Changing Boot Order for Inspiron 3650

When you clone the bootable hdd to new ssd, you did not clone the EFI partition from hdd to ssd, that is my guess.  Thus uefi boot manager is unable to use ssd as boot drive.  Why not disconnect the hdd temporarily then do a fresh clean install of OS on new ssd?

Thanks for that info. I wasn't aware of being able to get the clean install from a USB bootable drive.
I will compare the two partitions and see what's what. 

I used the Samsung cloning software and a dock to my USB to do the clone. 
When I accessed the BIOS, the Samsung SSD drive was detected, there was just no way....that I could determine....to change the boot order. 

I appreciate the info and I'll get back to this post with any update. 

Well, the reason I cloned the HDD to the SSD is mainly that I don't have the Windows 10 software to do a clean install. Plus, I wanted to make sure all my files were intact on the SSD. Unless I'm unaware of a way to do a clean install of Windows, I don't know what else to do. 

I'm not understanding why the cloned SSD wouldn't have all the files needed to boot from. The EFI partition wouldn't be there? Can I create this partition? 

This is probably beyond my realm of expertise. But thanks for your response. 

You can download the Windows 10 installation media tool from Microsoft for free.  It will let you create a bootable usb (at least 8gb flash drive needed) or burn a blank DVD.  You can do clean install of Windows 10 using either usb or DVD.  
I am not sure you actually cloned the EFI partition to new ssd, but I could be wrong.  To be sure you can use Windows disk management to compare all the partitions in your hdd and ssd.  Post a screenshot of disk mgmt if you can.  Everything has to be exactly the same to call it a perfect clone.

It looks like the EFI partition is present. 

I see. 
The more I think about it, I really don’t need to reinstall the HDD. I’ve only used about 10 GB of the tetra byte HDD and the SSD drive is 500 GB. I’ll not likely need more than that much space in the foreseeable future so maybe I’ll just only use the smaller drive. 🤷‍

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If you disconnect hdd, therefore only ssd is connected, does pc then boot from ssd since you said it has a cloned EFI partition?

I am not sure. 

I think if your pc can boot from ssd without hdd, then you could some how try to wipe the hdd before reconnect it.  This may produce a smooth boot although pc may still go check the hdd first for any bootable file, i.e., hdd still higher than ssd in boot order.  You may not notice it though.

In my pc I have an nvme ssd that had 1st OS. Later on I installed a sata ssd and installed a second OS. Now whenever powered on, it gives error, I need to hit F9, then it shows me a list of two two bootable OS. I need to manually click the nvme ssd if I want, otherwise it goes to boot from sata ssd after 10 sec or so.  So I was not able to reset boot order.

I haven't tried that yet. But I will. 

So if it boots from the SSD, will Windows change this to the boot drive? And then can I reinstall the HDD as a second drive for storage?

@RoHe 

Thanks a lot for that detailed procedure. 

Good thing I’m retired so I can play with my new tech toys and learn new stuff at the same time. I’ll probably give this a go tomorrow. 

@PBarron1  - You're welcome...

Let me add a few more pointers:

Reboot and tap F2 to open BIOS setup. If SATA Mode is set to RAID in BIOS setup, you'll probably want to change that because Samsung's cloning software and SSDs don't always play nice with RAID. BUT, you have to do it the right way. You won't change BIOS to AHCI until Step 4.

1. Open a Cmd window, Run as administrator
2. Copy-paste this command into the CMD window. it starts Windows in Safe Mode the next time you reboot:
   bcdedit /set {current} safeboot minimal
3. Restart the computer and tap F2 to enter BIOS setup
4. Change the SATA Mode from RAID to AHCI
5. Save the change and exit Setup and Windows will automatically boot to Safe Mode
6. Open a Cmd window again, as in step #1
7. Copy-paste this command, which will start Windows in Normal Mode the next time you reboot:
   bcdedit /deletevalue {current} safeboot
8. Reboot and Windows will automatically start with AHCI drivers enabled
9. Now clone the HDD onto the new SSD

Once that's done, follow the steps in my previous post. Post back and let us know how it goes...

@RoHe 
Ok, good. Glad you cleared up my question on your previous response about F12 to enter BIOS. I thought it was F2 but then maybe F12 did something that I wasn't aware of. 

Now, even though I have already cloned the HDD to the SSD, after I boot with the AHCI drivers enabled, I should do the clone again? Of course, this would wipe the previous cloning and I'm assuming that's what is needed. I'm just making sure I understand clearly. 

@RoHe 
Ahhh, OK. Gotcha. 
Learn something new every day. 

Thanks.

F2 opens BIOS setup, F12 opens the boot menu...

If you originally cloned the HDD with BIOS set to RAID and then changed BIOS to AHCI, you have to clone the HDD onto the SSD again.

Otherwise, the PC won't boot from the SSD with BIOS set to AHCI and the original Windows clone on that SSD expecting RAID.