BIOS ignores desired boot priority/order/sequence

[Sebastian42]

When I connect a second HDD, and reset the BIOS to boot from the SATA socket to which THAT HDD is connected which I want to boot from, booting may still happen from the other socket/HDD. How can the BIOS setting be enforced ?

[KenB]

As I understand what you are saying ...

 

You have 2 SATA hard drives - each with Windows on.

You connect them and select the "first Boot Option" in the BIOS.

The BIOS boots from the other hard drive.

 

Is this correct ?

 

Did you install Windows on both drives from this specific machine?

If one of the drives has Windows from a different machine it is unlikely to boot up.

[Sebastian42]

As I understand what you are saying ...

 

You have 2 SATA hard drives - each with Windows on.

You connect them and select the "first Boot Option" in the BIOS.

The BIOS boots from the other hard drive.

 

Is this correct ?

 

Did you install Windows on both drives from this specific machine?

If one of the drives has Windows from a different machine it is unlikely to boot up.

 

Correct to your scenario.

Yes, Win8.1 was installed on both HDDs in the same PC. I have PROOF that if Win8.1 is installed on another PC I have, THAT HDD will still boot in THIS PC. I expect it's a co-incidence, and can not be generalised to a Win 95 situation (pre-NT).

 

In case you're intrigued why I would have two HDDs with Win8.1 installed in the same PC connected simultaneously, it's because I have altered one and want to synch (I think it is called) the other, by cloning it from the altered one.

[Plastic Nev]

Hi, if all you are wanting to do is to clone one drive onto another, you might be better off cloning to the other drive with that one connected externally via a suitable USB connection, such as an enclosure or adapter, and use a suitable cloning program.

 

Bear in mind, unless you set up a partition on the drive to be cloned to, and direct the clone onto that partition, most cloning softwares will firstly fully format the drive before starting the clone, therefore removing whatever is on the drive.

 

Nev.

[Sebastian42]

"you might be better off" - I MIGHT be, but I find cloning through SATA more reliable than through USB. USB is powerful, but temperamental.

 

"therefore removing whatever is on the drive" The difference in time between cloning to a reformatted drive, and to a previously identical HDD, suggests to me that ONLY the changes are cloned. .

[Plastic Nev]

How exactly are you going to create the clone?

Most cloning software that I know of, automatically reformats the drive or partition that it is putting the clone onto. It can't mix a new set of software into an existing one.

 

Nev.

[Sebastian42]

How exactly are you going to create the clone?

Most cloning software that I know of, automatically reformats the drive or partition that it is putting the clone onto. It can't mix a new set of software into an existing one.

 

Nev.

I just let Casper7 do it. I infer by the difference in time required to clone to a 'clean' drive, and a nearly identical drive, that only the changes are cloned.

[DSTM]

Been reading up on "Casper7" reviews.

Here is one quote.

 

QUOTE

"They have a known problem in ver 7. If your source drive has problems, Casper will not know and try to mirror to the destination drive. The mirror will fail, rendering the destination drive in a RAW [unformatted]state, thus killing any data already on the destination drive [your prior backup!!!]"

UNQUOTE.

I certainly wouldn't be paying for this program when the likes of "Macrium Reflect" does a brilliant clone and for FREE.

 

[Sebastian42]

Been reading up on "Casper7" reviews.

Here is one quote.

 

QUOTE

"They have a known problem in ver 7. If your source drive has problems, Casper will not know and try to mirror to the destination drive. The mirror will fail, rendering the destination drive in a RAW [unformatted]state, thus killing any data already on the destination drive [your prior backup!!!]"

UNQUOTE.

I certainly wouldn't be paying for this program when the likes of "Macrium Reflect" does a brilliant clone and for FREE.

 

I'm glad you've mentioned that fault with Casper7. Maybe v8 is better ? I had not heard of Macrium Reflect - but I infer that it always clones ALL the drive content - which is a drawback compared to Casper-when-it-behaves.

[DSTM]

Macrium Reflect™ you can backup whole partitions or individual files.

[Sebastian42]

Macrium Reflect™ you can backup whole partitions or individual files.

 

My search in Google did NOT show it to be a Cloner; and one quote referred to a price relative to Acronis - so NOT gratis ?

[DSTM]

"MACRIUM REFLECT" clones whole or part OS's and it's free.

I have 5 computer most with 2 OS's all cloned with FREE "Macrium Reflect" and tested that each clone works.

So your information is badly flawed. Sorry.

[Sebastian42]

"MACRIUM REFLECT" clones whole or part OS's and it's free.

I have 5 computer most with 2 OS's all cloned with FREE "Macrium Reflect" and tested that each clone works.

So your information is badly flawed. Sorry.

"'MACRIUM REFLECT' clones" That is good news, and has revived my interest in it.

[Plastic Nev]

Hi, and to back up what DSTM said, Yes, Macrium reflect is both a cloning tool and also an imaging tool, it is available as a free version as well as the full paid for, however for most cloning or even image making jobs, the free version is very good.

 

Both DSTM and myself use it as also does KenB, and we all swear by it and we are all using the free version, which you can download from either Macriums own site by selecting the free button, as per lower down on this page :-

 

http://www.macrium.com/pages/downloads.aspx

 

The instructions on that page are to try to make you install the trial version, however, follow what it says and click the drop down menus and select "Free"

 

Or you can download the free version directly from here :-

 

http://www.majorgeeks.com/files/details/macrium_reflect_free_edition.html

 

The only warning being that like all free software these days watch for unwanted software such as "Real Player" and make sure ticks are removed from boxes.

 

Once you have it downloaded and installed, I wrote a tutorial regarding using the cloning part of Macrium Reflect here :-

 

http://magazine.freepchelp.uk/making-a-cloned-hard-drive-using-macrium-reflect/

 

Although I wrote it with a complete system clone in mind, you can see from the screen shots where to put ticks for whichever partition you wish to clone.

 

 

Nev.

[Sebastian42]

Hi, and to back up what DSTM said, Yes, Macrium reflect is both a cloning tool and also an imaging tool, it is available as a free version as well as the full paid for, however for most cloning or even image making jobs, the free version is very good.

 

Both DSTM and myself use it as also does KenB, and we all swear by it and we are all using the free version, which you can download from either Macriums own site by selecting the free button, as per lower down on this page :-

 

http://www.macrium.com/pages/downloads.aspx

 

The instructions on that page are to try to make you install the trial version, however, follow what it says and click the drop down menus and select "Free"

 

Or you can download the free version directly from here :-

 

http://www.majorgeeks.com/files/details/macrium_reflect_free_edition.html

 

The only warning being that like all free software these days watch for unwanted software such as "Real Player" and make sure ticks are removed from boxes.

 

Once you have it downloaded and installed, I wrote a tutorial regarding using the cloning part of Macrium Reflect here :-

 

http://magazine.freepchelp.uk/making-a-cloned-hard-drive-using-macrium-reflect/

 

Although I wrote it with a complete system clone in mind, you can see from the screen shots where to put ticks for whichever partition you wish to clone.

 

 

Nev.

Thank you for that comprehensive help. I'd be remiss if I didn't try it, rather than get the casper Upgrade which may still cause havoc in a failed clone attempt.

In the meanwhile, the puzzle of BIOS over-riding my boot selection remains unsolved. BOTH HDDs are bootable - that excludes the notion that BIOS might select the only bootable option.

[Dokie]

Macrium is very easy to use. I'm also a fan and have used it for years. It will clone or make a back up image of your drive. The wizard is very easy to follow. Once you try it, you be be amazed how easy it is to use. Looks like we all are Macrium Reflect fans.

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[RandyL]

Do you have another SATA lead you can try? Have you tried re-seating the lead and power supply?

 

The reason I ask is because if Windows does not detect an OS or other bootable option it will go to the next boot option in the BIOS. Perhaps a faulty connector is the problem. If you don't have another SATA lead try switching the leads and power supply connector to see what happens.

 

Another possibility is that the second drive has a fault or the clone itself may have a fault.

 

I'm unclear as to your answer on whether this second drive had Windows installed while it was in this PC or whether it had Windows installed while it was in a different PC.

 

If it was the latter then it might always have boot issues unless the other PC had the exact same hardware like the mobo.

 

It is extremely unlikely that the Basic Input/Output System is the fault.

[Sebastian42]

I had reason to download and use Macrium Reflect, in a completely different situation today, when Casper5 could not be found after it was installed. Macrium was indeed free and did indeed create a clone that I could boot.

 

Yes, I do have another SATA lead and have interchanged them. I do routinely re-seat the SATA and power leads.

 

Both HDDs can boot to their O/Ss.

 

Windows was installed on one HDD in one PC; that was cloned; then one HDD was changed and I tried to reproduce those changes on the other HDD by cloning it to the unchanged HDD.

[Plastic Nev]

Hi Sebastian, can you be a bit more specific as to what these changes are, it may be that the change is being blocked by the BIOS, or even vice versa, the BIOS is always giving that one priority.

If you let us know what the changes are it may be something we recognise as having been a problem in the past.

 

Nev.

[Sebastian42]

Hi Sebastian, can you be a bit more specific as to what these changes are, it may be that the change is being blocked by the BIOS, or even vice versa, the BIOS is always giving that one priority.

If you let us know what the changes are it may be something we recognise as having been a problem in the past.

 

Nev.

That would be a bit hard to supply. But in general, I started with the bare bones of Win8.1, and bit by bit I've been installing all the other software and 'making' settings, to prepare it to be a useful system. And then I keep cloning the successful 'updates' so that if something goes wrong, I don't have to start over, but only go back to the time prior to the latest 'additions'.

[Plastic Nev]

Ah right I understand now, a good idea actually in essence.

So, for clarity, we will call the system you are adding to and changing drive 1

Drive 2 will be the drive you are then adding the clones to.

First question is can you see drive 2 as if it were added storage while running from drive 1?

 

If that is right, the only time you need to clone again is when a new program is installed, for normal file additions such as pictures, music, video, you can copy from one drive to the other while connected, just the same as copying to a pen drive or similar.

 

Nev.

[Sebastian42]

You understand my system correctly. I call one HDD the UPDATER, and the other EXPERIMENTAL. One thing I have not bothered to mention before, is that I acquired a habit when O/Ss were less stable. It evolved to the point where I would create 6 partitions on a large drive (500Gb) - the first small - big enough for an O/S without any data; and then 5 more, each about 1Gb larger than the previous, to take up all the remaining space. Having put the minimum O/S into that first partition - including the cloner - I would leave that partition be. But sequentially into the other 5 partitions I would clone the system as it 'evolved' on the Updater - including Data. So after 6 clonings I would have 'accessible' 5 different but similar copies of my system on the 500Gb HDD to refer back to for either Data, or previous under-developped versions. The EXPERIMENTAL HDD I could use to try out things on, without fear of corrupting my evolving system, and if my experiment had a satisfactory outcome, THAT HDD would in effect be the latest version of my UPDATER, to be cloned to the other drive (now in effect the EXPERMENTAL) and OVER the partition with the oldest version of my system.

I have tested that my largest HDD will boot satisfactorily; but when I am cloning to the oldest partition and choose to boot from the first small partition, THAT is when the BIOS ignores me, and instead, boots from the HDD whose contents I want to clone to the oldest partition.

 

"for normal file additions such as pictures, music, video, you can copy from one drive to the other while connected" I ONLY have a second HDD connected if I want to clone; so I COULD, but DONT, copy to another DRIVE (whether the 500Gb or the Experimental) as data changes.

THAT is taken care of by a sufficiently large USB memory stick. I run batchfiles that save 'data' twice - once to the HDD which I am using, and once to the USB stick.

[Plastic Nev]

OK, I see where you are coming from, a bit belt, braces, and a few extra pairs of hands to hold your pants up type of thing. However in this day with Windows 7 being as stable as it is, most of those procedures are not really needed any more.

 

However, as far as the BIOS ignoring your instructions to boot from the partition or drive of choice, I honestly don't understand why that is happening if you have definitely put it at the top of the boot list. I can only suggest making sure that the drive letter, or if relevant, name, for the desired option is correct.

 

The only other possible thing would be a flash or update of the BIOS firmware, however, no longer as risky as it used to be, it still does have risks, so not too happy here to recommend that unless really necessary.

 

See if someone else may have further thoughts first.

 

Nev.

[Ray1000]

I've read this thread twice ... I'm surprised "Master" and "Slave" haven't been mentioned at some point ... presumably they are wired up in the right order when you are trying to boot up.

 

Ray

[KenB]

I'm surprised "Master" and "Slave" haven't been mentioned at some point

Hi Ray

SATA drives don't utilise a "master" or "slave" configuration this is why it has not been mentioned :)