The question about the TB SSD drive failing to boot.
The question about the TB SSD drive failing to boot.
I own an Acer Aspire GX-785 from around 2016. It comes with a 128Gb SSD, a 3TB HDD, and 16Gb DDR RAM running Windows 10. The 128Gb SSD is located on the motherboard in an NVMe port but appears as SATA Port 0. The 3GB HDD is connected via Port 3, while the optical drive is on Port 5. Ports 2 and 4 are empty.
Over the past few years I've struggled to secure space on the 128Gb boot drive, constantly updating software for the larger 3TB HDD. Eventually, I upgraded to a WD 1Tb PCIe/NVMe drive. However, there wasn’t enough free space on the boot drive to install Acronis cloning software. Their SanDisk support suggested it would require at least 5-6Gb of free space.
Most of the installations were done over time, and I’m worried about missing original software or configuration files. My wife’s boss has both the Acronis software and the necessary accessories to connect both NVMe drives. I created a clone from the 1Tb drive using the "boot on this machine" setting. Previously, trying the "boot on another machine" option didn’t work.
After installing the new 1Tb SSD in the onboard slot, starting it failed and I received an "inaccessible boot device" message. In the BIOS, the drive is listed as an M.2 PCIe SSD with correct details, but it appears under the SATA drive listings even though it’s physically in the onboard slot. There seems to be no way to select it as a boot device or change its type.
Since there’s only one NVMe slot on the motherboard, I bought an NVMe/PCIe adapter card for a spare PCIe slot before realizing I couldn’t install Acronis. If I keep the original 128Gb on the main drive and the 1Tb on the adapter, both appear in Windows Drive Manager with similar contents after cloning. In this setup, BIOS lists the 128Gb as SATA Port 0 and the 1Tb as M.2 PCIe SSD at the bottom.
Any advice or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
The process is attempting to boot from the parameters of the boss's computer, not the one where it will run.
On another platform, you can set up and launch Macrium Reflect.
Generate a RescueUSB for use.
This will be the method to boot from.
Then, this:
1x m.2 slot with an Image
Ensure you have another storage device (any format) with enough space for your current m.2 drive.
1. Install and launch Macrium Reflect.
2. Execute the task, then generate a Rescue CD or USB (you'll utilize it later). "Other Tasks" should be created on a compact USB flash drive or DVD.
3. Within the Macrium client, produce an Image targeting another storage device. This could be an external HDD, perhaps. Select all partitions. The outcome is a file named xxxx.mrimage.
4. After completion, turn off the system.
5. Replace the two drives.
6. Start from the RescueUSB you previously made.
7. Use the toolbar to restore and specify the Image from step 3, then apply it to the new m.2 drive.
8. Proceed and allow the process to finish.
9. Done! This should function correctly.