Windows 10 Restoring Startup Disk from Command Line

I'm really glad to hear that you found that image. Usually Macrium is what rescues someone nowadays since WIndows imaging is nearly kaput. So this is a nice switch.

You can install Macrium to make it's rescue media at any time.

Let me know if I can help further. I'll stay subscribed to this thread in case you need anything else, until the system locks it in a few months.

Also if any particular post provided the solution, please mark it as Answer or Helpful to help others who find this thread.

There are no Active flags on GPT disks, that is only on older MBR disk format

If you cloned using Macrium then there's no worry about the EFI System partition being left off when one installs to another drive with the old WIndows install left plugged in. So that is not an issue.

In my second post I wrote about Macrium Boot Corrector which is included on the Rescue Media it will make when you first install Macrium, or can make any time by installing Macrium and following the instructions I included.

Did you run this to try to get the Macrium Clone started?

If you are sure you correctly cloned Macrium as shown here:

http://knowledgebase.macrium.com/display/KNOW/C...

Then create the Macrium Rescue media as shown here:

https://knowledgebase.macrium.com/display/KNOW/...

and run the Boot Corrector to get the clone to start as shown here:

https://kb.macrium.com/KnowledgebaseArticle5016...

Unplug all other drives first.

Thanks again for all your help. I've put your previous troubleshooting steps in italics with my responses threaded between.

If you left the HDD plugged in when you installed Windows to the SSD, it would have edited the HDD EFI System partition to create a dual boot and the SSD might not even have one. We need to determine that now because everything else depends on it. Can you create a bootable Partition manager like Easeus to take a picture of the drive layout and listings, which I read like a doctor reads Xrays?

I did leave the HDD plugged in. I thought I cloned it via Macrium.

At the minimum run Diskpart, List lisk to Select the SSD, run List Volume so we can see if there is an EFI System partition on the SSD.http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc76...(WS.10).aspx

I ran these commands with just the SSD installed and got this: | Volume | Ltr | Label | Fs | Type | Size | Status | Info | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 0 | C | System Rese | NTFS | Partition | 350 MB | Healthy | | | 1 | D | | NTFS | Partition | 930 GB | Healthy | | | 2 | E | | NTFS | Partition | 532 MB | Healthy | Hidden |

Based on my reading, the Type or Label should be Active if there's an EFI system partition.

If so then the repairs need to be run without the HDD plugged in. If not then I'd unplug the HDD and reinstall Windows properly to the SSD so it can boot itself without the hard drive.

What UEFI drive are you moving back to the top of Boot Priority order? Only Windows Boot Manager should remain first priority on a UEFI install. The media should be booted using the BIOS Boot Menu interrupt key, as I wrote with illustrated tutorial in the steps earlier.

The only UEFI drive I have is the on the USB stick. I got here by using the BIOS Boot Menu interrupt key, thank you.

That it automated Disk Check as first repair indicates something told WinRE that your disk had trouble. But you said you ran it later and it passed, correct? Nevertheless I'd run Seagate Seatools on it from bootable flash to know the true condition:

http://www.megaleecher.net/Seagate\_SeaTools\_For...

Seatools couldn't detect a disk to scan. The SSD is Samsung which are Seagate drives.

You already have all possible repairs to get Windows started. Since you may need to reinstall WIndows I will give you all possible steps to troubleshoot Windows installation failure that I've given to thousands of others in this situation and which work in about 90% of cases. If not we'll go from there:

It looks like I need to reinstall Windows.

Seatools seems to have reformatted the USB drive that I had the Windows installer on and I can't re-install it easily. I'll try to fix this and resume following your instructions for reinstalling.

Thanks for your help.

I'm afraid that I can't get into either the hybrid drive or the SSD Windows other than that one time immediately after mucking up the shut down so I can't open Disk Management. Or, perhaps more accurately, I don't know how to boot into the hybrid drive Windows even though it seems like it should be available.

If it helps, I used Macrium Reflect to clone the disks originally.

Hi DG. I'm Greg, 10 years awarded Windows MVP, here to help you.

If you left the old drive attached when installing Windows to the SSD then it edited it's boot files to create a Dual Boot menu with the new install, which doesn't even have it's own System partition to boot Windows.

This is why it's important to unplug an old OS drive during install, and then after install from the new Windows drive to move the data off of it to properly wipe and reformat as a data drive.

Please post a screenshot of Disk Management, which I read like a doctor reads X-rays. Follow the steps here so I can see everything needed to advise you: http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/foru...

I'll be able to advise you better once I see the drive map and an unobstructed view of listings as per the tutorial.

Feel free to ask back any questions. Based on the results you post back I may have other suggestions if necessary.

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Linked tutorial was written by a trusted Microsoft MVP