Tech Support: PC issue

I’m hoping the ‘nauts can help me out here. My writing partner’s computer has stopped working and we can’t figure this out. I figured there’s probably some tech-heads here that may be able to help.

MOBO: ASROCK X99 Extreme4/3.1
BIOS: American Megatrends P3.60 (most recent BIOS)
SSD: Crucial MX500 250gb
SSD: Crucial MX500 500gb m2
OS: Windows 10 Pro

I have 2 identical computers that I built, one for me and one for my buddy. Both were built and configured exactly the same with the OS running on the 250gb SSD drive for the past 4 years. We both needed a larger OS drive, so we got 2 500gb m2 drives. I installed mine on my computer and cloned my original OS drive to it successfully. My buddy, on the other hand, put his m2 drive in and when he booted up his computer, the original OS drive was totally missing. We went into the BIOS and it no longer even recognizes the original drive. We know the drive isn’t totally broken as he was able to put it in an external enclosure and see the contents on his Macbook. Unfortunately, he doesn’t have access to another Windows machine and we live 2 hours apart, so I can’t hook his drive up to mine.

Here is everything we have tried so far:

  1. Switching SATA cables and ports
  2. Resetting the BIOS
  3. Disconnecting all the other drives (2 HDD, m2, and the CD/DVD)
  4. Power cycling

Things we are going to try but have not yet done so:

  1. Repairing from the Windows install disc - I don’t know how this would work, though, if the MOBO isn’t even seeing the SSD in the first place.
  2. Since the computers are exactly the same, I cloned my drive and will be sending it to him to put in his computer and see if it works.
  3. Downloaded Macrium Reflect and created a restore/repair USB from my computer to try and repair his.

What I can’t figure out is why the BIOS would all of the sudden stop recognizing the original OS drive in the first place. It makes absolutely no sense, especially since mine worked flawlessly and he didn’t do anything different, plus the files were still accessible via his Macbook.

Any ideas?

As long as you have the data on the OG drive I’d install a clean Windows Ten from Here on the new M2. Then copy data and install needed software. I’d consider it a win if there is no data lose!

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Yeah. That’s the last choice. There’s so much stuff that would need reinstalling. But we’re considering it.

It’s a bummer but it’ll be better in the end just having a fresh install. Good luck!

Is your buddy’s computer using legacy BIOS or UEFI (Secure Boot)?
In order to use legacy BIOS, you’ll usually need to explicitly disable UEFI on modern motherboards.

Might need to follow these steps-

http://woshub.com/how-to-rebuild-bcd-file-in-windows-10/

As said earlier, the easiest and bug-free way to do is to do a fresh install of Windows 10 on the new hard drive. Then boot on this new install with the old drive plugged and you will see all the old files under D:
Just copy / paste what you need and format the old drive to have a the full disk space

Yes. I know that. Again, it’s the last resort as the amount of other software needing installation and registration is a pain in the ass. As it is now, I’ve mailed him a clone of my drive which should work on his machine and he can just unregister everything and put it in his name.