New SSD - partition query and non-response/freezing problems

Hello there.

I'm new and not a computer expert. I recently upgraded my Lenovo laptop (B50-80) by adding more memory 4GB to 16GB, and a new SSD (old was 128GB - new is 525GB from Crucial) - so that I can run some music programmes more efficiently.

The memory installation was no problem. However, the SSD presented problems as I had to clone the old disk to the new disk - which I did using Macrium Reflect disk imaging on recommendation from someone at Crucial (as the other recommended Acronis did not work). So, this morning I installed the new SSD which was fine. Then on booting up I noticed there was a size difference between windows explorer and disk management (the old size was showing instead of the new size). So I set out to check this out on the internet. While doing so Microsoft Edge stopped working and then the laptop became unresponsive - not even ctrl-alt-del worked. So, after waiting a few minutes, I had to shut down by pressing the power key continuously (not sure if that was right but I couldn't think of anything else). I rebooted after a while and all was fine - I managed to find out about the 'size' problem and used something called AOMEI partition assistant to create a partition for the unallocated part of the SSD (not sure if that was right either). However, the laptop became unresponsive again - and has done repeatedly a few times (I'm keeping my fingers crossed as I'm writing this!).

I'm not sure if this is a SSD problem or the way the SSD is partitioned or anything really. I have taken a screen shot of the partitions for you to see. I would like some advice on how to proceed. Being the weekend I cannot talk to Crucial about the SSD. So am needing some expert advice. Any ideas please? If you need any more information I will try to provide it. My system is Windows 10.

p.s. Should there be so many partitions?

partitions2.docx

If it were mine, I would start over with a fresh, clean install of Windows 10, erasing the new first and installing it to the wiped clean SSD. Then connect the old SSD using a USB to SATA cable to a USB port to copy over my data files:

https://www.amazon.com/Rosewill-Adap...+to+sata&psc=1

^+1 I would second the clean install recommend.

I can't understand why folk immediately dive in and start using 3rd party software for partitioning duties (W10 includes all that most users would ever need). That's not meant as a criticism to the OP, just an observation.

If you have cloned a drive then I imagine you should end up with as many partitions as the original had + the unallocated space left over. If some of those were recovery partitions then I'm not sure if they will still function tbh as the target drive and possibly mater boot record has been altered. You would have to try them.

A clean install of W10 will give two partitions, a small system reserved and the main C partition containing Windows.

Thank you for your advice. The cloning was recommended by Crucial from whom I bought the SSD. I'm not that computer literate so I wouldn't know otherwise. Could I ask, how do I do a clean install of W10 - the laptop came with it preinstalled and no disks.

Its straightforward to do using the Windows Media Creation Tool which fully prepares a USB memory stick with W10 to use for installation. Because your PC already ran W10 there should not be license issues, Microsoft servers will have a record of your PC and it will activate automatically.

(I always recommend using the installation media to both delete ALL existing partitions on the drive first AND then use that to create a small (20Gb) partition to install Windows to. You can then expand that at will to suit your needs after the installation is completed)

Clean Install Windows 10 Windows 10 Installation Upgrade Tutorials

Edit... Missed a word out. Because your PC already ran W10 there should not be license issues.

Mike Thorne said:

Thank you for your advice. The cloning was recommended by Crucial from whom I bought the SSD. I'm not that computer literate so I wouldn't know otherwise. Could I ask, how do I do a clean install of W10 - the laptop came with it preinstalled and no disks.

personally i'd see which version of 10 you have (home or pro) and download a fresh iso and use rufus to create a bootable flash drive. regardless of microsofts claims to the contrary since your laptop did come with 10 you are entitled to a stand alone copy of the os to use on that laptop. as for the number of partitions on mbr whish i'm sure yours is it should be 3 (boot, windows, recover). if it's gpt then(5 partitions including your recovery partition. if you deside to do a clean install in rufus select partition scheme for gpt. now i'm sure curcial has a tool for resetting your drive to factory default, you'll want to use it and not just wipe and reformat the drive. need anything else just holler.

So three of us agree on the clean install. Now for the disagreements.

I would not use rufus to create a bootable Windows 10 installation USB flash drive with. It is completely unnecessary and has many settings that must be set correctly by the user and in the correct order. Many threads on here ask "Why doesn't my USB flash drive boot?" and the majority of those flash drives have been created incorrectly with rufus. Just download the Windows 10 Media Creation Tool (MCT) and let it create the USB flash drive for you. It will create a flash drive that is bootable in both UEFI and legacy BIOS.
Download Windows 10

Even if you want to save the ISO file and manually create the USB flash drive, rufus is still completely unnecessary and involves needless complicated settings. A few diskpart commands will get you the exact same USB flash drive the Windows 10 MCT would give you.

Then in regards to partitioning your SSD for installing Windows, I disagree with making your own partition for it. Once you boot from the Windows 10 installation USB there is a simple procedure to completely erase the SSD. Then just select the empty, erased SSD to install Windows 10 to and let Windows set it up the way it wants to. Then after Windows 10 is all set up, if you want a separate data partition then you can shrink the Windows partition to make room for it. If you don't want the data partition, then you will be good to go to just leave it alone the way Windows sets it up.

If you choose to do the clean install, that is the perfect time to make sure your SATA drive controller is set to AHCI mode in UEFI/BIOS. That will definitely affect performance, and is much better to use than IDE mode.

Thank you everyone. That is very helpful. I will go for the clean install.

If the laptop came with 32-bit Windows on it, you will want to do the clean install with 64-bit Windows to take advantage of the RAM above 4 GB.

I'm going ahead with the clean install.