M.2 will not recognize HDD

aphanic

Like2Hike said:

Not exactly, I created a USB recovery drive. Then used that RD to create a working Windows on the M.2. If that is a clone, okay.

That's not a clone, you kind of performed a clean installation in a sense, that's why everything is still in the HDD.

So you now boot from the SSD directly without having to do anything, because there's no EFI partition on the HDD, but you don't "see" the drive in the file explorer if I got it right.

We would assign it a letter for example, that ought to make it appear. Open DiskPart again:



Once the partition we want is selected, use "assign" or "assign letter=O" where O is the letter you want, I chose O for Original, and it should then appear in the File Explorer:



Since you have a 1TB external drive you can then use it to get all of your information out of the internal HDD. To format the disk, you can use DiskPart too (I'm hand's on that way). These would be the steps:

1. Open and select the right disk, make sure it's the right one by typing "det disk" and by not having the external drive connected just in case:
   
   
   
   
2. Now delete it all, the command is "clean", then convert it to MBR for better compatibility and finally create a partition that spans the whole disk:
   
   
   

That's it (for simply copy the format line is (format fs=ntfs quick label="Anything"), but those are the last steps you'll want to perform, once all your beloved files are out of that disk.

If you want to keep it internal for additional storage, great, and if not there are external SATA to USB 3.0 enclosures (don't fall for those that advertise USB 3.1 Gen2 speeds, 10Gbps for example. If you do, go for USB 3 to get the full-duplex communication, but that's it, it's a mechanical drive an will never achieve those speeds.

Like2Hike

aphanic said:

1. So you now boot from the SSD directly without having to do anything,

2. because there's no EFI partition on the HDD, but you don't "see" the drive in the file explorer if I got it right.

1. Never been a problem booting from the SSD, just that the HDD can't be found. So can't delete anything from the HDD,

2. The HDD is unchanged. Nothing has been deleted. I could NOT execute Del Part Override because the DPO command can NOT be executed on the boot disk (HDD).

I'm 60% complete coping the HDD to my backup drive. When done can I format the HDD in BIOS, I don't have a USB > SATA cable to format externally.

Appreciate all your time on my behalf.

Like2Hike

JackE said:

Rather than try to drag&drop from FileExplore, it's much safer to select what you want to copy or cut (left click mouse button on first file or folder and then use either Ctrl + left click mouse  or Shift + left click mouse to select individual or all files folders. Then right click the selected highlighted files or folders, and choose copy or cut. Then right click  on the other drive, and choose paste. Jack E/NJ

So obvious yet my brain couldn't figure that out. I'm now coping the HDD to my backup drive.

Thanks

aphanic

That works too, although I thought both were visible, why were there two disks shown in the Disk Management utility screenshot you posted before? 🤔

Like2Hike

aphanic said:

That works too, although I thought both were visible, why were there two disks shown in the Disk Management utility screenshot you posted before? 🤔

The Disk Management screen is from when I booted from the HDD. OTOH the BIOS boot screen is from a M.2 boot. Had I opened DM from the M.2 boot there would have been no HDD.

What works too? Format in BIOS?

aphanic

Yep, copying the data off to an external drive and then formatting the drive from the BIOS or a Windows installation media, anything else you can boot from apparently.

For some reason (drivers?) the HDD seems to be invisible to the SSD when booted from it.

JackE

I still think you should put the old drive aside for safe-keeping since it has all the original ACER-flavored factory system and drivers as well as the hidden ACER recovery partition plus your personal files and apps as of today. Once that disk is wiped and re-formatted, it's all gone. Then the only way to get it back is to purchase the original ACER recovery media tied to that machine's serial number id (SNID) at a price of about $50.

Just purchase a new 2.5" 2TB WD (or 1TB or less if you want to save $25) and install that. It'll play nice with the SSD without having to wipe your old HDD clean to make it play nice. It's really not worth the hassle or risk to save a few bucks. 

Jack E/NJ

Like2Hike

@ Jack E/NJ @ aphanic

You're not going to believe this: I started having issues with Windows booted from the M.2 drive. Couldn't open settings or RC Properties on desktop icons. Doing a Google search I found a checklist of ~10 items to check. The last of which was to reinstall Windows. So I removed the HDD, inserted my flash Recovery USB and reinstalled Windows on the M.2 drive, took over 2-hours.

Upon completion, not only did the Windows problems disappear, but low and behold the 1 TB HDD appeared in Disk Management when booted from the M.2. After Windows spent an hour+ indexing the HDD, I've been able to locate all my files. Color me relived.



I can't explain why, can you?

Thanks you both for all your help, very much appreciated.

JackE

Congrats. It's a completely different Win10 installation than whatever "semi-clone" copy that you tried to make before. In particular, the EFI partitions the BIOS looks at are probably no longer identical. Good going. Jack E/NJ

aphanic

Indeed @JackE! I don't know what kind of procedure led to having two Windows installations there before, but there ought to be just one EFI (or ESP) partition, the one in the SSD which is the one Windows that we want to boot.

Now that you clearly have things going on correctly, since I can see in the screenshot that the SSD is considered the boot drive, make yourself a favor and get rid of the EFI partition in the hard drive (and its recovery too, you won't be using them now that you have Windows installed in the SSD).

Maybe @JackE would disagree with me , I just see no value in conserving something that won't ever be used (the recovery partition in the HDD). I understand that's what Acer intended to use in the event of a recovery, but we're now using a different system with its own recovery partition.

As for explanation, without having the system with me to examine the contents of the EFI partition on the HDD it is not possible for me to categorically state the reason, but I'll wager a guess, an educated one mind you.

When you did that procedure to install Windows in the SSD (while keeping the HDD installed in the machine), the EFI partition (in the HDD) was probably used as well to include a booting entry for the OS installed in the SSD. When installing Windows anew, for whatever reason you find yourself in, try to do it cleanly.

By cleanly I don't mean following the procedure I detailed in the "How to install Windows cleanly", I mean without having the old disk connected as well