How to fix a missing bootmgr after cloning a HDD to SSD due to a weird system-reserved partition?

I have cloned my C: partition from an existing HDD to a new SSD using gparted from my Linux-SDD. This went well data-wise. I can see the files, yet the new Win7SSD is unable to boot.

At first, the cursor was blinking. When I set it to boot, it said bootmgr is missing.

Recherching further, I realized that my HDD has three partition, the expected C: for Win7 and D: for data; yet there is also a system-reservered bootable partition at 100 MB.

So I thought I could fix it via repairing the mbr. Hence, I tried entering the resuce prompt via Repair Computer and ran:

Bootrec.exe /ScanOs

yet this only lists C:, not E: as well.

I did not see a way to force BootRec.exe to do its magic on E:, I did run a /fixmbr and /fixboot while I was on E:, yet am unsure if this did anything at all on E: or if I "fixed" my working C: instead.

I still can boot from C: but I rather use my new SSD instead.

How can I make the SSD bootable?

2 Answers

I managed to make the SSD bootable by both:

1. Cloning both paritions, the hidden and the C:, to the SSD. I exapanded the hidden partition to the full size of the hdd.
2. Windows wasn't bootable directly after it. I had to insert the OEM Win7 DVD and boot from it. Instead of reinstalling I chose Repair option. Instantly, a window popped up that an issue was discovered and prompting me to fix and reboot.

After rebooting, the partition was checked and since then the SSD works fine.

Instead of using gparted, it may make sense to use dd instead from the a live system, namely when you clone a hard disk to an SSD of at least the same size with root rights:

dd if=/dev/old_sata_spinning_disk of=/dev/new_ssd bs=64K conv=noerror,sync status=progress

• if stands for "input file", of for "output file"
• bs means blocksize, 64KB was documented as good enough to obtain high speeds, the default may otherwise be very slow. For me, the speed maxed out at 100MB/s during the copying process which was the maximum for my hdd.
• conv=noerror,sync explanation
• status=progress will inform about the copying process

Your drives will be at /dev/sda, /dev/sdb/,/dev/sdc`, etc. pp, make sure you target the right device, otherwise you may experience data loss.

In my case I had a hdd at /dev/sda, my Ubuntu live Stick at /dev/sdb, and my new ssd at /dev/sdc, and hence the command I run was:

#sudo dd if=/dev/sda of=/dev/sdc bs=64K conv=noerror,sync status=progress

(Command is commented, adapt to your needs.)