Fixed: Cloned Hard Drive or SSD Won’t Boot

Scenario: PC can’t boot from cloned SSD

“I cloned my system disk from an old HDD to a new SSD for disk upgrading with a disk cloning software.

Once done, I shut down my computer and tried to boot from the cloned SSD. But the cloned hard drive not booting. How can I solve it?”

Why my cloned hard drive or SSD won't boot?

If you are planing to upgrade your hard drive to a new HDD or SSD without reinstalling Windows and all the previously installed programs, you’d prefer to clone hard drive. Which should be the fastest way to migrate all data from your old hard drive to the new HDD or SSD.  After cloning, you can boot from the cloned hard drive directly without reinstalling everything from scratch.

However, unfortunately, you may meet the problem that the cloned Hard drive not booting. Here are some common reasons:

1. The SSD is connected to the PC as an external disk.
2. The cloned SSD is not marked as the start disk.
3. The SSD is incompatible with the BIOS launch mode.
4. The process of copying the disk was either interrupted or corrupted from the beginning.
5. Boot partitions, boot components, or incomplete clones that are missing from the system.

Firstly, if the SSD is linked to the computer as an external drive, you can refer to the following fixes to solve the issue. Next, confirm that the cloned SSD has been appropriately designated as the primary boot disk. It's important to also check for compatibility issues between the BIOS boot mode and the SSD.

In cases where the disk cloning procedure was compromised or prematurely halted, take steps to rectify this potential cause. Instances of incomplete clones, absent boot partitions, or missing boot components should be addressed comprehensively. Additionally, verify the condition of the source disk, ensuring it is bootable. If required, make sure the SSD is equipped with the necessary drivers.

How to fix a cloned drive won't boot

Here we provide two ways to make cloned drive bootable in two different situations. You can choose the appropriate solution based on your own situation.

• Situation 1: clone one hard drive to another on the same computer

• Situation 2: clone disk from one computer to another

Situation 1: clone one hard drive to another on the same computer

▶ 1. Check the boot order

Step 1. Press a specific key, usually Del for desktop and F2 for laptop, to enter BIOS settings.

Step 2. Under Boot tab, make sure the cloned drive is the first boot device.

▶ 2. Verify the boot mode

If your cloned drive is a GPT disk, make sure the UEFI boot mode is enabled, and if it is an MBR disk, then set it to Legacy boot mode. If your computer does not support UEFI boot mode, you need to do a GPT to MBR conversion before you can boot from the cloned drive. As you may know, some software allows you to clone MBR to GPT disk or back without disk conversion. The computer is not using the correct boot mode is one of the reasons why cloned SSD not booting.

▶ 3. Use repair option via a Windows System Repair Disc 

Step 1. Boot from the system repair disc, and try the first option, Startup Repair.

> If it doesn’t work, you can try Bootrec.exe, which is available in Command Prompt to fix cloned HDD won’t boot. Open the last system recovery option, Command Prompt, and enter the following command in order:

• bootrec.exe
• bootrec.exe /fixmbr
• bootrec.exe /fixboot
• bootrec.exe /scanos
• bootrec.exe /rebuildbcd

If you have neither a repair disk to repair cloned hard drive won't boot in Windows 7, 8,10, 11, you can use the third-party software AOMEI Partition Assistant Professional to create a bootable media, and boot from it to use one of its features Rebuild MBR to make your cloned HDD or SSD bootable.  It also has the "Recover Data" function to retrieve lost data.

Note: For Windows Server systems, we recommend the AOMEI Partition Assistant Server, which specializes in Server systems environments.

Follow the steps to learn how to solve cloned hard drive won’t boot on Windows 10 or 11 step by step.

Step 1. Select the cloned disk which can not boot and right-click the disk to choose "Rebuild MBR".

Step 2.  Choose a proper type of MBR for your OS. 

Step 3: Click "Apply" on the toolbar to commit the operation.

If the cloned hard drive not booting after rebuilding MBR, you can try another feature Boot Repair to repair system boot issues. How to Repair Boot with AOMEI Partition Assistant? Here is the step-by-step guide:

Repair boot on a Working PC

In the below scenarios, you can directly use the boot repair tool on a working PC in Windows:

1. A PC can boot but get some boot issues sometimes.

2. The PC cannot boot from the cloned drive after a system/disk clone with some cloning programs.

3. You want to save the system boot entries on another disk.

Step 1. Launch AOMEI Partition Assistant. In the Main interface, please click the"Recover"tab and select"Boot Repair".

Step 2. The Boot Repair tool will pop up. Please click"Next" to start the system’s boot entries scan process.

Step 3. After the process is completed, it will display the scan result: system paths, system versions, and boot status. And, all repairable boot entries will be available to select.

Advanced Settings:

Select a location to store the repaired boot entry.

Repair to the current disk: The system will boot from the current disk and ensure the boot files are complete and functioning properly. (By default)

Repair to another disk: This operation will repair the boot entry or create a new system boot entry to ensure the system can boot from the disk you select.

You can either repair to the current disk or repair to another disk. Repair to the current disk is recommended for common users.

Step 4. Select one/multiple repairable boot entries you want to repair and click the"Repair"button to start the boot repair.

Step 5. Wait for the repair process to finish. Once it is finished, you will get a"Repair Successfully"result.

Repair Boot for PC that Won't Boot

If you have encountered boot errors, such as "Boot Configuration Data file is missing" or "Boot Configuration Data file is corrupted" are displayed."Or after system update/image recovery, the boot configuration is corrupted. Your PC won’t boot normally. Follow the step-by-step guide to repair boot with AOMEI Partition Assistant.

Step 1. Launch AOMEI Partition Assistant on a working PC, click "Recover"-"Boot Repair" and then click the "create a bootable disk" option to create a WinPE "Boot Repair" disk.

Step 2. Boot the PC that cannot boot into WinPE. It will automatically load the Boot Repair tool and start the boot entries scan process. All boot entries will be displayed.

Step 3. Select the repairable boot entries you want to repair and click the "Repair" button to start the repair.

Step 4. Once the repair is repaired successfully, you can remove the bootable disk and boot the PC from the original system drive.

Situation 2: clone disk from one computer to another

If the cloned drive won't boot after you clone disk from one computer to another different one, apart from using the 2 methods in the first situation: check the starup settings and use the bootrec.exe tool to fix MBR or BCD settings, you can also try the following another two solutions.

▶ 1. Check the connection mode

If the original computer uses IDE mode, the destination computer has to use IDE mode. If the source is AHCI, then the target AHCI mode.

▶ 2. Use Dissimilar Hardware Restore

Back up the source HDD onto an external storage device using AOMEI Backupper. Then create an AOMEI bootable media to boot the target computer and restore the backup to the destination HDD with Universal Restore option enabled.

Usually, Bootrec.exe tool can fix the cloned hard drive won’t boot problem, but when you install the cloned drive to another computer with dissimilar hardware, the bootrec.exe tool may not be able to enough because the different hardware requires different drivers. In this case, you can use AOMEI Universal Restore.

Bonus tips: Preventing SSD failure to boot after cloned

In an effort to preserve your time and prevent the recurrence of the situation where the cloned drive fails to launch, we have assembled a list of practical advice. These recommendations are also applicable when transferring the operating system to a new hard drive in Windows 11/10/8/7 through disk cloning.

1.  Utilize a reputable cloning software to replicate your system onto a new hard drive or SSD.
2.  Using AOMEI Partition Assistant to ensure that the partition types of the source system disk and the target disk are identical, either MBR or GPT. Additionally, ensure that the appropriate boot configuration is selected, either Legacy BIOS (MBR) or UEFI (GPT).
3.  Ensure that all system partitions are cloned in order for Windows to function properly.
4.  Guarantee that the cloned device is on the boot order.
5.  Connect the SSD to your PC using the appropriate cable (IDE/SATA/M.2/PCIe) rather than a USB cable.

FAQd about cloned hard drive won’t boot

1. Does cloning an SSD make it bootable?

Yes, cloning a system SSD can make it bootable. When you clone an SSD, you create an exact copy of the source drive, including the operating system, files, and partitions. If the source SSD was already bootable, the cloned SSD should also be bootable, assuming the cloning process was successful and no errors occurred.

2. Is cloning bad for SSD?

To begin with, cloning is not always a terrible thing. In most circumstances, it is highly advantageous and convenient. However, keep in mind that cloning creates an identical clone of your system, and if your existing system installation has defects, you will find the same issues when switching to a new disk.

3. How to check if cloned SSD is bootable?

The most effective method of verifying the success of the cloning is to remove the old HDD and leave the SSD plugged in, and then observe whether it boots. If it does, you may reconnect the HDD and verify that the system continues to launch from the SSD. Subsequently, you may proceed with the deletion of the obsolete partitions.

4. What to do after cloning SSD?

Verify that all data on the SSD has been accurately cloned. If you intend to utilize the original hard drive as storage, it is necessary to format and repartition it. Ensure that the cloned SSD is booting from the BIOS/UEFI of your computer, or you will be unable to activate it from the SSD.