Solved Is this a viable swapping option when the cloning software does not work?


Clicking on My Computer did not display both computers.
The second computer option had to have been clicked.
Clicking on the User name then viewing system specs displayed information on the second computer:

HP Laptop14-cf1020od

The computer uses Intel Rapid Storage Technology Drivers (IRST).


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My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Win11 Pro RTM
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Dell Vostro 3400
    CPU
    Intel Core i5 11th Gen. 2.40GHz
    Memory
    12GB
    Hard Drives
    256GB SSD NVMe
  • Operating System
    Windows 11 Pro RTM x64
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Dell Vostro 5890
    CPU
    Intel Core i5 10th Gen. 2.90GHz
    Memory
    16GB
    Graphics card(s)
    Onboard, no VGA, using a DisplayPort-to-VGA adapter
    Monitor(s) Displays
    24" Dell
    Hard Drives
    512GB SSD NVMe, 2TB WDC HDD
    Browser
    Firefox, Edge
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender/Microsoft Security
Have you used diskpart commands as I suggested?

All the posts here talking about cloning, imaging etc. are not worth an iota unless you can diagnose why disk is not initialising.

The primary MS tool to initialise drives is diskpart.

Use it and we can make an assessment if a software or hardware issue.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 10 Pro + others in VHDs
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    ASUS Vivobook 14
    CPU
    I7
    Motherboard
    Yep, Laptop has one.
    Memory
    16 GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    Integrated Intel Iris XE
    Sound Card
    Realtek built in
    Monitor(s) Displays
    N/A
    Screen Resolution
    1920x1080
    Hard Drives
    1 TB Optane NVME SSD, 1 TB NVME SSD
    PSU
    Yep, got one
    Case
    Yep, got one
    Cooling
    Stella Artois
    Keyboard
    Built in
    Mouse
    Bluetooth , wired
    Internet Speed
    72 Mb/s :-(
    Browser
    Edge mostly
    Antivirus
    Defender
    Other Info
    TPM 2.0
In the purest form, cloning is done when two hard drives can be connected to the same motherboard. But, that's usually not possible on most laptops. That's what most Cloning software is expecting to see.
That is absolutely false. Any decent disk cloning software DOES support external disks and works flawlessly.
So the alternative,... is to make a backup image file of either your C: partition or your entire HD and save it to an external drive. (it seems like that has already been mentioned)
...
This applies to those disk imaging softwares which don't have cloning functionality or if you don't have access to the two drives at the same time. (different location for example)
If it is a striped volume then it is a dynamic disk (not a basic disk).
Yes that could be ,but whydoes it matter ? A cloning operation is designed to erase the disk and replicate the layout as well as the data.
HP Laptop14-cf1020od
The computer uses Intel Rapid Storage Technology Drivers (IRST).
Thank you for identifying the model. Using Intel RST drivers is not a problem ,in most cases WADK 10.0's built-in drivers can handle it.
However, if for any reason, the computer is set to operate in RST mode (this is the case on many new generation notebooks), then you will have to build the recovery media on the computer , it has to be WADK 10.0 based and has to manually include Intel RST drivers, in this case the standard SATA drivers are not sufficient.

This could be a possible reason for the cloning issues OP is having. Maybe the others haven't seen a new generation notebook as of yet (I mean, Intel gen 8, 10, 11 or 12) - I have seen plenty and this RST mode is turned on by default on a lot of notebook that come with preinstalled Windows. Some of them, including my Dell, have two M.2 slots which is fantastic. But they are sometimes even turning it on if there is only one slot. It also has to do with Intel Optane support not just pure RAID.

However, a cloning attempt without a proper driver would fail with Intel RST mode ON, and even drive identification is problematic without RST drivers. As well as initialization would fail too, because RST support also enables support for Intel Optane, so the strange one-hard-drive-RAID you have been seeing actually could be caused by RST mode, with the "other drive" being Intel Optane actually, or just support for it.

This option can be turned on or off is UEFI settings however the installed Windows won't boot anymore if you change it. That is why you have to adjust the recovery media , to fill it with drivers for the cloning operation.

It is my experience that cloning such systems are a nightmare. Unless you want to use Intel Optane technology (and you have the dedicated hardware for it) or you want to use a RAID configuration, you might just want to disable RST mode and reinstall Windows from scratch. That way cloning will work as well, unless the drive really is faulty.
 

My Computers

System One System Two

A big thank you to TechnoMage for inspiration-causing me to think outside the box, literally. Since I had the SCSI disk devices in which to install both SSD's, I thought why not try it, even with USB connections. I did the WD Blue SSD first, and it was recognized in Disk Management and Macrium. Then I did the Samsung SSD with the same results. At first there was no option to clone/image in Macrium, but when I clicked on the WD drive the options to clone or image appeared. I tried clone, waited until it was done, installed the Samsung 860 EVO in the HP laptop, and it booted right up with no errors or need for a Recovery USB whatever.
I did read the other ideas and suggestions, but decided they were above my pay grade, sorry.
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Windows 11 Home Version 23H2
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Lenovo IdeaPad 330-17IKB
    CPU
    Core i5-8250U 1.6 GHz
    Memory
    20 GB DDR4-2400
    Hard Drives
    Samsung EVO 860 500 GB SSD
    Browser
    Chrome
  • Operating System
    Windows 11 Home Version 22H2 Build 222621.963
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    HP Laptop14-cf1020od
    CPU
    i3-8145U
    Memory
    16 GB DDR4-2666
    Hard Drives
    WD Blue 250 GB M.2 SATA SSD

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