Problem migrating the system drive from my source NVMe to a new target NVMe: “The external backing provider is not recognized.”

BrianInEngland said:

It sounds to me that you've got a VERY non-standard Windows installation

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Agreed.

1. Both NVMe drives are new and in top condition.
2. I don't believe the DiskGenius cloning software is to blame.
3. Amazon user reviews indicate that my USB M.2 drive enclosure is good for cloning.
4. The Windows 11 In-place Upgrade (which is supposed to repair the OS) failed.

In my limited opinion, it all points to a problem with the installed Windows 11 operating system.

It's taken me weeks (off and on) to get Windows 11 sorted enough that it makes sense to me and keeps MS from knowing everything I think, say and do. I would just wipe the drive and start over with a fresh install but I can't bare to lose all that setup.

QUESTION
My Beelink did not come with a Windows install disk, nor was I provided a security key (or whatever that's called these days). Under those circumstances, how can I accomplish a fresh install based on downloading the current ISO (or whatever file gets downloaded)?

Scott said:

You can boot from a x4, x8, or x16 slot.

Click to expand...

Scott said:

You can boot from a x4, x8, or x16 slot.



Do you have at least a PCIe x4 slot available? I actually boot Windows 10 from a PCIe x4 slot.

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Scott, I guess my post was confusing, but yes, I agree "You can boot from a x4, x8, or x16 slot" this was what I was trying to say.

RD Mercer said:

I don't know what board you might want to use, but if it doesn't have at least a PCIe x4 or x8 slot, I'm not positive, but I don't think you will be able to boot from the card with the M.2 drive.

Click to expand...

I understand you can also boot from the PCIe x16 but most use that slot for a GPU.

BothHands said:

Agreed.

1. Both NVMe drives are new and in top condition.
2. I don't believe the DiskGenius cloning software is to blame.
3. Amazon user reviews indicate that my USB M.2 drive enclosure is good for cloning.
4. The Windows 11 In-place Upgrade (which is supposed to repair the OS) failed.

In my limited opinion, it all points to a problem with the installed Windows 11 operating system.

It's taken me weeks (off and on) to get Windows 11 sorted enough that it makes sense to me and keeps MS from knowing everything I think, say and do. I would just wipe the drive and start over with a fresh install but I can't bare to lose all that setup.

QUESTION
My Beelink did not come with a Windows install disk, nor was I provided a security key (or whatever that's called these days). Under those circumstances, how can I accomplish a fresh install based on downloading the current ISO (or whatever file gets downloaded)?

Click to expand...

You don't want MS to know everything you do, but your laptop and non standard Windows install is Chinese. This itself raises many red flags for me

BothHands said:

Agreed.

1. Both NVMe drives are new and in top condition.
2. I don't believe the DiskGenius cloning software is to blame.
3. Amazon user reviews indicate that my USB M.2 drive enclosure is good for cloning.
4. The Windows 11 In-place Upgrade (which is supposed to repair the OS) failed.

In my limited opinion, it all points to a problem with the installed Windows 11 operating system.

It's taken me weeks (off and on) to get Windows 11 sorted enough that it makes sense to me and keeps MS from knowing everything I think, say and do. I would just wipe the drive and start over with a fresh install but I can't bare to lose all that setup.

QUESTION
My Beelink did not come with a Windows install disk, nor was I provided a security key (or whatever that's called these days). Under those circumstances, how can I accomplish a fresh install based on downloading the current ISO (or whatever file gets downloaded)?

Click to expand...

I'm at my doctor's office but when I get home I'll explain how I did it on one of my BeeLink computers.

I read online that many pre-NVMe motherboards cannot boot from an M.2 in a PCIe adapter. Some can, but only with a BIOS update

Click to expand...

That is correct, see here for how I did it

If the bios does support nvme boot, any pcie gen 2.0 or 3.0 or 4.0 slot should work. The bandwidth will vary depending on the gen and lanes but it should function.

BrianInEngland said:

You don't want MS to know everything you do, but your laptop and non standard Windows install is Chinese. This itself raises many red flags for me

Click to expand...

Good point. Unfortunately, 99% of everything I use daily is Chi-Com. Now that you mention it, I wonder if the Chinese are any more intrusive than Microsoft. I'll bet they're evenly matched.

Winuser said:

I'm at my doctor's office but when I get home I'll explain how I did it on one of my BeeLink computers.

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I hope it's nothing serious, because I really need to hear from you later. Hahaha =D

But seriously, thanks for checking in, and I hope all is well. Beelink's reputation for quality control and support are sketchy, so information specific to Beelink products would be a BIG help. I did everything I listed in my post #57 on page 3, short of installing Macrium, and now the OS on the target (receiving) drive is even worse. The data size on the target (receiving) partitions is again smaller than the corresponding data on the original source drive (sending) partitions, but not the discrepancy is far greater.

Both drives check out GOOD 100% per CrystalDiskInfo, and I ran CHKDISK from inside Windows on the target drive partitions. All good...

BothHands said:

QUESTION
My Beelink did not come with a Windows install disk, nor was I provided a security key (or whatever that's called these days). Under those circumstances, how can I accomplish a fresh install based on downloading the current ISO (or whatever file gets downloaded)?

Click to expand...

On one of my BeeLink computers I updated it to an Insider build and then decided to go back to the release builds. This is what I did.
1. Download the Windows 11 ISO from MS to a USB drive.
2. Download the drivers for the computer from BeeLink for the computer. All the drivers are in the download. I didn't do this until I found out that it was necessary.
3. Disconnect any Drives except the one you want to install Windows on.
4. This step can be done by booting the computer to the BIOS and selecting the USB drive with the ISO or do like I did and hold the Shift key while selecting to reboot the computer option. You will get a menu that will give you different options. If I remember correctly you will see an option to either boot from the USB drive or other OS. I forget what one it is. Then select the drive with the ISO.
5. Follow the instructions from the installer. When you get to the Were to install Windows option, delete all partitions and let the Installer create the needed partitions.

BothHands said:

I hope it's nothing serious, because I really need to hear from you later. Hahaha =D

Click to expand...

Just a 3 month checkup. Everything is looking good.

Winuser said:

4. This step can be done by booting the computer to the BIOS and selecting the USB drive with the ISO or do like I did and hold the Shift key while selecting to reboot the computer option. You will get a menu that will give you different options. If I remember correctly you will see an option to either boot from the USB drive or other OS. I forget what one it is. Then select the drive with the ISO.

Click to expand...

I just did a test and if you hold the Shift key when selecting to restart the computer you will see an option to Use a Device.

BothHands said:

Agreed.

1. Both NVMe drives are new and in top condition.
2. I don't believe the DiskGenius cloning software is to blame.
3. Amazon user reviews indicate that my USB M.2 drive enclosure is good for cloning.
4. The Windows 11 In-place Upgrade (which is supposed to repair the OS) failed.

In my limited opinion, it all points to a problem with the installed Windows 11 operating system.

It's taken me weeks (off and on) to get Windows 11 sorted enough that it makes sense to me and keeps MS from knowing everything I think, say and do. I would just wipe the drive and start over with a fresh install but I can't bare to lose all that setup.

QUESTION
My Beelink did not come with a Windows install disk, nor was I provided a security key (or whatever that's called these days). Under those circumstances, how can I accomplish a fresh install based on downloading the current ISO (or whatever file gets downloaded)?

Click to expand...

The hardware ID is how MS activates a windows device, so yeah, you dont need a key.
One key for each device
PC under activation should say activated with a digital license, or adding in linked to my MS account if it is activated by MS.

All my PC are linked to my MS account except for one of them
I have a dual boot setup on one of my laptops, win10 home OEM activation and win11 pro retail activation

And some day ideally would like to separate the win 11 pro retail onto another PC

which I have never done before., I suppose it is doable.
I wonder if the activation system would get confused more than I am!

No need to link to MajorGeeks for Macrium Free, they still host it: https://download.macrium.com/reflect/v8/v8.0.7279/reflect_setup_free_x64.exe

BobOmb said:

No need to link to MajorGeeks for Macrium Free, they still host it: https://download.macrium.com/reflect/v8/v8.0.7279/reflect_setup_free_x64.exe

Click to expand...

They may still host it but without knowing where to look it's not easy to find. When doing a search it's easy to find the MajorGeeks download link.

Winuser said:

On one of my BeeLink computers I updated it to an Insider build and then decided to go back to the release builds. This is what I did.
1. Download the Windows 11 ISO from MS to a USB drive.
2. Download the drivers for the computer from BeeLink for the computer. All the drivers are in the download. I didn't do this until I found out that it was necessary.
3. Disconnect any Drives except the one you want to install Windows on.
4. This step can be done by booting the computer to the BIOS and selecting the USB drive with the ISO or do like I did and hold the Shift key while selecting to reboot the computer option. You will get a menu that will give you different options. If I remember correctly you will see an option to either boot from the USB drive or other OS. I forget what one it is. Then select the drive with the ISO.
5. Follow the instructions from the installer. When you get to the Were to install Windows option, delete all partitions and let the Installer create the needed partitions.

Click to expand...

Glad to hear all is well with you.
Thanks for the step-by-step. I didn't hear back from you (I've become impatient in light of the many DAYS I've spent on this) and did a fresh install via the downloaded Windows Media Creation Tool, or whatever it's called. The install did it's thing and seems to have installed all the necessary drivers. Everything seems to be working, except the BLASTED NETWORKING (was up until 5am, and still can't get Windows 11 to see even it's own shared folder).

Beelink's website is a nightmare. I went back to see if they had finished "moderating" my very direct-and-detailed post regarding this mess. Surprise, surprise: that fiery post is still not made public, and it seems I'm no longer able to log in. Of course, prior to blasting them, logging in was a hit-or-miss exercise in confusion...

I was able to find the Beelink Drivers and Hardware page, but could not find any download specific to my system. Mine is a SER5 Pro 5700U. Can you advise me as to exactly what I need to download for that?

Before I bought this Beelink I read many negative reviews. I guess I'm "living the experience" now. In light of all that's happening geopolitically, I want nothing more to do with Chinese Anything.

What is missing?

msinfo32>components>problem devices

File>export as a text file to get the pnp device ids

Is it this





drivers are here

@BothHands, Close to the bottom of this page is the link to the drivers I think is your computer. Make sure it is the correct computer first though. https://www.bee-link.com/cms/support/productlist?id=7

I think is the same for all SER5

another way is to export the third party drivers from the beelink supplied image ( which I linked earlier in the thread)

then use device manager to browse to the drivers that were exported from the beelink image.

SIW2 said:

What is missing?

msinfo32>components>problem devices

File>export as a text file to get the pnp device ids

View attachment 89636

Click to expand...

I can't figure out where you are... I got to the point appearing below, but can't figure out where to go from there.