Support NeoGAF

[Shtef]

I have msi b450 gaming plus motherboard which has one m2 ssd 256gb (there is only one slot) and one sata ssd 1tb.
The m2 is my main drive where i have windows and programs installed and the sata is used for games and large files.

Now i want to upgrade the m2 to 1tb but i really need to keep all my data. I have bunch of software which is setup for my work and it would be difficult to reinstal and setup all over again.

What would be the best way to clone m2 drive and than use the new one and restore all data there? Can i make clone to sata ssd and than restore it to new m2?

 

[Drizzlehell]

I don't know.

But I read it, good post. Hope you'll figure it out.

 

[cormack12]

I wouldn't recommend it, I'd rather go through the heartache of reinstalling everything to have a clean installation.

Why do you need to clone it? Can't you just have a secondary E drive and store data there instead?

If you really want to do this then you can use something like across tru image or depending on what versions of Windows look at backup and restore.

 

[nkarafo]

Yes, you can. There are several programs that can do this. I'm using Minitool Partition Wizard for a few years now and have cloned dozens of hard disks or SSDs to other SSDs. Yeah, you can even clone a Windows setup that's installed on an old HDD to a faster SSD and get all the benefits without re-installing everything.

You don't need a "clean installation", especially if you are going to use the same PC. I mean, even if you use the cloned drive to a different PC, 99% of the time Windows 10 should detect the new hardware and work perfectly. This was an issue with older versions of Windows but with Windows 10 i did it plenty of times with no problems. You might still need a new Windows key if you do this though.

 

[PaintTinJr]

I have msi b450 gaming plus motherboard which has one m2 ssd 256gb (there is only one slot) and one sata ssd 1tb.
The m2 is my main drive where i have windows and programs installed and the sata is used for games and large files.

Now i want to upgrade the m2 to 1tb but i really need to keep all my data. I have bunch of software which is setup for my work and it would be difficult to reinstal and setup all over again.

What would be the best way to clone m2 drive and than use the new one and restore all data there? Can i make clone to sata ssd and than restore it to new m2?

Given you are asking the question, you probably won't like the technicalities of doing it the free-way, using a liveLinux usbstick/CD and the graphical version of diskpart - as you still need to do a Windows command line CHKDSK on the cloned drive to fix signatures IIRC.

My advice is get a PCIe expansion card for a 2nd nvme when buying the new nvme, and ideally buy a Samsung so you can then download Samsung Magician(?) freely that should be able to clone onto the new drive on the expansion card. Then after shutdown, take out the old nvme, then replace it with the cloned nvme from the expansion card, reboot, and all should be working. You will have a clash of drive signatures if you reinstall the old nvme into the expansion slot - which WIndows will complain about - if you don't fix the comflict by formatting it, or changing its identifiers, although Samsung Magician's drive cloning may take care of it for you if you just swap the nvme drives over and reboot.

 

[nightmare-slain]

It might be a hassle to reinstall all your software and set them up but it'll also be a hassle trying to clone your drive onto a new one and keeping Windows happy about it. Also, finding a good cloning software is a pain in the ass.

Clean installation is what I do every time. Anything important is stored on a secondary drive. My games are on D: and important files are on E: so that all I have on C: is my Windows installation and programs. If I ever need to reset Windows/Linux then it's a matter of just disconnecting D + E drives and wiping C. It takes a day or two to get all my programs up and running again but it's not really a problem for me.

to answer your question though .... it seems Macrium Reflect is your best shot.

Macrium Reflect Free Trials

Macrium Reflect - Incredibly powerful software that allows you to create and schedule effective backups

www.macrium.com

 

[YCoCg]

Best case would be to get a USB3.2 M2 adapter, grab Macrium Reflect, and clone the entire curent M2 drive to the USB drive, don't forget to expand the partition if you're moving to a bigger drive. It might take a bit but once the clone process is complete, give it a test by booting from that USB drive from the BIOS, if everything seems normal then you're good to go ahead and swap the drive out with the new one.

 

[BlackTron]

I agree Macrium Reflect is a good option.

I do like fresh installs but since you are using the drive in the same PC it really doesn't really make a big difference. It's basically the same as making a backup system image and then restoring it when your drive dies. He already has an install with all his files and settings so he may as well use it.

Since you only have one m.2 slot. You can copy the drive to any other media you have that is big enough. But not as a copy/paste. Make an image with a tool like Reflect. Then restore it from there to your new m.2 drive per your idea.

If you are willing to buy any extra hardware, even if just to connect an extra m.2 it would be a lot smoother.

Edit: The critical part here is that you will need to boot a tool like Reflect without Windows Because once you remove your old drive, where does your GUI come from to complete the operation. You would end up having to boot from a USB stick to do this, which is no big deal but you can save the hassle by just connecting both m.2 at the same time if you are more comfortable keeping it in Windows.

 

[PaintTinJr]

Best case would be to get a USB3.2 M2 adapter, grab Macrium Reflect, and clone the entire curent M2 drive to the USB drive, don't forget to expand the partition if you're moving to a bigger drive. It might take a bit but once the clone process is complete, give it a test by booting from that USB drive from the BIOS, if everything seems normal then you're good to go ahead and swap the drive out with the new one.

Using an external interface like USB for cloning (or in the case of backing up to image for restore) disables the SSD trim feature on the cloned drive in Windows - or at least that was my experience with SATA SSD cloning via USB/imaging some years back- requiring an administrative command line/shell program to reset the Windows performance analysis and a reboot.

 

[dave_d]

You could use Clonezilla. I think it has an ISO version so make a bootable USB with clone zilla with something like YUMI, then use clonezilla to clone to a drive as an image. Swap drives and then restore from the image. There's quite a few youtube videos that will show all of this.

 

[SScorpio]

If you have a free x4 or higher PCIe slot, then get an adapter. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07JJTVGZM/?tag=neogaf0e-20

I don't recommend NVME USB adapters, they do odd things and don't expose the NVME controller so they look like USB drives. So your mileage may vary if there are issues after cloning.

Look at the website of whoever made the new drive. Most have free downloads for cloning software to do exactly what you are trying. I had luck with software that ran within Windows. Just connect both drives, and do the clone. Remove the old drive and attempt to boot. If anything doesn't work you can easily switch back to the old drive.

 

[peronmls]

I remember using Norton ghost back then to copy a hard drive.

 

[Puscifer]

Macrum reflect, free, have a nice day.

Macrium Reflect Free

Disk image, file backup and disk cloning for Windows.

www.techspot.com

 

[Puscifer]

I wouldn't recommend it, I'd rather go through the heartache of reinstalling everything to have a clean installation.

Why do you need to clone it? Can't you just have a secondary E drive and store data there instead?

If you really want to do this then you can use something like across tru image or depending on what versions of Windows look at backup and restore.

Eh, this isn't like the XP days. When you swap motherboards in 10/11 it actually goes through the process of seeing what changed at a hardware level and adjusting to ensure there isn't issues.

 

[Hoddi]

Can i make clone to sata ssd and than restore it to new m2?

This would be the best way to go about it. You'd create a disk image file on the SATA drive and then restore it to the new disk. I do this a few times a year at work and it's trivial once you've figured it. I always use Clonezilla but Macrium seems to be good as well.

Just be aware that the TPM can give you troubles if you're on Win11 or using Bitlocker. But if you're still on Win10 then you shouldn't have any problems.

 

[danklord]

Instead of any of this, buy an external m.2 drive shell - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08RVC6F9Y/?tag=neogaf0e-20

Put the old drive in there, put the new drive in your PC and do a fresh install. Then, after the new windows is installed, old drive will mount as an normal external with all the data intact and the new drive will be completely clean. Then you can choose what to backup instead of messing with some new cloning software and everything is maintained.

Cloning and trying to keep installs registered with a new main is going to cause problems, even if theoretically it shouldn't.

 

[sigmaZ]

Macrium Reflect
I just did it the other day. Was far easier than I expected. Just make sure you reassign the boot drive at the end of the process.

 

[DGrayson]

Yes it's possible I did it before when upgrading the size of my c drive. Just Google free third party applications for the task

 

[ReBurn]

How To Clone Your SSD or Hard Drive

Migrate your system to a faster drive using Clonezilla.

www.tomshardware.com

 

[RoboFu]

I would advise just to go with a clean install. Windows os rot is a real thing. installing and updating over the years leave all sorts of junk and configurations.

 

[SpiceRacz]

I purchased an adapter for hooking up my SSD externally and was able to copy everything over with some program that I can't remember.

 

[ReBurn]

I would advise just to go with a clean install. Windows os rot is a real thing. installing and updating over the years leave all sorts of junk and configurations.

It's much less of an issue since Windows 10 and local profile installations for newer apps, but yeah, if your library consists of older apps carrying over from the old days a clean install makes sense. Especially if there's already signs of degradation.

 

[Reizo Ryuu]

Yeah it's easily doable, I cloned a windows 7 install from HDD to sata SSD, and there were literally no problems.
Cloned the drive
Swapped the drive out
Boot windows like nothing changed.

 

[Bridges]

Working in IT I had a very high success rate cloning SSDs through Acronis True Image, but that's probably too expensive if you're only going to use it once. Also not sure I ever tried it with M2 drives so I can't vouch for if it handles those okay.

 

[A.Romero]

As many have said it's pretty doable and you don't need to lose any data at all but you do need a drive where tu put all the info before you can transfer it back to the new drive. TBH I haven't done it that way in the past, it's always a direct copy from one drive to the other, change boot order and that's it.