Booting XPS 8900 from SSD

I'm trying to replace the hard drive on my XPS 8900 desktop with a SanDisk SSD.  When I boot the system I get a error screen that says "Hard Drive - Drive error detected. Alert! Hard Drive or Optical Drive not found"  However, when I hit "continue" on that screen, the system boots fine and works like a charm.  I saw a SanDisk SSD firmware update on downloads.dell.com... I downloaded it, but the zip file appears to be password protected and there is not a password in the instructions on the dell site. This is very frustrating Windows 10 in case it matters.

EXACT SAME EXPERIENCE HERE!  I did successfully clone to my 950 Pro in the PCIe 3 slot with Acronis WinPE USB recovery...  Then shutdown and Disconnected the OEM 1 TB HDD.  Re-booted.  At first the system could not find the PCIe  950 Pro... Said disk drive not found.  When I hit continue, Then it did, and initialized PCIe, and booted from 950 Pro SSD.  So I was happy happy happy joy joy. HOWEVER when I shutdown and restart, then same error message saying disk drive not found comes back.  Click on continue, then it boots.  Also like another member,  if I hit F12, it will go directly to boot up. NEXT QUESTION...  I want to utilize the OEM 1 TB HDD for storage/back up.  Should I simply reconnect the cables and reboot?  Will the system see it as a D drive and be able to utilize? And will I loose this irritating problem of disk not found at every startup?  Thanks for any insights.

OSPREY - FYI - My problem has been fixed with a BIOS update that dell recently made available - version 2.1.3

Dell really need to solve this issue. Otherwise, once your old hard drive breaks, there is no way for user to replace/add a new driver. 

What is the company SW name that allow you to chance your XPS 8900 MBR partition from UEFI to Legacy?  I also did try to use (USB device boot) a tool call MediaCreationTool yeah it booted right up but it couldn't do a MBR partition repair because of something to do w/a locked HD security (Dell Bios lock feature which was turn off and disable) but still no go. BTW isn't MediaCreationTool is a WinPE ware ? 

BTW I have purchase a new 2yrs warranty on my DELL XPS 89xx so doesn't that qualify me to download a free DELL W10 OS iso image file ?!? 

Reasons I asking this because I either getting a error msg  about my Service Tag number or a error: Server is busy please try back at a later time ( Warning   The system is not responding. Please try again later.). Can somebody from DELL look into this please? This has been going on almost 3 days now !

I had tried to boot up my new SanDisk ultra II but I'm having some of the same type of issues:  Inaccessible_boot_device . I can't update my Bios quite yet because of my monitor has been knocked down recently when I booting up the monitor: show w/no DOS image loading (replacement 4K IPS next month). Maybe purchase this 4k model $319.99 Seiki 42" LED 4K Ultra HD (This uses HDMI 2.0 and HDCP 2.2. not a "Smart TV)

https://www.groupon.com/deals/gg-42-inch-4k-ultra-hd-led-hdtv 

Or Sceptre U505CV-U 49" 4K Ultra HD 2160p 60Hz LED HDTV (4K x 2K no-HDMI 2.0 HDCP 2.2)

http://www.walmart.com/ip/Sceptre-U505CV-U-49-4K-Ultra-HD-2160p-60Hz-LED-HDTV-4K-x-2K/46784936

Solution for now is to shut down DELL and repeat until I see my DOS loading It's might take up to 30-40mins before I can load back into 10 Windows. I also would love if somebody could suggest how to setup M.2 SSD and what exactly should i purchase for a SSD controller card for my XPS DELL 8900?

Thanks !

PS:   Just wondering is this a legit DELL link:
 https://r2.tns-online.com/webui/rapsurvey/survey.aspx

Hello there.  I read through some of the comments on this post and need help as well.  I installed two Crucial SSDs and then got windows installed onto them, but I can't get one of them setup as a boot drive.  When I turn off the SATA controller for the original HDD they system won't boot period.  However, it will boot from the original disk and then use the SSD instead.  I get a window from Windows saying it's going to pick one operating system or the other.  I have tried many things.  I've been working on this little project for two days!  My best guess at this point is that the SATA port on the motherboard is the problem.  Just a guess though

I have a similar issue. I my new XPS 8900 came with Win 10 loaded on the 2tb HDD at Sata0 when I wanted them to load it to the 256gig SSD M.2 at address Sata5. So I tried re-installing Win10. It would choose the HDD every time without asking me which disk to choose. So I formatted everything and then removed the cables from the HDD leaving only the SSD in place. I could load the SSD ok, but when I go to put the HDD back (to use as additional storage) first it did not show up, even after hardware scan and refresh. So I rebooted the system with HDD(formatted) and SSD(op/sys) in place. Well it didn't boot up and after taking out the HDD the SSD wont boot anymore either. So, another Win 10 reload.

It seems that there should be an option in the BIOS to set the drive order you want but I do not see that option on this system. It seems it wants to take (and see) Sata0 as the boot location and never Sata5.

Can someone help with this?

I believe the SATA0 port uses a slave pin.  I'm not sure if this the correct terminology though.  I learned this years ago, but can't remember fully.  I believe slave pins are used to make sure that certain things receive certain signals at certain times, so this would mean no other SATA port recieves power/communicates with the motherboard on start up. The boot drive must be using the SATA0 port(it's blue just like with the PCIE slot, because of whatever reason).  I also learned after getting my SSDs working correctly, that formatting from within a running version of Windows might not be the best option.  Use the tools from inside the Windows installer to format the drive(this was the only option that got the partions correct).  Even after getting my MX200 in the correct SATA port, it did not boot.  I even managed to get Windows striped across my original HDD and the new SSD.  Crucial's tech support told me to make sure the SSD is the only drive hooked up when trying to install Windows onto it.

Eventually I gave up trying to use my SSD (Sandisk) along with my DELL WD 1TB-HDD (which is now disable). For now I'll waiting for my newer monitor to arrive (I accidentally kinda broken the one I'm using now and it won't show DOS on boot up). I won't attempt to update my XPS 8900 bios I'll just sticking  w/the SSD UEFI (Unified Extensible Firmware Interface) format. 

I also was hoping if somebody would had suggested either sticking with the hardware compatibility Dell SATA setup or moving onward to a pci-e certified SSD controller card which I'm not familiar with.

But I am starting to wonder here,.. is DELL's using a non-standard motherboards and the same go/w their PSU's? Seem that DELL hardware doesn't play well with standard/certified components so am I'm wrong ?!? 

Also isn't Legacy fat32/NTFS formatting HDD require the master sata to successfully boot correctly ?

I am facing a similar issue and even after repeating the steps taken by EMCDOG above I am unable to boot with the HD plugged in.

Is there anything I could be missing?

I'm having the same problem, but can't seem to resolve it as you did.

I've gone through a whole back and forth, but now I've got Windows 10 on my SSD, while the hard drive is empty. So I'm running off the SSD.

However, when I disconnect the hard drive I can't boot. I've tried to make some of the changes in the BIOS (Sata setting to AHCI, legacy boot, etc.) but I keep running into troubles. I've had the Dell BIOS diagnose my problem, and reset the PC.... but I still can't disconnect the hard drive.

I do want to keep the hard drive for storage, but the fact that I can't boot without it makes me concerned part of the system is on the hard drive slowing me down. And also if I want to swap out the hard drive in a year, will my whole system stop booting?? I can't take that chance.

Can you offer any advice?

Thanks so much for the response. Unfortunately doesn't work for me. When I disconnect the HDD, leaving the SDD plugged in to SATA0 (in blue), I can't load up windows. I have to disable secure boot, and set up a legacy boot, in order to boot from the USB. The windows logo comes on, but then I get an error message titled "Recovery", saying my system needs to be repaired, because the NLD data is missing. (When I reverse all the steps and plug the HDD back in I'm back to square one and can boot.)

As a secondary question, I only formatted the HDD. I don't think it should matter because this problem happens even when it's not plugged in. Until I solve this, I'm afraid to completely wipe out the HDD because I'm concerned I won't be able to get back to square one. But let's say I wanted to. It currently has four partitions: An EFI system partiton, the main partition, and then two recovery partitions. Should I be wiping all that out? (And how? Deleting the volume?)

for me, update the BIOS solves the problem

That plenty much resolved my problem by updating bios,.. so my Sandisk Ultra II & DELL WD 1TB-HDD is now working perfectly w/my new AOC 1ms monitor and spanky new Radeon (TM)  XTX RX 480 Graphics @1324mhz.

You could try formatting just the SDD and unplugging the HDD.  The error is probaly from some parts of Windows being striped.  But yeah delete the volume then Windows will do the formatting during install.