E5-575-33BM auto repair?

Ed10
Ed10 Member Posts: 4 New User
edited August 2023 in 2018 Archives

Hello, I'm a newbie to this forum so forgive me if I violale any protocals.  I'm at my wits end and desperatley need some guidance.

After reading many reviews for the Aspire E5-575-33BM and some articles providing guidance on how to quickly upgrade RAM and install a SSD, I decided to ignore that voice inside my head that kept saying "spend more money - it can't be that easy" and go for it. A decision I am increasingly regretting... going on 3 days now. Since undertaking this venture I've read so many suggestions and watched so many vidoes that my head is spinning. Each providing a hint of what to try next but none that seemed to provide the "start to finish" guidance I was hoping for. I'm sure this is because of my inexperience and not the quality of the help provided by the articles.

 

My goal was to install the SSD in my new E5-575-33BM and use the 1TB HDD that came with the laptop for storage. I also wanted to add an additional 4GB of Ram - that part went well I'm happy to say.

 

Current results: I have 8 GB RAM installed and working without issues.

I have a 275GB Crucial MX300 SATA M.2 2280SS SSD installed and working fine only if the original HDD is not installed. If the 1TB HDD is installed, I get a message on start up something similar to "Preparing Auto repair..". I then have to enter the Advanced Recovery option and select the USB option. I ultimatley have to select option 2 in the boot manager to boot up on the SSD. It took some effort but the SSD is the C drive and the HDD is the E drive. So at least that part looks OK.

 

How I got here: The first thing I did was to make a recovery thumbdrive. Then I installed the RAM and the SSD. I attempted to clone the HDD to the SSD using the softwate that came with the SSD. The name of the software begins with an "A" - not sure if I can mention names. That didn't work so I downloaded software (starts with an "M") that allowed me to clone the drives. I changed the bios to boot up on the SSD but I wasn't convinced it was booting up on the SSD because the start time was better but it still took a while to get past the password screen (as compared to not having the HDD installed) and when  I attempted to format the HDD Windows wouldn't let me. I had to format it using an external device. But now when the SSD and HDD are installed, I get the "Preparing Auto Repair" message.

Not sure where to go from here.

BTW - As I proof read this post, I had to laugh because, to a newbie (me) it looks as though I have a working knowledge of the topic - but don't let that fool you.  Any guidance would be appreciated but please speak slowly - Smiley Happy

 

Best Answer

  • brummyfan2
    brummyfan2 ACE Posts: 28,458 Trailblazer
    Answer ✓

    Hi,

    Make sure that your M.2 SSD booting fine( without the HDD installed) and your important files/folders are safe.

    1. Download and install MiniTool Partition Wizard Free:https://www.partitionwizard.com/download.html

    2.Connect the HDD externally.

    3.Run MiniTool PW as Admin, right click the HDD and select "Delete".

    You have to select the right drive when deleting, please note F drive is my external drive(snip).

    You have done everything right except cloning, imaging whole disk and recovery with Macrium works fine or using Migrate feature in this MIniTool PW works well, nevermind,after deleting the drive, please try installing your HDD and let us know.

    Capture.JPG

     

Answers

  • brummyfan2
    brummyfan2 ACE Posts: 28,458 Trailblazer
    Answer ✓

    Hi,

    Make sure that your M.2 SSD booting fine( without the HDD installed) and your important files/folders are safe.

    1. Download and install MiniTool Partition Wizard Free:https://www.partitionwizard.com/download.html

    2.Connect the HDD externally.

    3.Run MiniTool PW as Admin, right click the HDD and select "Delete".

    You have to select the right drive when deleting, please note F drive is my external drive(snip).

    You have done everything right except cloning, imaging whole disk and recovery with Macrium works fine or using Migrate feature in this MIniTool PW works well, nevermind,after deleting the drive, please try installing your HDD and let us know.

    Capture.JPG

     

  • Ed10
    Ed10 Member Posts: 4 New User

    Many thanks! That did the trick! Your response was timely, concise and thorough. I appreciate it.

    I may even try this again for a laptop I need to purchase for my wife.

     

    In case I do it again, based on your response I should repeat what I did except use the Migrate feature in PW to copy instead of cloning the HDD to the SDD?

     

    If you don't mind could you please tell me what the best approach would be to copy software from my old latop to my new one. I'm hoping to copy items such as MS Office, Outlook etc. I'm assuming this is legal since I will be retiring the old laptop. The external device I used to support upgrading my new laptop is a dual hardrive docking station. I'm thinking that would be easiest.

     

     

  • Ed10
    Ed10 Member Posts: 4 New User

    Thank you again.

  • jrokc
    jrokc Member Posts: 11

    Tinkerer

    Hey, I'm a newb to this community & it's been over a year since you went through this process of upgrading the ram & adding a ssd to the 575-33BM. I'm waiting on mine to get here now and I'm going to be doing the same thing. Like you I've been watching & reading many tutorials on this. Watching & doing are two different things. I'm curious after you got yours working were you happy with it & if you could give any advice to me I would really appreciate it. Also I know these forums have many rules if I have broken any please let me know. Hopefully, you'll be willing to help me if I run into any snags along the way. We know how easy these guys make it look but this will be my first time cloning the drive so that it will boot from ssd & use hdd as storage. Also, should I get the exact same 4 gig 2133 MHz memory as it comes with or if I get a 2400mhz will it matter performance wise? I've heard several opinions, thought you might know. Thanks in advance.;) 
  • brummyfan2
    brummyfan2 ACE Posts: 28,458 Trailblazer
    jrokc said:
    Hey, I'm a newb to this community & it's been over a year since you went through this process of upgrading the ram & adding a ssd to the 575-33BM. I'm waiting on mine to get here now and I'm going to be doing the same thing. Like you I've been watching & reading many tutorials on this. Watching & doing are two different things. I'm curious after you got yours working were you happy with it & if you could give any advice to me I would really appreciate it. Also I know these forums have many rules if I have broken any please let me know. Hopefully, you'll be willing to help me if I run into any snags along the way. We know how easy these guys make it look but this will be my first time cloning the drive so that it will boot from ssd & use hdd as storage. Also, should I get the exact same 4 gig 2133 MHz memory as it comes with or if I get a 2400mhz will it matter performance wise? I've heard several opinions, thought you might know. Thanks in advance.;) 
    Hi,
    I prefer Migrate feature in Minitoool Partition wizard than cloning, so I would suggest you to use the Migrate feature to transfer your HDD contents to SSD, as for the RAM upgrade, you don't have to get the exact make as in your laptop, you can buy any 4GB DDR4 2133MHz module but avoid buying modules especially made for particular brand of laptops(Apple, Lenovo etc).
  • jrokc
    jrokc Member Posts: 11

    Tinkerer

    Will it affect the performance if I get a 2400 MHz module rather than a 2133 MHz? 
  • brummyfan2
    brummyfan2 ACE Posts: 28,458 Trailblazer
    jrokc said:
    Will it affect the performance if I get a 2400 MHz module rather than a 2133 MHz? 
    No, it won't affect the performance.