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SSD Upgrade - Clone Drive

Aereldor
By Aereldor
in Operating Systems
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Posted

So I've always just done a fresh windows install every time I've upgraded a boot drive, but my sister wants her current 250gb SSD cloned onto her new 500GB and I'm just now realising I've never done this before.

 

What software do most people use for this? Do I have to re-enter the windows activation key once I'm done? 

i5 12600KF | Zotac RTX 4080 Gaming trinity | Team Vulcan 2x16GB DDR4 3600 | ASRock Z690M-ITX/ac | WD Black SN850x 2TB

Cooler Master NR200P v2 | ID Cooling Zoomflow 280 XT | SeaSonic Focus SGX-750 | Thermalright 2x140mm + 2x120mm aRGB

LG C2 OLED 48" 120hz | Epomaker TH80 (Gateron Yellow) | Logitech MX Master 3 | Koss Porta Pro Comm

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Cloning OS drive is really risky. Missing literally a single byte can destroy the entire system. I still recommend you to do a fresh install instead of clone.

 

Accept all the risk? Then here you go, visit this website: https://www.pcmag.com/how-to/how-to-clone-a-hard-drive

Anti-malware, for free. (not NavaShield of course)

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20 minutes ago, HQuan said:

Cloning OS drive is really risky. Missing literally a single byte can destroy the entire system.

No, it's not risky; don't spread FUD. I've cloned a computer twice in the space of a couple weeks (256GB > 512GB > 1TB, as I was figuring out what I wanted) and it worked fine. I've also gone from larger HDD to smaller SSD; you just need to have the right tools.

Main System (Byarlant): Ryzen 9 5950X | Asus B550-Creator ProArt | EK 240mm Basic AIO | 32GB G.Skill DDR4 3600MT/s CL16 | XFX Speedster SWFT 210 RX 6600 | Samsung 990 PRO 2TB / Samsung 990 EVO Plus 4TB | Corsair RM750X | StarTech 4× USB 3.0 Card | Realtek RTL8127 10G NIC | Hyte Y60 Case | Dell U3415W Monitor | Keychron K12 Blue (RGB backlight)

 

Laptop (Narrative): Lenovo Flex 5 81X20005US | Ryzen 5 4500U | 16GB DDR4 3200MT/s (soldered) | Vega II 384SP Graphics | SKHynix P31 1TB NVMe SSD | Intel AX200 Wifi | Asus 2.5G USB NIC | Asus ProArt PA278QV | Keychron K4 Brown (white backlight)

 

Proxmox Server (Veda): Ryzen 7 3800XT | ASRock Rack X470D4U | Corsair H80i v2 | 128GB Micron DDR4 ECC 3200MT/s | 2× Samsung PM963a 960GB SSD / 4× WD 10TB / 4× Seagate 14TB Exos / 4× Micron MX500 2TB / 8× WD 12TB (custom external SAS enclosure) | Seasonic Prime Fanless 500W | Intel X550-T2 10G NIC | LSI 9300-8i HBA | Adaptec 82885T SAS Expander | Fractal Design Node 804 Case

 

Proxmox Server (La Vie en Rose): GMKtec Mini PC | Ryzen 7 5700U | 32GB Lexar DDR4 (SODIMM) | Vega II 512SP Graphics | Lexar 1TB 610 Pro SSD | 2× Realtek 8125 2.5G NICs


Media Center/Video Capture (Jesta Cannon): Ryzen 5 1600X | ASRock B450M Pro4 R2.0 | Noctua NH-L12S | 16GB Crucial DDR4 3200MT/s | EVGA GTX750Ti SC | UMIS NVMe SSD 256GB / TEAMGROUP MS30 1TB | Corsair CX450M | Viewcast Osprey 260e Video Capture | TrendNet (AQC107) 10G NIC | LG WH14NS40 BD-ROM | Silverstone Sugo SG-11 Case | Sony XR65A80K

 

Workbench (Doven Wolf): Lenovo m715q | Ryzen Pro 3 2200GE | 16GB Crucial DDR4 3200MT/s (SODIMM) | Vega 8 Graphics | SKHynix (OEM) 256GB NVMe SSD | uni 2.5G USB NIC | HDMI add-in module

 

Network:

Spoiler 
                       ┌─────────────── Office/Rack ───────────────────────────────────────────────┐
Google Fiber Webpass ── Cloud Gateway Max ══╦═ Pro XG 8 ══╦═ Flex 2.5-8 ══╦═ Doven Wolf
                      La Vie en Rose (DNS) ═╬═ Narrative  ╠═ Veda-NAS     ╠═ La Vie en Rose (vmbr)
                                Veda (DNS) ─┘             ╠═ Veda (vmbr)  ├─ Ptolemy (vmbr)
╔═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╩═ Ptolemy-NAS  ├─ Veda (Mgmt)
║   ┌ Closet ┐      ┌───────── Bedroom ─────────┐                         └─ Veda (IPMI)
╚═══ Flex XG ══╦╤═══ Flex XG ══╤╦═ Byarlant
       (PoE)   ║│              │╠═ Narrative 
Kitchen Jack ══╣└─ Dual PoE ┐  │╚═ Jesta Cannon*
   (Testing)   ║┌─ Injector ┘  └── Work Laptop
     Bedroom ══╝│        ┌─────── Media Center ────────────────────────────┐
     Jack #2    └──────── Switch 8 ────────────┬─ nanoHD Access Point (PoE)
Notes:                                         ├─ Sony PlayStation 4 
─── is Gigabit / ═══ is Multi-Gigabit          ├─ Pioneer VSX-S520
* = cable passed from Bedroom to Media Center  └─ Sony XR65A80K (Google TV)
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59 minutes ago, AbydosOne said:

No, it's not risky; don't spread FUD. I've cloned a computer twice in the space of a couple weeks (256GB > 512GB > 1TB, as I was figuring out what I wanted) and it worked fine. I've also gone from larger HDD to smaller SSD; you just need to have the right tools.

What are the right tools? I figured Macrium Reflect

i5 12600KF | Zotac RTX 4080 Gaming trinity | Team Vulcan 2x16GB DDR4 3600 | ASRock Z690M-ITX/ac | WD Black SN850x 2TB

Cooler Master NR200P v2 | ID Cooling Zoomflow 280 XT | SeaSonic Focus SGX-750 | Thermalright 2x140mm + 2x120mm aRGB

LG C2 OLED 48" 120hz | Epomaker TH80 (Gateron Yellow) | Logitech MX Master 3 | Koss Porta Pro Comm

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11 minutes ago, soundlogic said:

What are the right tools? I figured Macrium Reflect

That's where my answer gets a little weird: I have an old version (11.x, newest is 12.x) of Minitool Partition Wizard in which cloning is free; newer versions have paywalled it, but they can't stop you from installing the old version if you can find the EXE (available at old version archive sites). It seems a lot of the partitioning/cloning tools became paywalled recently (when I was working on the laptop, I probably went through about two or three before I remembered my old PW11 installer).

Main System (Byarlant): Ryzen 9 5950X | Asus B550-Creator ProArt | EK 240mm Basic AIO | 32GB G.Skill DDR4 3600MT/s CL16 | XFX Speedster SWFT 210 RX 6600 | Samsung 990 PRO 2TB / Samsung 990 EVO Plus 4TB | Corsair RM750X | StarTech 4× USB 3.0 Card | Realtek RTL8127 10G NIC | Hyte Y60 Case | Dell U3415W Monitor | Keychron K12 Blue (RGB backlight)

 

Laptop (Narrative): Lenovo Flex 5 81X20005US | Ryzen 5 4500U | 16GB DDR4 3200MT/s (soldered) | Vega II 384SP Graphics | SKHynix P31 1TB NVMe SSD | Intel AX200 Wifi | Asus 2.5G USB NIC | Asus ProArt PA278QV | Keychron K4 Brown (white backlight)

 

Proxmox Server (Veda): Ryzen 7 3800XT | ASRock Rack X470D4U | Corsair H80i v2 | 128GB Micron DDR4 ECC 3200MT/s | 2× Samsung PM963a 960GB SSD / 4× WD 10TB / 4× Seagate 14TB Exos / 4× Micron MX500 2TB / 8× WD 12TB (custom external SAS enclosure) | Seasonic Prime Fanless 500W | Intel X550-T2 10G NIC | LSI 9300-8i HBA | Adaptec 82885T SAS Expander | Fractal Design Node 804 Case

 

Proxmox Server (La Vie en Rose): GMKtec Mini PC | Ryzen 7 5700U | 32GB Lexar DDR4 (SODIMM) | Vega II 512SP Graphics | Lexar 1TB 610 Pro SSD | 2× Realtek 8125 2.5G NICs


Media Center/Video Capture (Jesta Cannon): Ryzen 5 1600X | ASRock B450M Pro4 R2.0 | Noctua NH-L12S | 16GB Crucial DDR4 3200MT/s | EVGA GTX750Ti SC | UMIS NVMe SSD 256GB / TEAMGROUP MS30 1TB | Corsair CX450M | Viewcast Osprey 260e Video Capture | TrendNet (AQC107) 10G NIC | LG WH14NS40 BD-ROM | Silverstone Sugo SG-11 Case | Sony XR65A80K

 

Workbench (Doven Wolf): Lenovo m715q | Ryzen Pro 3 2200GE | 16GB Crucial DDR4 3200MT/s (SODIMM) | Vega 8 Graphics | SKHynix (OEM) 256GB NVMe SSD | uni 2.5G USB NIC | HDMI add-in module

 

Network:

Spoiler 
                       ┌─────────────── Office/Rack ───────────────────────────────────────────────┐
Google Fiber Webpass ── Cloud Gateway Max ══╦═ Pro XG 8 ══╦═ Flex 2.5-8 ══╦═ Doven Wolf
                      La Vie en Rose (DNS) ═╬═ Narrative  ╠═ Veda-NAS     ╠═ La Vie en Rose (vmbr)
                                Veda (DNS) ─┘             ╠═ Veda (vmbr)  ├─ Ptolemy (vmbr)
╔═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╩═ Ptolemy-NAS  ├─ Veda (Mgmt)
║   ┌ Closet ┐      ┌───────── Bedroom ─────────┐                         └─ Veda (IPMI)
╚═══ Flex XG ══╦╤═══ Flex XG ══╤╦═ Byarlant
       (PoE)   ║│              │╠═ Narrative 
Kitchen Jack ══╣└─ Dual PoE ┐  │╚═ Jesta Cannon*
   (Testing)   ║┌─ Injector ┘  └── Work Laptop
     Bedroom ══╝│        ┌─────── Media Center ────────────────────────────┐
     Jack #2    └──────── Switch 8 ────────────┬─ nanoHD Access Point (PoE)
Notes:                                         ├─ Sony PlayStation 4 
─── is Gigabit / ═══ is Multi-Gigabit          ├─ Pioneer VSX-S520
* = cable passed from Bedroom to Media Center  └─ Sony XR65A80K (Google TV)
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Use Macrium Reflect Free. Its, uh, free and its a high profile product with a good rep.

 

If its windows you can literally clone to the new drive online from Windows after the new drive is installed. 

 

Soundlogic is totally correct about FUD. Ive cloned thousands of systems and migrated countless servers from disc to SSD. All cloning tools for Windows use the same volume shadow copy service and its incredibly reliable.

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I've used AOMEI Backupper, without any problems, to clone the primary (OS) drive.

Acer Predator Helios 300 – Model #PH315-53-764Q — CPU-Z

  • Keyboard — Corsair K57 RGB Wireless Gaming Keyboard – Model #RGP0085
  • Memory (RAM) — 64GB Kingston FURY Impact – Part #KF432S20IBK2/64
  • Mouse — Corsair Ironclaw RGB Wireless Gaming Mouse – Model #RGP0052
  • Operating System — Windows 11 Professional (64-bit)
  • Stand — TopMate C11 Gaming Cooler
  • Storage (HDD, SSD)
    • 1× 4TB Samsung 870 EVO – Model #MZ-77E4T0B/AM
    • 2× 2TB Samsung 970 EVO Plus – Model #MZ-V7S2T0/AM

Anda Seat Kaiser Series Premium Gaming Chair – Kaiser II – Model #AD12XL-02-AB-PV/C-A02

Epson EcoTank – Model #ET-2800

Samsung 7.1.2 Soundbar – Model #HW-Q900A/ZC

Samsung Galaxy Watch5 Pro – Model #SM-R925F

Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra – Model #SM-S918W

TP-Link Archer AX11000 MU-MIMO Tri-Band Gaming Router

  • 4× TP-Link 16-Port Gigabit Easy Smart Switch with 8-Port PoE+ – Model #TL-SG1016PE
    Noctua 40x20mm Premium Fan – Model #NF-A4x20 FLX
  • TP-Link 28-Port Gigabit Easy Smart Switch with 24-Port PoE+ – Model #TL-SG1428PE
  • TP-Link AC1200 Wi-Fi Range Extender – Model #RE305
  • 3× TP-Link AX3000 Indoor/Outdoor WiFi 6 Access Point – Model #EAP650-Outdoor
  • 2× TP-Link AX3000 Mesh WiFi 6 Extender – Model #RE705X
  • 6× TP-Link AX3600 Wireless Dual Band Multi-Gigabit Ceiling Mount Access Point – Model #EAP660 HD
  • TP-Link Omada Hardware Controller – Model #OC300
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