Any luck on this?
I've encountered the dongle error when there are linking issues, which tells me there are errors in the software that it's falling through to the wrong error screen.
On NFSU, if you unplug the nytric IO PCB (the PCB that is mounted inside the computer but really connects to the computer via USB loop back cable) and maybe unplug the steering force feedback board -- the game should boot into the game without needing a dongle. This was probably for development purposes. You might try doing that, then try plugging in the dongle.
The Dongle is an Alladin HASP4 I believe, and it has a driver set built into the Windows XPe image. Perhaps when you converted to SSD somehow this driver got damaged?
I converted my two Undergrounds to Dell computers -- but am having issues getting them to link. Everything else is working though.