pendennis

Having had easy success installing a Samsung SSD on my laptop, I opted to try the same thing with my Dell desktop.

It currently has a Seagate 2TB hard drive, and I want to replace it with a 2TB Samsung 860 QVO SSD. I found it on Best Buy's eBay store, and received it today. I downloaded the necessary drive clone software from them, made the copy, and swapped out the drives. I'm getting a boot error when I try to start the PC.

I went in to the F2 menu and went to the boot tab, but the only thing I've found is the drive ID, and I changed it to the Samsung. When I save, I get the same boot error.

I called Samsung, and their support is less than stellar. Their first suggestion was to re-clone the drive, which I've done, then get a Microsoft Win10 repair executable, download it to a thumb drive, and boot up the computer with the new drive re-installed. According to the tech, that should fix things. However, in case it doesn't, I was advised to load a 3rd party repair program, and try that. However, the kicker is that Samsung won't support a Win 10 repair from a 3rd party, and it will void the SSD warranty.

Does anyone have an idea how this can be fixed?

Inquiring minds want to know.

Thanks.

TBerwick Loc: Houston, Texas

Windows 10 can be a problem & sometimes Dell's secure boot complicates things. Get a copy of EaseUS to do your clone. Of the 3 cloning tools I use, it has had the best success with Win10. I created my boot media on a small capacity USB drive to help with portability.

rcarol

I've been using Paragon Migrate to clone drives on Windows 10 machines, both laptop, and desktop. I have had zero failures in cloning drives using this software

Haydon

Set the boot priority in the BIOS to Samsung 860 QVO SSD first and see if that helps. If you continue to get an error, as others have suggested try a different drive cloning software. Recently I have done 2 Samsung upgrades with their free migration tool and it has worked flawlessly. Both of them on Lenovo's. One of them a desktop and the other a laptop.

The laptop required a BIOS update to see the NvMe M2 drive.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

That's too bad. I have Samsung SSDs in several computers, and the installation went smoothly. However, the desktop that I built usually has a problem booting, and I have to press F1, F8, and then Enter sometimes to get it to boot. The computer tech said that wiping the drive and reinstalling Win10 might solve the problem. It's not worth the trouble.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

That's my intermittent problem. It keeps messing up the boot priority.

Cape Coral Joel

Are you sure the drive is not defective? My guess is that is the problem. I have installed over 20 SSD drives using the migration software and I never had a problem.

nadelewitz Loc: Ithaca NY

Put the hard drive back in. Go to Settings in the Start menu....... Update & Security.......Backup.....Backup and Restore (Windows 7).
Create a system repair disc. Then create a system image (stored externally).

Then replace the hard drive with the SSD. Look in the BIOS to make sure that the computer is recognizing the SSD.

Boot from the system repair disc and restore the system image to the SSD.

You can only do this if the SSD is at least at large as the hard drive, which you are okay on.

PRESERVE THE HARD DRIVE INTACT until you have determined that the computer now boots and functions normally.

No need for any additional software.

Get help from someone in person if this is too much for you to deal with.

Haydon

Jerry do some research to see if a BIOS update is available. That might be resolved through a firmware update.

pendennis

Thanks very much for your help. I created a system repair disk, then mounted the Samsung SSD. I used the F12 boot option, and just had to select the Samsung. It booted up in around 3 seconds, and it now runs like the proverbial striped a$$ ape. The calls are just as fast as those on my laptop with a 1TB Samsung.

I worked in IT for a lot of years, and I well understand the value of retention. I'd already created a repair CD when I bought the computer.

After things have settled down, I'll turn the 2TB Seagate into an external storage device.

I already use iDrive as my back-up service.

shelty Loc: Medford, OR

I've never had a problem. I just connected one into my computer and it shows up on my "PC".

pendennis

When I installed a 1TB on my Dell laptop, it fired up perfectly. Didn't have to do anything. This one went to a desktop. Must be some difference in the BIOS on this one.