Odd Win 10 Clone Failure to Boot

I've done dozens of Macrium Reflect boot drive backup and restore operations and found that it almost always just works. I've always done this on Legacy BIOS / MBR drives though. An odd issue has cropped up on my first GPT/UEFI attempt. I believe my clone/restore process is correct, per discussion in another thread where I misunderstood what the problem was.

The short version is:

1. I set boot firmware to UEFI only and clean-reinstalled Win 10 Pro (v.2004) on a freshly wiped m.2 SSD.
   
   RESULT: This creates a GPT partitioned boot drive.
2. I did basic OS setup and installed some software. Then backed it up to a file with Macrium.
3. I restored all partitions from that file to an external USB using Macrium (including resizing the C: drive).

RESULT:
The cloned external drive is a successful boot drive for other computers in my house. However, it will not boot the computer that it was cloned from.

The error I get is "INACCESSIBLE_BOOT_DEVICE", though I know there is no hardware-level connection issue, as the drive works reliably for everything else under the same undisturbed connection.

I know this computer will boot from external USB (both USB key and SSD) as I installed the OS to an external SSD from USB-key installation media, and ran that OS for a bit while testing things. However, I also have an external Linux boot drive that works on every other computer except this one.

I have disabled every security-related UEFI setting I could find. But it seems like something must be detecting that the OS is on a different drive than installed and blocking it.

Any ideas?

Every partition has an ID.
As you cloned one drive to another, on the original computer it won't boot as it finds two different drives with same ID.

Find a flash drive that you can format (> or = 8 GB)

Create a bootable windows 10 iso:

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/soft...load/windows10
Download Windows 10 ISO File
Create Bootable USB Flash Drive to Install Windows 10



Please indicate which of these boot normally, boot with inaccessible boot device, or were not tested:
a) boot with only original drive attached to the computer
b) boot with only the cloned drive attached to the computer
c) boot with both original and cloned drive attached to the computer

zbook said:

<cut>
Please indicate which of these boot normally, boot with inaccessible boot device, or were not tested:
a) boot with only original drive attached to the computer
b) boot with only the cloned drive attached to the computer
c) boot with both original and cloned drive attached to the computer

(a) Has worked without issue from the start.
(c) Has always worked if firmware was set to prioritize the original drive. And has always failed if set to prioritize the clone.

(b) Unfortunately, this test may have been fouled up by apparent USB issues. But it looks like (maybe) this works when not failing for other reasons. My USB adapters and connection have never had issue, including on 100+GB copies, etc. (I've used three different adapters, all previously working, and all currently failing.) However, during this test I saw stalls and freezes that made me suspect the connection getting dropped. I did:

1. Remove M.2 original and try to boot
2. Received different error for the first time, indicating need for repair.
3. So, booted to Macrium Reflect rescue disk to try "Fix Windows Boot Issues"
4. Macrium froze during this process.
5. So removed Macrium thumb drive and just tried booting the clone
6. Windows went into auto-repair, then also froze.
7. So, removed USB adapter and plugged directly into SATA

RESULT: The drive booted almost normally. It appeared to take a little longer in initial boot stages, as though it was repairing something without putting up the "Auto-repair" message.

Based on the two replies here and this test series, it seems likely that:

• The drive ID between original and clone is conflicting.
• My motherboard has a problem booting from USB (?) that for some reason affects some installations more than others.

I'll boot to the M.2 assuming that still works and use Diskpart to look up the ID of both drives. Will fill this thread in on the results and either call it closed or ask more questions...

Thanks.

- - - Updated - - -
<New Post, thought this forum appends it to my last one>

Thanks for all the help. You are awesome.

I believe this all turned out to be a problem with booting restored clones via USB on the MSI Meg X570 Ace motherboard. I had no problems using both the original and clone at the same time (and booting from either while both were plugged in) once the clone was attached via SATA. I believe that rules out a Disk Signature Collision. (And that's an old/common enough issue that Macrium must be handling it now, no?)

In multiple tests, I plugged a drive into SATA and had it boot easily. Then plugged the same drive via different adapters/enclosures/cables into different USB ports of the motherboard, and always had the same "Inaccessible Boot Device" message. However, without modifying the SSD, plugging it back into SATA caused it to again boot with no issues.

From the evidence so far, it appears that when the OS is installed directly to an external USB 3 SSD the drive will actually boot from USB. However, I have not had any case where a restored clone would work over USB. I'm not sure how/why this would be the case, but in loads of tests, that's been the result.

It is also possible (though odds are slim with the number of tests I ran) that this is an intermittent failure that has happened to fail or work in a way that makes it appear only restored clones are affected.

I suspect a firmware issue... MSI's support has been down in an complete failure of their systems. Hoping to look for firmware updates if that is ever resolved. And of course, I would love to hear from anyone with this motherboard who can boot a restored clone from USB.

Again, thanks!

With both drives attached boot from the original drive:

1) Open disk management > by default some columns are compressed > widen each Status and Volume > make sure the contents within the parenthesis are in full view and that none of the characters are cutoff > view disk 0 > widen this row as needed so that all of the characters are in full view > post an image into the thread
Disk Management - How to Post a Screenshot of

2) Download and install Minitool Partition Wizard > click launch > post an image of the results into this thread
MiniTool Partition Wizard Free Edition - Free download and software reviews - CNET Download.com
MiniTool Portable Partition Magic Brings Easier Disk Management

3) Open administrative command prompt and type or copy and paste:

Code:

bcdedit /enum all
reagentc /info
diskpart
lis dis
lis vol
sel dis 0
det dis
lis par
sel par 1
det par
sel par 2
det par
sel par 3
det par
sel par 4
det par
sel par 5
det par
sel par 6
det par
sel dis 1
det dis
lis par
sel par 1
det par
sel par 2
det par
sel par 3
det par
sel par 4
det par
sel par 5
det par
sel par 6
det par
sel dis 2
det dis
lis par
sel par 1
det par
sel par 2
det par
sel par 3
det par
sel par 4
det par
sel par 5
det par
sel par 6
det par

When these have completed > right click on the top bar or title bar of the administrative command prompt box > left click on edit then select all > right click on the top bar again > left click on edit then copy > paste into the thread

I attempted to make a follow-up post describing where I landed, but the forum software appended it to this prior message.

Anyway, the resolution to this is at the end of that earlier post instead of here because that's where the forum software put it.