Alienware X51 R3 Upgrading HDD to Samsung 950 PRO - 512GB

I had a few issues deleting all of the partitions, so I ended up doing the following:

Step 1.

Open the Diskpart application by either typing in "Diskpart" (without the quotation marks) into the search, or type "Diskpart.exe" into Run by pressing the Windows key + R.

Step 2.

Now with Diskpart open, you must enter the following command lines:

I. Type "list disk" without the quotation marks and press enter.

II. Type in "select disk 0" and press enter.

III. Then type in "list partition" and press enter.

IV. Then type in "select partition x" x=the recovery partition you wish to delete (i believe it's 1, i dont recall) replace x with the recovery partition number and press enter.

V. Then finally type in "delete partition override" and press enter.

Yes, sometimes you have to do it that way (with DiskPart from Command prompt).

Thanks for taking the time to post the solution. I'm sure others will find it helpful.

I did the same as you. Cloned to the 950 Pro. Successfully booted from it - but only by hitting F12 and selecting it manually, otherwise it kept reverting to the stock HD. So erased the stock HD using the DiskPart solution, restarted the laptop and... now I can't boot from the SSD anymore, either manually or otherwise.

Dell doesn't offer support for installing third party parts - fair enough - so I'm stumped. I can see that the SDD is still recognised, there's just no way to boot from it.

Anyone have a solution?

I would unplug and take the HDD out of the box, and then see if the PC using the Samsung 950 pro SSD. If that works, but want to still use your HDD, you will have to delete/format/erase all partitions on the old HDD before you can reinstall it and use it again. It is all linked to being a BOOT drive I am guessing, otherwise you will have to get a complicated change in the BOOT process. I had to use a HDD docking station to gain access to the drive after I booted up on the SAMSUNG 950 pro. I hope that helps.

I would post this in a new question or discussion. I am not sure you are getting the full support of the forum by posting here, especially after this question of mine  has been answered. Just another thought.

In the future never delete your source data till after everything is working, especially a boot drive. I did not attempt to delete mine until I was able to boot on the new cloned drive on its own, then used a USB docking station to delete data, etc. This way you have a way back into windows regardless if your new drive works or not. Many people take short cuts and leave the original HDD drive in when attempting to start on the new cloned drive. You have to unplug it at least so it has not path back into the system, etc.

It had to be said, so now do you have a USB recovery drive, if you do, did you try it to get you back into windows? Dell probably sells recovery processes/discs as well if you do not, and you might be able to download it as well.  

I did the same as you. Cloned to the 950 Pro. Successfully booted from it - but only by hitting F12 and selecting it manually, otherwise it kept reverting to the stock HD. So erased the stock HD using the DiskPart solution, restarted the laptop and... now I can't boot from the SSD anymore, either manually or otherwise.   Dell doesn't offer support for installing third party parts - fair enough - so I'm stumped. I can see that the SDD is still recognised, there's just no way to boot from it.   Anyone have a solution?

In the future never delete your source data till after everything is working, especially a boot drive. I did not attempt to delete mine until I was able to boot on the new cloned drive on its own, then used a USB docking station to delete data, etc. This way you have a way back into windows regardless if your new drive works or not. Many people take short cuts and leave the original HDD drive in when attempting to start on the new cloned drive. You have to unplug it at least so it has not path back into the system, etc.

Exactly. As I see it, there are at least 3 reasons for this:

1. The old (working and system booting) drive that you remove is not only a backup, but you could always re-install it and you are back where you started.

2. Especially on a system built-up as UEFI/SecureBoot ... the machine's (Windows) Boot Manager can be on one drive, while the bootable OS partition is on another physical drive.

3. If done correctly, you get to see the new drive start the system ... undeniably, all by itself.