Problems cloning to new drive/BCD error

I have a Boot Camp partition on a MacBook Air, mid-2012 (5,2). I recently got a MacPro, mid 2010 (5,1), and I’d like to move this Windows 10 install over to a new drive on the MacPro to clear up space on the MacBook Air.

I did a sysprep on Windows, then I cloned the partition to an image on the MacBook Air and saved the image on an external drive. Then I inserted a new SSD into the MacPro, formatted it as FAT, then did a Restore Image in Winclone from the image file on the external drive to the SSD. When this process completes, I get the error “Could not copy BCD to Windows partition”. I’ve poked around in the forums for this error, and I think I understand that the problem is due to the MacBook Air supporting EFI, but not the MacPro. So when it tries to book on the MacPro, it doesn’t have the correct files to boot.

What I don’t quite understand is if it’s even possible to migrate this partition over the MacPro in the first place. Am I out of luck, or am I just doing something wrong?

I think the issue is that the new SSD doesn’t have a GPT (GUID Partition Table). Here is how to create it:

Thanks for the suggestion. I have reformatted the new SSD as described in the link. When I use Winclone to Restore Image, won’t that wipe out the drive and format it in a PC format like NTFS?

Ok, so after formatting the drive as described, I created a new FAT partition on that drive, then performed the Winclone Restore Image process on that FAT partition. I still got the BCD error after the cloning process. I then selected the Windows partition as my startup disk, rebooted the machine, and got the blinking cursor again. Any other ideas? Thanks.

What is the output when you run “diskutil list” in Terminal?

tim

The output is below. The Windows install is on disk0s3.

nehalem:~ tenelson$ diskutil list
/dev/disk0 (internal, physical):
#: TYPE NAME SIZE IDENTIFIER
0: GUID_partition_scheme *240.1 GB disk0
1: EFI EFI 209.7 MB disk0s1
2: Apple_HFS labyrinths 40.0 GB disk0s2
3: Microsoft Basic Data Windows 199.5 GB disk0s3

/dev/disk1 (internal, physical):
#: TYPE NAME SIZE IDENTIFIER
0: GUID_partition_scheme *240.1 GB disk1
1: EFI EFI 209.7 MB disk1s1
2: Apple_HFS nehalem 239.2 GB disk1s2
3: Apple_Boot Recovery HD 650.0 MB disk1s3

What version of Winclone are you using? It could be due to the SIP being enabled, or it could be that you need to switch to legacy bootable.

tim

I’m using Winclone 7.3.4. I disabled SIP on the Mac Pro, but do I need to disable SIP on the MacBook Air I’m moving the partition from?

No, disabling SIP is only for writing to the master boot record.