Attempting to boot SATA drive in new HP Envy results in BSOD "Inaccessible boot device"

[RobbinsRepairCT]

My client purchased a new HP Envy desktop to replace the aging desktop she has now.

The plan going into the service was to take her SATA SSD (Windows 10 installation) she had in her old desktop, connect it internally to the new Envy desktop (also Windows 10), boot into Windows, all is copacetic. Well, as they say, nothing ever goes according to plan.

Discovered her SATA SSD was MBR, and this particular Envy is GPT/UEFI only. No problem, back up her original Windows 10 installation, format her SATA SSD, convert the SSD to GPT, restore her installation, try to boot again. Unfortunately, this was the first instance of seeing "inaccessible boot device". 

Just to be certain, I brought her SATA SSD home with me to my personal computer. I made sure the boot files were restored and made sure that boot mode in my BIOS was set to UEFI. I was able to boot her SATA SSD successfully with my system. Perfect...so why isn't her SATA SSD booting on her new Envy?

I tried something for curiosity's sake. I have a SATA to USB 3.0 adapter. Very convenient piece of gear. I tried booting the SATA SSD with the USB adapter connected to the Envy. Curiously enough, it worked. I was blown away. So we can confirm that the HP Envy can boot the SATA SSD, but only through external means. So bizarre.

I went ahead and checked to see if her old desktop was capable of booting UEFI. Sure enough, it was able to boot. My client thankfully has a desktop she can use, but all of this troubleshooting leaves me stumped.

So in summary, GPT/UEFI SATA SSD behaves thusly:

• Can boot via UEFI on my personal system (motherboard is MSI B550 Gaming Pro with up-to-date BIOS).
• Can boot via UEFI through SATA to USB 3.0 adapter connected to new HP Envy desktop.
• Can boot via UEFI through the client's old desktop (Intel Ivy Bridge or Haswell-based, I know it's an i7 processor in a socket 1155, MSI H61 chipset motherboard). 
• Can NOT boot via UEFI through an internal SATA connection in the new HP Envy desktop.

Is there something I'm missing here? Will secure boot or TPM prevent me from booting from the SATA SSD?

My next experiment would be to try cloning the SATA SSD over to the included NVM-E SSD in the HP Envy. I fear that I would: a) lose the brand new, fresh install of Windows 10, b) still not be able to boot with the old Windows 10 installation. I believe something in the motherboard hardware is preventing me from booting any Windows installation that did not come included with the new Envy desktop.

Has anyone encountered a situation like this? Any assistance would be great. Thanks in advance!

- Aaron

[itsmyname]

>  I believe something in the motherboard hardware is preventing me from booting any Windows installation that did not come included with the new Envy desktop.

Maybe, it is not the motherboard's "hardware", but the motherboard's BIOS settings that do not list the "migrated" SSD as being "eligible" to be one of the bootable devices?

[praveenbv]

Hi@RobbinsRepairCT,

We reviewed your post and I understand that the  Decktop not booting to windows.

Don’t worry, I assure you I will try my best to get this sorted.

I recommend you follow the below steps and check if it helps

Check with SATA Cables connected properly?

Try doing the BIOS Defaults?

Check if the HDD is getting detected?

Please the steps download the operating System HP Consumer PCs - Using the HP Cloud Recovery Tool (Windows 10 )LInk

Hope this helps! Keep me posted.

Please click “Accept as Solution” if you feel my post solved your issue, it will help others find the solution.

Click the “Kudos, Thumbs Up" on the bottom right to say “Thanks” for helping!

Have a great day! 

[RobbinsRepairCT]

@itsmyname

It is indeed eligible. It's a SanDisk SSD. Doesn't matter if it's plugged in via internal SATA port, or through one of the front panel USB 3.0 ports, it's being recognized in BIOS and in the boot menu as a SanDisk SSD with a bootable UEFI partition on it. If it wasn't bootable, it would not appear in BIOS or the boot menu.

Thanks.

[RobbinsRepairCT]

@Praveenbv

SATA cables are plugged in correctly

BIOS defaults were used

The disk is being detected in BIOS and in boot menu.

The HP Cloud Recovery tool is not necessary in this particular repair.

Thanks anyways.

[itsmyname]

>  Cannot boot via UEFI through an internal SATA connection in the new HP Envy desktop.

What happens? What does not happen? Does Windows start to load, and then freeze/crash?

> My next experiment would be to try cloning the SATA SSD over to the included NVM-E SSD in the HP Envy.

> I fear that I would: a) lose the brand new, fresh install of Windows 10,

There is free software, such as "Macrium Reflect" that can be used to "clone" from the NVM-E device onto an external disk-drive, and, of course, to "clone" back to the NVM-E device.

If you download Windows 10 from Microsoft, it will create a bootable system on a 8GB (or larger) USB memory-stick.
With the SSD attached, and the NVM-E removed, boot from the USB, and choose "repair" (instead of "install"), to see if the contents of the SSD can be "repaired" to make it bootable.

Finally, you may have a problem with the Microsoft product-key contained on the SSD, if you have "activated" that product-key with Microsoft. If you ever successfully boot the new computer from the SSD, Windows will "call home", and you will be told that you need to re-activate, because too much hardware has "changed" since the original activation, namely motherboard, processor, CD/DVD, RAM, network adapter. That product-key was "activated" on a totally-different computer -- the old computer -- and may not activate on the new hardware.

[RobbinsRepairCT]

@itsmyname

Thanks for the reply!

What happens: I get the splash screen with the white circle, eventually I get a BSOD that says "inaccessible boot device" or the screen freezes and I have to restart

Cloning software: I've been using AOMEI to clone/backup the old OS. I'm sure Macrium or Acronis will do the same thing. 

Windows USB: I do have one that I've been using for this entire process. I also use a tool called EasyRE to restore/repair the EFI boot files if they're missing or corrupt. That seems to be working like a charm. Windows repair, not so much.

Activation: Yes, the old Windows 10 installation was activated on another computer, but I have the computer disconnected from my Wifi on purpose just so I could get the installation booted and working. I'm sure if I went ahead and connected to wifi once I had the OS booted Microsoft will ask me to reactivate. I also could connect to the internet via an ethernet connection when trying to boot to see if that makes a difference? 

My current conclusion is that the internal sata ports are for storage only and that they won't boot any foreign operating system. It could be an OS that has already booted on the computer. That might be another thing I try: cloning the NVMe OS to the SSD and see if it boots that way.

[itsmyname]

> Windows repair, not so much

Please try to boot from a USB memory-stick that was created via: Download Windows 10 (microsoft.com)

Then, with the NVM stick removed, and the SSD connected, boot from the USB, and choose "repair". It might fix the Windows startup files.

> My current conclusion is that the internal sata ports are for storage only and that they won't boot any foreign operating system. 

I disagree. I have moved a working (and activated)  Windows 10 disk-drive to a much-different computer, and it boots properly. I always have _no_ Internet connection while doing the boot, to avoid any "activation" issues.  Also, my DVD that contains "Macrium Reflect" boots properly, even though it is a "foreign operating system". Also, my DVD contains "Maxtor Maxblast" also boots properly.