E-5520: HD imaging problems in a (SATA - AHCI problem?)

Dear all...  Advice please!   :emotion-20:

Is there an issue with

I am helping impliment our montessori school with a batch of new Latitude E5520 laptops, identically built with Win7 Pro x64.  I had the good idea to prep one with all the installs and then re-image to the other five (5) HDs.  However, using three common imaging methods available none will boot successfully.  (I've done imaging before, many times, but in XP x32 environments.) 

• First I purchased and used CMS Data Transfer Kit  to directly duplicate prepped HD to a USB enclosure HDD.  The software it included is BounceBack, which clones the HDD - all partitions..  It ran perfect with no errors.  When it completed I could see all partitions (3) on the new drive.  I shutdown the system, transferred the new HD from the USB enclosure into a laptop.  During boot, after the POST messages, received  giberish text and system would go no further..  I repeated procedure but got the same results.  I tried to get this resolved through CMS Support but after suggestions of tweaking with SATA settings (the AHCI being new and maybe the problem), they couldn't explain it.  I downloaded their BounceBack Ultimate software and went through the process again; same results ~ giberish text like above. 
• I decided to try the Dell Backup and Recover Manager that came with the systems, using the Backup System option.  This required using a blank spare SATA drive as it would use it as bootable recovery media.  This proceeded as all the instructions showed, writing/recreating the installed HD.  Upon reboot, system came up with "BOOTMGR is missing".  I repeated this with tweaks, but got same results each time - the system won't boot with the newly imaged drive.
• I then decided to use my good'ol reliable Norton Ghost that I had been using for years for this task.  (I had to upgrade to Version 15 to support the new platforms though).  The imaging process was successful and all appears to have worked normally - but again, the system won't boot with the newly imaged drive.

Notes:

1. I tried multiple system HD's as input - so that wasn't an issue.
2. I used another computer - same BOOTmgr error
3. I've tweaked with each of these methods every-which-way I could think of.
4. I also followed other posts, including trying "bootrec" settings and resets.

At this point I'd be happy to just get the OEM HD's back to their original standing (the two that have been altered) and I'll just do all the installs/updates manually -- At this point I've put in at least 20 hours and am SO frustrated.

Thank you for any feedback!!!