BIOS Issues

[samsscname]

Not sure what section this would go in but here goes:
Just bought a new Acer and put a SSD in it to be used as the primary drive. I had some trouble cloning the old HD as I couldn't get the computer to boot off the CD that came with the SSD, but in the end I used a Reflect. Now the computer has two bootable HDs plugged into it's two SATA ports. I can pick which one to boot off of by changing the hard drive priorities in BIOS.

I still cannot get the SSD as my primary drive though. In the BIOS it does not matter what I change in boot order--it still just disregards and boots up off the original HD. I have a bootable thumb with ubuntu on it, but even at 1st boot priority it disregards it again, booting from the original HD. Going back to the fact I couldn't boot off the CD, I'm beginning to think this BIOS really doesn't seem to change a thing.

Has anyone seen anything like this before? What could be superseding the BIOS?

[denis280]

if am correct. in bios you should have in the boot option.(other)

[jolancer]

some computers iv had, dont remember if its only on the laptops... but theres sometimes other buttons you can press at post to bring up other promts, if your BIOS has Boot prompt option you can just hit that button instead to access other boot devices at post time as a workaround.

but for the no save setting issue. i'd try in this order one ata time...
/ reseting the CMOS and try again
/ replacing the CMOS battery and try again(New battery)
/ Flash the BIOS and try again

[samsscname]

Early on a tech did suggest going to the boot menu instead of bios, but we couldn't find a key to get to it. Any suggestions?

as for the other method would that require taking the case off? and should I just try switching the drives into opposite ports?

[samsscname]

Also the settings do save, when I go back in they are all set to the SSD, but it still just boots off the old one

[jolancer]

If you say the settings are saved from next boot. Then i wouldn't suspect its the BIOS. I suspect everything your trying to boot from is Not Bootable or Not setup properly.

I never used MacriumReflect if thats what you did so i cant comment or guess what it did. but it looks like you dont have it properly cloned and thats probably the only issue. If it cant boot from the New disk it will default back to the first Boot disk it can find.

Heres just a couple links of how to clone windows
http://geekyprojects.com/storage/how...smaller-drive/
http://edoceo.com/exemplar/ntfsclone-transfer-windows

I havn't used Win7 which is what im guessing your using since you didnt mention. but i hear it creates a 100mb Hidden Primary Boot partition. you have to clone that along with the system partition.

I'v become familiar with the SystemRescueCD free distro, so I personaly would just use that cause it comes with all the handy linux apps you'd need. GParted can shrink the system partition, then clone them over with whatever you want. I's use the linux cmd "ntfsclone". then just use GParted again to either fill the remainder of the new SSD with a new partition or expand it back to fill the disk.

Note though i dont know whatelse win7 may need.

EDIT: oh yeah, though you probably dont need it and no longer appys to your issue, for your reference. IF your Bios does have a Boot Prompt you can Post directly to, the key to press is defined Is Usually Listed real quick at post similar to the Bios Settings menu button... Listed in BIOS settings/help... and or in your User manual.

[MTDEW]

It would help to know which motherboard, so we can have a look at the manual/bios options.

Just unplug your old HDD to eliminate that while troubleshooting and get the bios booting from the cd/dvdrom or new SSD.
With your old HDD disconnected you should at least know if your cloned SSD is bootable since you should get the NTDLR is missing or non-system disc error or something similar if its at least trying to boot from the SSD.
If not, then the bios is not trying to boot from the SSD and either bios options are incorrect or bios needs reset.(i'm guessing bios options are incorrect since it doesnt try to boot from cd either when chosen)

Also, jolancer is correct, just cloning a HDD rarely makes the new clone bootable without a few extra steps.
But i wouldnt worry about that until you have the bios at least trying to boot of your new SSD or cd\dvdrom.

[samsscname]

Well I'm using windows 8. The clone got all the partitions but I have not gone through any more efforts to make it bootable. But regardless I'm thinking its the bios options or needs a reset. I haven't been able to boot off the CD or the bootable thumb drive so something is wrong with the settings there.

I'll look out the motherboard now