Difficulty restoring system image

[Minjin]

win 7 x64 professional
asus z68 mobo (uefi)
smaller ssd (intel)
larger ssd (sandisk)
storage drive

Just got a new larger, faster SSD and was reading up on the current methods to clone drives. I came across some people suggesting that you just make a system image using the built in windows 7 tools: "Create a system image". So I did. I saved the image on my storage drive. Then I made system repair disc: "Create a system repair disc". I turned off the computer, swapped SSDs, then booted from the CD to restore my image. When I tried to start up the repair tools, I got this:

"This version of System Recovery Options is not compatible with the version of Windows you are trying to repair. Try using a recovery disc that is compatible with this version of Windows."

The same thing happens when I put in the Windows install disc.

When I do some searching, I find that other people have reported the same problem:

http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/...s-is-not/16d5d1e6-b383-451f-8bfe-c7501c582fe0

The fix seems to be moving the boot priority around such that CD is first (and that it doesn't use UEFI) OR that I disable all other drives. I did the first, no change. I can't do the second because my system image is on my storage drive.

Any suggestions or do I need to do the usual cloning via gparted? The main reason I didn't do that first is because of the whole ssd alignment issue and I read that if you do it via windows built-in tools, it will do everything for you.

 

[jolancer]

Correct me if im wrong, i havn't used an ssd and honestly havn't gottin into any of that. but judging by a skim over of some of the references i get on google pertaining to your issue... I'm nota fast reader so i skipped and skimmed....

but would i be wrong in guessing that the alignment issue occurs from cloning the entire source disk as a hole... why not just clone each partition 1 at a time along with the MBR, then just expand the w7 system partition? I also noticed on google some of the more upto date cloning apps aparently are said to not cause the ssd alignment issue, but im not talking about those in this case. I didn''t even look to see programs they were refering to.

 

[Minjin]

Yeah I can solve the problem using other methods. In fact, I ended up using the Seagate disc tool (rebranded Acronis TI) to get the job done. I just want to know how to get the windows system image method to work as I like to solve problems using the built-in windows tools whenever possible.

As an aside, for anyone who is wondering, the Intel disc tool is version 14.133 and the Seagate disc tool is version 14.387. The Seagate version seemed to have more features and is obviously newer so that's why I elected to use that one. I know WD uses a similar tool but I don't currently have any WD drives installed so I can't check what version that is.