Winclone 8, OWC Aura Pro X2, Windows 7

Winclone
1

Hello,

I just wanted to know how I can restore a Windows 7 image on this specific hardware/software:

MacBook Pro Mid-2014 15"
OWC Aura Pro X2 2TB SSD
OS Catalina
Winclone 8
Windows 7

I first cloned my Windows partition on the original Apple SSD, then I made a partition on the OWC SSD using Disk Utility and restored the image using Winclone 8 onto it. However, when I try to boot into it all I see is an “EFI” disk and not “BOOTCAMP” like I did on the original Apple SSD. If I select that volume the computer will just restart itself and if I don’t hold down Option then it will boot into Catalina normally. I even tried the “Make EFI bootable” function with Winclone 8 and nothing changed as far as my results when trying to boot into Windows.

Note: I did not reinstall Win7 on the new partition as I am under the impression that Winclone does it from the image?

My questions are:

  • Does the Aura SSD just not support Win7?
  • Do I need to make the partition using Boot Camp Assistant or does the Disk Utility method good enough?
  • If the answer to the above is yes, is the fact that the assistant only does Win10 an issue?
  • If I don’t need to do either of the above, how do I boot from my restored partition?
  • I have not tried changing the partition into “Make Legacy bootable” yet, would that be a solution?
2

“Make Legacy Bootable” sounds like a good option is Windows 7 booted as legacy versus EFI.

As for the Aura SSD, I did some testing and had issues as well. They provide a special driver for Boot Camp but I didn’t have much success with that as well. I have no idea how the Mac firmware deals with a 3rd party SSD and there is some strange interaction that causes issues.

tim

3

I ended up just installing Win10 on the partition and manually moving stuff over.

4

Thanks for letting me know. If you want a refund, go here:

https://twocanoes.com/order-assistance-and-feedback/

tim