- Connect only the SSD (or drive you wish to use as bootable C: )
- Set BIOS to UEFI and AHCI
- Be sure machine passes ePSA Diagnostics.
- Press F12 to boot (a recently created) Microsoft.com Windows-10 Media-Creation flash-drive. If this flash-drive is NOT recently created, sometimes it helps to have an ethernet cable attached to your router (so it can download any more recent "Pre-Installation Files").
- Install Windows-10 (64bit) to BLANK drive (ie, UnPartitioned Space).
- Do Windows-10 first-time setup. Toward the end, if Cortana asks you about installing a large/major-upgrade she found, you can usually click "Do It Later". It should work fine for now with Windows-10 v1703 or v1709.
- I suggest you DO NOT install Intel-RST when finished (or ever ... just use the included Microsoft drivers instead).
- On newer Dell machines, the Windows serial-key is stored in BIOS. Check that Windows-10 is automatically Activated as legit.
- Turn-on SecureBoot in BIOS if not already on. After rebooting a couple of times, run msinfo32 and check its status.
Don't clone. Use Macrium Reflect 7 (free) and Image to a file on USB-HDD instead. - You can Image the whole machine, or just certain drives (like the first physical disk with C: on it). With only your future C: drive connected ... Press F12 and one-time-boot the Macrium Rescue USB-Flash Use the file you created to restore the whole new drive (all partitions). - This is sometimes called a "bare-metal restore".
Cloning or Imaging doesn't always work, so you clean-install instead.
Use Macrium Reflect 7 (free) and Image to a file on USB-HDD instead. - You can Image the whole machine, or just certain drives (like the first physical disk with C: on it). With only your future C: drive connected ... Press F12 and one-time-boot the Macrium Rescue USB-Flash Use the file you created to restore the whole new drive (all partitions). - This is sometimes called a "bare-metal restore".
Cloning or Imaging doesn't always work, so you clean-install instead."
So If i want to go this route, would I image every partition located on the HDD that the C: drive is on or just the C: drive partition? Once I complete that, then I would have attached my back up hdd with the image as well as my new SSD and the Macrium Rescue drive and would follow the image restore process within the one time boot interface?
Should I be doing all of this from the very start with UEFI secure boot OFF? Is there a possibility that these SSD's are incompatible with my AIO? At this point I have given up the cloning process its obvious there are way too many issues with this. Is there a perfect step by step write up on a clean install from bios changes all the way to a confirmed boot up? Im only asking because at this point im about to pull my hair out and return these SSD.
1. So If i want to go this route, would I image every partition located on the HDD that the C: drive is on or just the C: drive partition?
2. Once I complete that, then I would have attached my back up hdd with the image as well as my new SSD and the Macrium Rescue drive and would follow the image restore process within the one time boot interface?
1. All partitions. The ones toward to end of the drive should auto-adjust in size.
2. Right
However, a clean-install will first prove everything truly works together (if there is some doubt). The old drive is disconnected the whole time anyway (un-touched).
After this test, the SSD should be completely "DiskPart cleaned" before a clone/image procedure. You can do this with the PE on the Macrium Rescue flash-boot.
Personally, on a new system (that would be easy to "software rebuild") ... I would start the build with a clean-install. Another benefit is that it sheds all the old (OEM pre-installed) non-sense. Just make sure you have all your Installers, serials, keys, etc. Remember to set-aside the old drive (and don't erase or mess with it) until you are sure you don't need it and are sure you are ready to erase it.
All types off installs have failed at this point with Windows 10. Clean installs, attempt to restore (failed) on the SSD's and the original HDD that came with the computer. I am stuck with a brick for right now although i do have what appears to be a corrupted HDD (boots up and attempts to recovery), a corrupted Macrium backup on an external HHD, and two SSD's that will not load . Could this be an issue where I have to install windows 8.1 or something of that nature in order to get my machine to operate? Any suggestions at this point would be beneficial.
1. All types off installs have failed at this point with Windows 10. Clean installs, attempt to restore (failed) on the SSD's and the original HDD that came with the computer. I am stuck with a brick for right now although i do have what appears to be a corrupted HDD (boots up and attempts to recovery), a corrupted Macrium backup on an external HHD, and two SSD's that will not load .
2. Could this be an issue where I have to install windows 8.1 or something of that nature in order to get my machine to operate?
3. Any suggestions at this point would be beneficial.
1. Frankly, you seem to have the attitude that it's this big complicated problem and it's not going to work. So, guess what ... it's not going to. :Smile:
At this point, you should probably seek professional assistance or find a local friend that is willing to help you.
2. I've never seen that. Windows-10 64bit should install on any machine designed for Windows-8. However, you are welcome to try.
3. If the machine passes ePSA Diagnostics, the hardware should be good enough to do a clean-install of Windows. However, there is always a chance that the motherboard is bad or you have damaged it and/or multiple drives.
Thanks for your help and my apologies if my frustrations came through negatively. I still have hope in restoring this machine and will try the epsa diagnostic and try to reinstall once again. The issue isn't the install of Windows 10, that seems to install just fine. It just happens to hang at the Dell boot up screen and I never see the little circles indicating the loading of the OS.
@PugButterwrote: 1. Thanks for your help and my apologies if my frustrations came through negatively.
2. I still have hope in restoring this machine and will try the epsa diagnostic and try to reinstall once again.
3. The issue isn't the install of Windows 10, that seems to install just fine. It just happens to hang at the Dell boot up screen and I never see the little circles indicating the loading of the OS.
1. No problem. It just helps to think "OK, I have this simple/minimal hardware config now, and this is going to work". Stay calm and don't get frustrated. It's just "a puzzle". Doesn't everyone love puzzles? :Smile:
2. Yes, (especially in your case) after you have (only) the SSD/HDD installed and connect that you want to use as C:, do the ePSA first, each time. You don't have to do the extended 4 hour ram test, just the short/basic one. Everything should pass.
Also, before each new attempt, the SSD should be completely erased and left raw/uninitialized. A convenient way to do that is with the PE inside the Macrium Rescue Flash-Drive ... do a proper DiskPart Clean procedure on the SSD.
3. Once you are doing the above steps (including my higher posts) on each attempt ... if you still get this, there are a couple of other problems that can crop-up and cause this.
Are you using a newly created Windows-10 Media Creation flash-drive? It should have the latest version 1709 on it.
Finally got it working. I had to set my UEFI/BIOS to Legacy Unsecure boot and then run the Windows 10 clean install. I was able to boot, download all updates and set things up without an issue. HOWEVER.... I was unable to load and boot after changing my UEFI/BIOS settings to UEFI secure. That setting would put my machine into an ePSA boot loop with end in sight. SO i changed the settings back to legacy unsecure and now we are up and running without issues.
2. I had to set my UEFI/BIOS to Legacy Unsecure boot and then run the Windows 10 clean install. I was able to boot, download all updates and set things up without an issue.
3. HOWEVER.... I was unable to load and boot after changing my UEFI/BIOS settings to UEFI secure. That setting would put my machine into an ePSA boot loop with end in sight. SO i changed the settings back to legacy unsecure and now we are up and running without issues.
1. good work
2. I haven't had to drop back to Legacy-Mode on a UEFI-system since like ... well, never that I recall. That points to a hardware incompatibility ... likely between your motherboard and whatever SSD you decided to go with.
3. Typically, you can't switch between Legacy/UEFI without a clean-install. So, this is really all expected and "by-design".
Too bad you ended-up in Legacy Mode ... so no SecureBoot for you (so be careful).
Tesla1856
8 Wizard
•
17.4K Posts
0
April 14th, 2018 20:00
Clean-Install:
At this point, I suggest ...
- Connect only the SSD (or drive you wish to use as bootable C: )
- Set BIOS to UEFI and AHCI
- Be sure machine passes ePSA Diagnostics.
- Press F12 to boot (a recently created) Microsoft.com Windows-10 Media-Creation flash-drive. If this flash-drive is NOT recently created, sometimes it helps to have an ethernet cable attached to your router (so it can download any more recent "Pre-Installation Files").
- Install Windows-10 (64bit) to BLANK drive (ie, UnPartitioned Space).
- Do Windows-10 first-time setup. Toward the end, if Cortana asks you about installing a large/major-upgrade she found, you can usually click "Do It Later". It should work fine for now with Windows-10 v1703 or v1709.
- I suggest you DO NOT install Intel-RST when finished (or ever ... just use the included Microsoft drivers instead).
- On newer Dell machines, the Windows serial-key is stored in BIOS. Check that Windows-10 is automatically Activated as legit.
- Turn-on SecureBoot in BIOS if not already on. After rebooting a couple of times, run msinfo32 and check its status.
https://www.dell.com/community/Alienware-General/fixed/td-p/5627124
Cloning or Imaging:
Don't clone.
Use Macrium Reflect 7 (free) and Image to a file on USB-HDD instead.
- You can Image the whole machine, or just certain drives (like the first physical disk with C: on it).
With only your future C: drive connected ...
Press F12 and one-time-boot the Macrium Rescue USB-Flash
Use the file you created to restore the whole new drive (all partitions).
- This is sometimes called a "bare-metal restore".
Cloning or Imaging doesn't always work, so you clean-install instead.
PugButter
8 Posts
0
April 15th, 2018 05:00
You posted "
Use Macrium Reflect 7 (free) and Image to a file on USB-HDD instead.
- You can Image the whole machine, or just certain drives (like the first physical disk with C: on it).
With only your future C: drive connected ...
Press F12 and one-time-boot the Macrium Rescue USB-Flash
Use the file you created to restore the whole new drive (all partitions).
- This is sometimes called a "bare-metal restore".
Cloning or Imaging doesn't always work, so you clean-install instead."
So If i want to go this route, would I image every partition located on the HDD that the C: drive is on or just the C: drive partition? Once I complete that, then I would have attached my back up hdd with the image as well as my new SSD and the Macrium Rescue drive and would follow the image restore process within the one time boot interface?
PugButter
8 Posts
0
April 15th, 2018 05:00
Should I be doing all of this from the very start with UEFI secure boot OFF? Is there a possibility that these SSD's are incompatible with my AIO? At this point I have given up the cloning process its obvious there are way too many issues with this. Is there a perfect step by step write up on a clean install from bios changes all the way to a confirmed boot up? Im only asking because at this point im about to pull my hair out and return these SSD.
Tesla1856
8 Wizard
•
17.4K Posts
1
April 15th, 2018 11:00
1. All partitions. The ones toward to end of the drive should auto-adjust in size.
2. Right
However, a clean-install will first prove everything truly works together (if there is some doubt). The old drive is disconnected the whole time anyway (un-touched).
After this test, the SSD should be completely "DiskPart cleaned" before a clone/image procedure. You can do this with the PE on the Macrium Rescue flash-boot.
Personally, on a new system (that would be easy to "software rebuild") ... I would start the build with a clean-install. Another benefit is that it sheds all the old (OEM pre-installed) non-sense. Just make sure you have all your Installers, serials, keys, etc. Remember to set-aside the old drive (and don't erase or mess with it) until you are sure you don't need it and are sure you are ready to erase it.
PugButter
8 Posts
0
April 16th, 2018 06:00
All types off installs have failed at this point with Windows 10. Clean installs, attempt to restore (failed) on the SSD's and the original HDD that came with the computer. I am stuck with a brick for right now although i do have what appears to be a corrupted HDD (boots up and attempts to recovery), a corrupted Macrium backup on an external HHD, and two SSD's that will not load . Could this be an issue where I have to install windows 8.1 or something of that nature in order to get my machine to operate? Any suggestions at this point would be beneficial.
Tesla1856
8 Wizard
•
17.4K Posts
0
April 16th, 2018 08:00
1. Frankly, you seem to have the attitude that it's this big complicated problem and it's not going to work. So, guess what ... it's not going to. :Smile:
At this point, you should probably seek professional assistance or find a local friend that is willing to help you.
2. I've never seen that. Windows-10 64bit should install on any machine designed for Windows-8. However, you are welcome to try.
3. If the machine passes ePSA Diagnostics, the hardware should be good enough to do a clean-install of Windows. However, there is always a chance that the motherboard is bad or you have damaged it and/or multiple drives.
PugButter
8 Posts
0
April 16th, 2018 09:00
Tesla1856
8 Wizard
•
17.4K Posts
0
April 16th, 2018 10:00
1. No problem. It just helps to think "OK, I have this simple/minimal hardware config now, and this is going to work". Stay calm and don't get frustrated. It's just "a puzzle". Doesn't everyone love puzzles? :Smile:
2. Yes, (especially in your case) after you have (only) the SSD/HDD installed and connect that you want to use as C:, do the ePSA first, each time. You don't have to do the extended 4 hour ram test, just the short/basic one. Everything should pass.
Also, before each new attempt, the SSD should be completely erased and left raw/uninitialized. A convenient way to do that is with the PE inside the Macrium Rescue Flash-Drive ... do a proper DiskPart Clean procedure on the SSD.
3. Once you are doing the above steps (including my higher posts) on each attempt ... if you still get this, there are a couple of other problems that can crop-up and cause this.
Are you using a newly created Windows-10 Media Creation flash-drive? It should have the latest version 1709 on it.
PugButter
8 Posts
0
April 17th, 2018 06:00
Finally got it working. I had to set my UEFI/BIOS to Legacy Unsecure boot and then run the Windows 10 clean install. I was able to boot, download all updates and set things up without an issue. HOWEVER.... I was unable to load and boot after changing my UEFI/BIOS settings to UEFI secure. That setting would put my machine into an ePSA boot loop with end in sight. SO i changed the settings back to legacy unsecure and now we are up and running without issues.
Tesla1856
8 Wizard
•
17.4K Posts
0
April 17th, 2018 09:00
1. good work
2. I haven't had to drop back to Legacy-Mode on a UEFI-system since like ... well, never that I recall. That points to a hardware incompatibility ... likely between your motherboard and whatever SSD you decided to go with.
3. Typically, you can't switch between Legacy/UEFI without a clean-install. So, this is really all expected and "by-design".
Too bad you ended-up in Legacy Mode ... so no SecureBoot for you (so be careful).