Clone SSDs?

[Mauricio G. B.]

So, i recently got an M.2 NVME SSD 256gb, and i plan on installing  windows there, but since im very lazy i only want to migrate/clone or whatever from my old sata SSD into the new one, thing is, i dont reall know how
Both are 256gb so i dont think there should be a problem, any help on this?

[Tsuki]

when i got my m.2 i used a program called "MiniTool Partition Wizard" to clone my ssd over. my drives were actualyl different capacities but i didnt have any issues.

there is any number of programs you could use and they will all be fine.

 

the biggest thing to remember, is that when you reboot and choose the new drive to boot from, UNPLUG YOUR OLD BOOT DRIVE FIRST.

if you dont, itll tell you that it cant find the boot partition.   once its booted to the new drive, plug the old one in and wipe it.

[Mauricio G. B.]

Just now, Tsuki said:

when i got my m.2 i used a program called "MiniTool Partition Wizard" to clone my ssd over. my drives were actualyl different capacities but i didnt have any issues.

there is any number of programs you could use and they will all be fine.

 

the biggest thing to remember, is that when you reboot and choose the new drive to boot from, UNPLUG YOUR OLD BOOT DRIVE FIRST.

if you dont, itll tell you that it cant find the boot partition.   once its booted to the new drive, plug the old one in and wipe it.

Thanks ill give it a shot, mostly because i want to use the SATA SSD on my laptop

[Enderman]

There are plenty of issues that will happen if you clone/migrate, just go to google and look at the thousands of problems people get after doing so.

Unless you want to have to clean install windows a few months from now because your OS is broken, you should do a clean install right now and save yourself headaches in the long run.

It is not hard, don't be lazy and do things the proper way.

https://www.howtogeek.com/224342/how-to-clean-install-windows-10/

[rtpb5642]

8 minutes ago, Enderman said:

There are plenty of issues that will happen if you clone/migrate, just go to google and look at the thousands of problems people get after doing so.

Unless you want to have to clean install windows a few months from now because your OS is broken, you should do a clean install right now and save yourself headaches in the long run.

It is not hard, don't be lazy and do things the proper way.

https://www.howtogeek.com/224342/how-to-clean-install-windows-10/

im running off the clone i did from my first SSD in 2013(On my FX8350) , which i cloned to a RAID 0 SSD array in 2015 (which is when i moved to an i5 4670k) then cloned that to the single 250GB SSD i am using now with my i7 4790k, no issues so far! But i totally agree... i just got lucky. Although windows took about 25 minutes to "find new devices and drivers" at boot when i put the drive into my i5 system coming from the 8350

 

EDIT: I make an image of my SSD once a week which backs up to my HDD

[Enderman]

4 minutes ago, rtpb5642 said:

im running off the clone i did from my first SSD in 2013(On my FX8350) , which i cloned to a RAID 0 SSD array in 2015 (which is when i moved to an i5 4670k) then cloned that to the single 250GB SSD i am using now with my i7 4790k, no issues so far! But i totally agree... i just got lucky. Although windows took about 25 minutes to "find new devices and drivers" at boot when i put the drive into my i5 system coming from the 8350

 

EDIT: I make an image of my SSD once a week which backs up to my HDD

You probably think it's working fine, but in the background it is having plenty of problems which you can see through event viewer.

Also, with windows 10 it is very likely that updates will brick your PC or just not work if you've done something like clone or upgrade.

[Tsuki]

7 minutes ago, Enderman said:

There are plenty of issues that will happen if you clone/migrate, just go to google and look at the thousands of problems people get after doing so.

Unless you want to have to clean install windows a few months from now because your OS is broken, you should do a clean install right now and save yourself headaches in the long run.

It is not hard, don't be lazy and do things the proper way.

https://www.howtogeek.com/224342/how-to-clean-install-windows-10/

cloning is only a major problem when its going into a different machine, and you dont have a volume license. or if one of your drives is fucked anyways.

 

cloning copies everything bit for bit, including serial numbers, hardware ID's and everything. if you put it into a different computer with different hardware, then yes it will be a problem. but into the same computer, it wont be an issue.

 

when i did it, i plugged in my m.2, cloned my boot drive onto it, turn off the computer, unplugged the old drive, turn it on, went into the bios to make sure the m.2 was selected as the primary boot device, went into windows and had no issues whatsoever. no new drivers, no new devices needed. plugged the old drive back in while the system was on, and wiped it.

 

as long as both drives are in perfect condition (no bad sectors), and its going into the same exact machine, then cloning is perfectly fine.

[Enderman]

1 minute ago, Tsuki said:

as long as both drives are in perfect condition (no bad sectors), and its going into the same exact machine, then cloning is perfectly fine.

Nope, there will almost always be issues in the background that will cause problems in the future.

Stuff like updates not installing, programs needing to be reinstalled to work correctly, bsods, drivers failing to update, etc etc etc

I've seen thousands of posts on this forum of problems that happen after cloning, even if it's on the same hardware.

Even WD recommends against cloning, especially from an HDD to an SSD.

[ARikozuM]

Here we go with the "cloning is bad"...

 

I would look into Macrium Reflect or MiniTool. I would also run a chkdsk to find the health of the drive alongside SMART data.

[Tsuki]

2 minutes ago, Enderman said:

Nope, there will almost always be issues in the background that will cause problems in the future.

Stuff like updates not installing, programs needing to be reinstalled to work correctly, bsods, drivers failing to update, etc etc etc

I've seen thousands of posts on this forum of problems that happen after cloning, even if it's on the same hardware.

Even WD recommends against cloning, especially from an HDD to an SSD.

i agree that a clean install is ideal, and much more highly recommended. and going between hdd and ssd is a bad idea.

But 95% of clone problems that ive seen, is where at least one of the drives has bad sectors to begin with.

yea shit can still happen, but ive never personally experienced it(with known good and tested drives) and ive cloned dozens of drives

[Mauricio G. B.]

i always do a clean install, i was just feeling lazy, if i have to do it later, eh it wouldnt be an issue, as i speak i just done it and everything feels like normal, even the fucking dual boot windows image bullshit shows up just like in the older drive, and yes i think the same as tsuki

11 minutes ago, Tsuki said:

i agree that a clean install is ideal, and much more highly recommended. and going between hdd and ssd is a bad idea.

But 95% of clone problems that ive seen, is where at least one of the drives has bad sectors to begin with.

yea shit can still happen, but ive never personally experienced it(with known good and tested drives) and ive cloned dozens of drives

if both drives are in perfect health there shouldnt be an issue, and its the same machine same hardware same everything