11 Education
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Dell Inspiron 7773
    CPU
    Intel i7-8550U
    Memory
    32GB
    Graphics card(s)
    Nvidia Geforce MX150
    Sound Card
    Realtek
    Monitor(s) Displays
    17"
    Screen Resolution
    1920 x 1080
    Hard Drives
    Toshiba 512GB NVMe SSD
    SK Hynix 512GB SATA SSD
    Internet Speed
    Fast!
Yes. removing the letter is pointless. Unless you ar running out of letters and need to use it somewhere else.
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Win7
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    CPU
    i5-8400
    Motherboard
    gigabyte b365m ds3h
    Memory
    2x8gb 3200mhz
    Monitor(s) Displays
    benq gw2480
    PSU
    bequiet pure power 11 400CM
    Cooling
    cryorig m9i
  • Operating System
    win7
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    CPU
    pentium g5400
    Motherboard
    gigabyte b365m ds3h
    Memory
    1x8gb 2400
    PSU
    xfx pro 450
Yes. removing the letter is pointless.
Why is removing the drive letter from a partition that normally should not have a drive letter pointless????
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Win11 Pro 23H2
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Home Built
    CPU
    Intel i7-11700K
    Motherboard
    ASUS Prime Z590-A
    Memory
    128GB Crucial Ballistix 3200MHz DRAM
    Graphics Card(s)
    No GPU - CPU graphics only (for now)
    Sound Card
    Realtek (on motherboard)
    Monitor(s) Displays
    HP Envy 32
    Screen Resolution
    2560 x 1440
    Hard Drives
    1 x 1TB NVMe Gen 4 x 4 SSD
    1 x 2TB NVMe Gen 3 x 4 SSD
    2 x 512GB 2.5" SSDs
    2 x 8TB HD
    PSU
    Corsair HX850i
    Case
    Corsair iCue 5000X RGB
    Cooling
    Noctua NH-D15 chromax.black cooler + 10 case fans
    Keyboard
    CODE backlit mechanical keyboard
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Master 3
    Internet Speed
    1Gb Up / 1 Gb Down
    Browser
    Edge
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender
    Other Info
    Additional options installed:
    WiFi 6E PCIe adapter
    ASUS ThunderboltEX 4 PCIe adapter
  • Operating System
    Win11 Pro 23H2
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Lenovo ThinkBook 13x Gen 2
    CPU
    Intel i7-1255U
    Memory
    16 GB
    Graphics card(s)
    Intel Iris Xe Graphics
    Sound Card
    Realtek® ALC3306-CG codec
    Monitor(s) Displays
    13.3-inch IPS Display
    Screen Resolution
    WQXGA (2560 x 1600)
    Hard Drives
    2 TB 4 x 4 NVMe SSD
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    USB-C / Thunderbolt 4 Power / Charging
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    Buttonless Glass Precision Touchpad
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    Backlit, spill resistant keyboard
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    WiFi 6e / Bluetooth 5.1 / Facial Recognition / Fingerprint Sensor / ToF (Time of Flight) Human Presence Sensor
Why should it normally not have a letter?

MS do this thing where a letter isn't auto allocated to the current system partition ( unless it is also the boot partition ). Probably so the average user doesnt know it is there and wont try and fool around with it.

In the case of the OP the current system partition is disk0 partition 1.

It has been a while since I had multiple mbr disks hooked up to one machine, but if I remember correctly:

If the OP boots the old disk, then disk1 partition1 wont be auto allocated a letter ( because that would be the current system partition ) , but disk0 partition1 will.

With mbr style, what MS call the "system" partition is the one marked active and contains the boot critical files ( bootmgr and the folder called Boot that contains the bcd store ).

What MS calls the "boot" partition is the one that contains the operating system that is currently booted up.

Because any primary partition can be marked active and contain the boot critical files , it is not necessary to have a separate "system" partition.

It is quite common for the os to be on the same primary partition. In which case, disk management will show the words "system" and "boot" on the same partition.
 
Last edited:

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Win7
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    CPU
    i5-8400
    Motherboard
    gigabyte b365m ds3h
    Memory
    2x8gb 3200mhz
    Monitor(s) Displays
    benq gw2480
    PSU
    bequiet pure power 11 400CM
    Cooling
    cryorig m9i
  • Operating System
    win7
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    CPU
    pentium g5400
    Motherboard
    gigabyte b365m ds3h
    Memory
    1x8gb 2400
    PSU
    xfx pro 450
The separate system partition thing is fairly recent. I seem to remember MS saying it was to get people used to the idea, because as more people move to gpt style and efi mode they will have a separate system partition ( probably, but again not necessarily )
 
Last edited:

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Win7
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    CPU
    i5-8400
    Motherboard
    gigabyte b365m ds3h
    Memory
    2x8gb 3200mhz
    Monitor(s) Displays
    benq gw2480
    PSU
    bequiet pure power 11 400CM
    Cooling
    cryorig m9i
  • Operating System
    win7
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    CPU
    pentium g5400
    Motherboard
    gigabyte b365m ds3h
    Memory
    1x8gb 2400
    PSU
    xfx pro 450
Thank you for the replies, some of which I'm still trying to understand properly.
The 'Boot' page from the BIOS looks like this - to me this looks like it's booting from the new SSD - is that right?
In which case, if I don't want to see the F drive I could mark it 'inactive'.
...or I could just leave it as it's doing no harm...
Thank you.
IMG_20220705_102838 (Large).jpg
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 11
If you don't want to see F: drive you remove its drive letter.
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Windows 11
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Homebuilt
    CPU
    AMD Ryzen 7 3800XT
    Motherboard
    ASUS ROG Crosshair VII Hero (WiFi)
    Memory
    32GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    EVGA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti
  • Operating System
    Windows 11 Education
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Dell Inspiron 7773
    CPU
    Intel i7-8550U
    Memory
    32GB
    Graphics card(s)
    Nvidia Geforce MX150
    Sound Card
    Realtek
    Monitor(s) Displays
    17"
    Screen Resolution
    1920 x 1080
    Hard Drives
    Toshiba 512GB NVMe SSD
    SK Hynix 512GB SATA SSD
    Internet Speed
    Fast!
Why should it normally not have a letter?
By default, the System Reserved partition would not be assigned a drive letter because there is no good reason for the user to normally need access to that partition. In fact, the very name of that partition, "System Reserved", effectively says that this is for use by the system, keep your paws off of it :-)
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Win11 Pro 23H2
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Home Built
    CPU
    Intel i7-11700K
    Motherboard
    ASUS Prime Z590-A
    Memory
    128GB Crucial Ballistix 3200MHz DRAM
    Graphics Card(s)
    No GPU - CPU graphics only (for now)
    Sound Card
    Realtek (on motherboard)
    Monitor(s) Displays
    HP Envy 32
    Screen Resolution
    2560 x 1440
    Hard Drives
    1 x 1TB NVMe Gen 4 x 4 SSD
    1 x 2TB NVMe Gen 3 x 4 SSD
    2 x 512GB 2.5" SSDs
    2 x 8TB HD
    PSU
    Corsair HX850i
    Case
    Corsair iCue 5000X RGB
    Cooling
    Noctua NH-D15 chromax.black cooler + 10 case fans
    Keyboard
    CODE backlit mechanical keyboard
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Master 3
    Internet Speed
    1Gb Up / 1 Gb Down
    Browser
    Edge
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender
    Other Info
    Additional options installed:
    WiFi 6E PCIe adapter
    ASUS ThunderboltEX 4 PCIe adapter
  • Operating System
    Win11 Pro 23H2
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Lenovo ThinkBook 13x Gen 2
    CPU
    Intel i7-1255U
    Memory
    16 GB
    Graphics card(s)
    Intel Iris Xe Graphics
    Sound Card
    Realtek® ALC3306-CG codec
    Monitor(s) Displays
    13.3-inch IPS Display
    Screen Resolution
    WQXGA (2560 x 1600)
    Hard Drives
    2 TB 4 x 4 NVMe SSD
    PSU
    USB-C / Thunderbolt 4 Power / Charging
    Mouse
    Buttonless Glass Precision Touchpad
    Keyboard
    Backlit, spill resistant keyboard
    Internet Speed
    1Gb Up / 1Gb Down
    Browser
    Edge
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender
    Other Info
    WiFi 6e / Bluetooth 5.1 / Facial Recognition / Fingerprint Sensor / ToF (Time of Flight) Human Presence Sensor
So, when all is said and done, what’s likely to happen if I unplug/disconnect the ‘old’ HDD (Disk 1 in the ‘disk management’ window) and reboot.

And why is that F: partition shown shaded?

Thanks for your patience.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 11
Unplugging the "old" drive should have no effect. If for some unexpected reason it does, you can simply plug it back in again, but I would not anticipate that.

The shading simply indicates that this is the currently selected partition. Click on another partition and it will now become shaded.
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Win11 Pro 23H2
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Home Built
    CPU
    Intel i7-11700K
    Motherboard
    ASUS Prime Z590-A
    Memory
    128GB Crucial Ballistix 3200MHz DRAM
    Graphics Card(s)
    No GPU - CPU graphics only (for now)
    Sound Card
    Realtek (on motherboard)
    Monitor(s) Displays
    HP Envy 32
    Screen Resolution
    2560 x 1440
    Hard Drives
    1 x 1TB NVMe Gen 4 x 4 SSD
    1 x 2TB NVMe Gen 3 x 4 SSD
    2 x 512GB 2.5" SSDs
    2 x 8TB HD
    PSU
    Corsair HX850i
    Case
    Corsair iCue 5000X RGB
    Cooling
    Noctua NH-D15 chromax.black cooler + 10 case fans
    Keyboard
    CODE backlit mechanical keyboard
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Master 3
    Internet Speed
    1Gb Up / 1 Gb Down
    Browser
    Edge
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender
    Other Info
    Additional options installed:
    WiFi 6E PCIe adapter
    ASUS ThunderboltEX 4 PCIe adapter
  • Operating System
    Win11 Pro 23H2
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Lenovo ThinkBook 13x Gen 2
    CPU
    Intel i7-1255U
    Memory
    16 GB
    Graphics card(s)
    Intel Iris Xe Graphics
    Sound Card
    Realtek® ALC3306-CG codec
    Monitor(s) Displays
    13.3-inch IPS Display
    Screen Resolution
    WQXGA (2560 x 1600)
    Hard Drives
    2 TB 4 x 4 NVMe SSD
    PSU
    USB-C / Thunderbolt 4 Power / Charging
    Mouse
    Buttonless Glass Precision Touchpad
    Keyboard
    Backlit, spill resistant keyboard
    Internet Speed
    1Gb Up / 1Gb Down
    Browser
    Edge
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender
    Other Info
    WiFi 6e / Bluetooth 5.1 / Facial Recognition / Fingerprint Sensor / ToF (Time of Flight) Human Presence Sensor

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