SSD OS Migration

[Upgrayedd]

I have an old 120GB SATA3 SSD that's had Win10 for a few years. I'd like to migrate that OS to a different branded, newer and larger M.2 drive.

Going from a Kingston 2.5in 120gb to an Inland M.2 1TB.

What's the best way to migrate this image? I'm not sure exactly how to do it and I'm also a bit worried about changing vendors and interfaces messing with the image.

Is there a built in windows tool that would be best? I'd rather not have to download some software for this. I feel like Win10 should be able to do it.

 

[Random Dog]

I don't think there are any built-in tools for this. To be honest, I'd always recommend a fresh install of Windows whenever you swap your drive to a new one. You could always keep your old drive plugged in to access your data whenever you need it. Or you could decide what data you need and only transfer that to the new drive.

 

[ThrashZone]

Hi,
You should be backing up with system images so just use the winpe recovery flash media and restore one to the m.2 drive.
This is an oldie but still a goodie

If you don't like videos here's a tutorial

Backup and Restore with Macrium Reflect

How to Create and Restore a System Image Backup with Macrium Reflect

www.tenforums.com

 

[Kursah]

Macrium reflect works well for this, can do it with the free version. I know there's the Samsung Migration tool too if you go that route.

 

[Norton]

I swapped mine by picking up a Sabrent external nvme enclosure then cloned the old drive with Acronis. Sabrent drives and enclosures come with Acronis software and the cost is pretty reasonable.

 

[Psychoholic]

I have always been one to do a fresh install rather than migrating everything to a new drive.
BUT, i have used clonezilla in the past to do this for family members and friends.

 

[crazyeyesreaper]

Macrium Reflect free version will do the job, its a simple process takes maybe 6-7 clicks and let it run boom done. I have migrated probably 20-25 OS installs via Macrium Reflect with no issues. Even doing it to move from an older build to a new build (Intel 4770k to 12700K) etc etc.

 

[1freedude]

One more vote for Macrium. SK Hynix partners with Macrium. I used it when I went from 120GB m.2 SATA to 1TB m.2 NVMe. I was worried about cross platform issues, too. No problems, besides finding a decent enclosure for the 1TB P41 Platinum

 

[droid-I]

Had something with the drive partitions with Macrium on W10 when going from a smaller to a bigger drive, had to use some software, think it was AOMEI to sort it out.
Clonezilla was easy but was maybe the W7 ages so cannot say.

 

[ThrashZone]

Hi,
The only issues usually are MS adds 5-700+- mb system reserved partitions at the end of disks now days "When not if the original infront of C is to small and yes they are quickly to small lol"
So you have to extend the larger ssd's C partition after cloning or restoring a system image to gain more space
If you just want to partition the extra space it's as easy as creating a new partition so no sweat C stays the same size.

 

[Chrispy_]

I have always been one to do a fresh install rather than migrating everything to a new drive.
BUT, i have used clonezilla in the past to do this for family members and friends.

I used to love Clonezilla but migrated to Macrium because CZ was getting problematic for Modern windows features in the bootloader and GPT partitions.

Use a Windows-based tool like Macrium to move Windows-based disk images around. Clonezilla's Debian distro just doesn't do everything as well any more, and you need to really futz with the advanced command switches to get anything other than a string of intimidating Linux errors when dealing with volumes that use secure-boot, TPM, or encryption at all. If you're not familiar with Linux terminology or command line, then you're dumped on your ass by CZ with little guidance on where to go next. I'm using Linux weekly for servers and I still struggled to make sense of CZ errors when it choked on modern Windows volume features that Debian didn't handle automatically.

It's still great on Linux drives, but CZ's heyday as the fastest, easiest, smallest Windows imaging utility were half a decade ago IME.

 

[Psychoholic]

I used to love Clonezilla but migrated to Macrium because CZ was getting problematic for Modern windows features in the bootloader and GPT partitions.

Use a Windows-based tool like Macrium to move Windows-based disk images around. Clonezilla's Debian distro just doesn't do everything as well any more, and you need to really futz with the advanced command switches to get anything other than a string of intimidating Linux errors when dealing with volumes that use secure-boot, TPM, or encryption at all. If you're not familiar with Linux terminology or command line, then you're dumped on your ass by CZ with little guidance on where to go next. I'm using Linux weekly for servers and I still struggled to make sense of CZ errors when it choked on modern Windows volume features that Debian didn't handle automatically.

It's still great on Linux drives, but CZ's heyday as the fastest, easiest, smallest Windows imaging utility were half a decade ago IME.

Next time i have to migrate/clone a drive, i'll have to try out Macrium.

 

[thewan]

Macrium Reflect has been a workhorse and has worked very well for many people. However I would like to offer caution here.
Macrium Reflect is No Longer Free. It has been that way since end of last year. If you go to the website and try to download it, you will only be presented with a 30 day trial version with options to buy a license. There is no official way to download the free version from their site anymore. And while it supports the current Windows 11 22H2, there is no guaranteed compatibility with future windows installations. There are no more feature updates or bug fixes to the last free version. There will also be no more security updates after January 2024, which is not really that far away.

Macrium Product Support Policy

Macrium is pleased to offer three stages of product support. Stage 1: Current Support Stage 2: Extended Support Stage 3: Self-Service Support

www.macrium.com

Therefore here is my advice. If you like Macrium and use it regularly, please go and purchase a Home license from them. They make great software and Macrium is probably worth every penny for imaging, cloning/migration and backups.

The rest of us should find a new free alternative soon. There is a possibility that compatibility issues or bugs will cause your migration to fail in the future seeing as Microsoft seems to really like adding and changing stuff in Windows lately. Do not just immediately delete or format your drive after imaging or cloning. Always test them, at least for a few weeks to make sure you cloning is really sucessful before making space on that old SSD.

 

[ThrashZone]

Hi,
Yeah only item I use from reflect is the winpe recovery media which it prompts users to create soon after opening to download the winpe features = yes
All you need is a blank cd or 1gb flash drive to write the winpe onto then just boot to it.

The winpe flash media alone you can create a new or restore a system image which is all I need plus a hdd to store the system images onto.

The winpe recovery media doesn't do incremental or differential backups and some other features but I don't need that anyway so I'm done basically with the reflect app

 

[Chrispy_]

Macrium Reflect has been a workhorse and has worked very well for many people. However I would like to offer caution here.
Macrium Reflect is No Longer Free. It has been that way since end of last year. If you go to the website and try to download it, you will only be presented with a 30 day trial version with options to buy a license. There is no official way to download the free version from their site anymore. And while it supports the current Windows 11 22H2, there is no guaranteed compatibility with future windows installations. There are no more feature updates or bug fixes to the last free version. There will also be no more security updates after January 2024, which is not really that far away.

Macrium Product Support Policy

Macrium is pleased to offer three stages of product support. Stage 1: Current Support Stage 2: Extended Support Stage 3: Self-Service Support

www.macrium.com

Therefore here is my advice. If you like Macrium and use it regularly, please go and purchase a Home license from them. They make great software and Macrium is probably worth every penny for imaging, cloning/migration and backups.

The rest of us should find a new free alternative soon. There is a possibility that compatibility issues or bugs will cause your migration to fail in the future seeing as Microsoft seems to really like adding and changing stuff in Windows lately. Do not just immediately delete or format your drive after imaging or cloning. Always test them, at least for a few weeks to make sure you cloning is really sucessful before making space on that old SSD.

Ooof, that's a shame. I've been using Macrium Reflect Technician's license for the last few years and it was easy to recommend the personal/home version for free.

How does Acronis True Image stack up to Macrium? I've never used it but a bunch of cheap SSDs come with a free license so it can't be very expensive.

Edit:
Some Kingston and Crucial SSDs come with a cut-down version of Acronis.
Samsung SSDs come with their own cloning utility

 

[ThrashZone]

Ooof, that's a shame. I've been using Macrium Reflect Technician's license for the last few years and it was easy to recommend the personal/home version for free.

How does Acronis Trueimage stack up to Macrium? I've never used it but a bunch of cheap SSDs come with a free license so it can't be very expensive.

Hi,
Here's a comparison

Restore Comparisons using Macrium Easeus, Aoemei & Hasleo

I decided to systematic test restores of my pc using Macrium Reflect, Easeus Todo and Aomei Backupper (all paid versions) I was rather shocked by the some of the results. EDIT: I Have added Hasleo as well (free version) My PC OS drive setup 1) EFI 2) MSR 3) C Drive (OS + programs) 4) Recovery...

www.elevenforum.com

 

[Chrispy_]

Hi,
Here's a comparison

Restore Comparisons using Macrium Easeus, Aoemei & Hasleo

I decided to systematic test restores of my pc using Macrium Reflect, Easeus Todo and Aomei Backupper (all paid versions) I was rather shocked by the some of the results. EDIT: I Have added Hasleo as well (free version) My PC OS drive setup 1) EFI 2) MSR 3) C Drive (OS + programs) 4) Recovery...

www.elevenforum.com

LOL

"Acronis: No Comment"

I'm going to assume that's not a compliment!

 

[ThrashZone]

LOL

"Acronis: No Comment"

I'm going to assume that's not a compliment!

Hi,
Yeah I missed that part lol posted there to

 

[lemonadesoda]

Acronis Disk Director was a godsend back in the days of W2K3. As was Dameware Remote Control. However, people change, owners change, and new owners cash-in on old reputations and don't develop or keep up with the times. Indeed, their new programmers don't have the skills and insight of the old ones now long gone, and cannot keep up even if they wanted to. vB anyone?

 

[KLiKzg]

I have an old 120GB SATA3 SSD that's had Win10 for a few years. I'd like to migrate that OS to a different branded, newer and larger M.2 drive.

Going from a Kingston 2.5in 120gb to an Inland M.2 1TB.

What's the best way to migrate this image? I'm not sure exactly how to do it and I'm also a bit worried about changing vendors and interfaces messing with the image.

Is there a built in windows tool that would be best? I'd rather not have to download some software for this. I feel like Win10 should be able to do it.

Old SSD out, new M2 in the case to MBO/PCIe card.

Boot up to Hirens USB.

Move/copy image from outside to inside.

Boot up normally, just change settings in BIOS for M2 to be 1st boot.

& that is it. Easy.

 

[PLAfiller]

Macrium indeed is no longer free, but for a one time job I just downloaded the trail few days ago. Are you just moving from SATA SSD to M.2 SATA SSD or M.2 NVME drive? Because I cloned my SATA drive and was greeted with BSOD: Boot drive inaccessible (I've never had a NVME drive before). It turned out windows needs to load the NVME/raid driver. This guide helped me out. I only had to boot into safe mode and restart the machine and off we go.

 

[cvaldes]

I've used both Macrium Reflect and Acronis True Image to successfully clone Windows boot drives. It was quite a while ago however my recollection is that both tools were comparable in ease of use.

There are plenty of tutorials that cover this topic. It's not like people started cloning Windows boot drives a few months ago.

Here's one recent article:

How To Clone Your SSD or Hard Drive

Migrate your system to a faster drive using Clonezilla.

www.tomshardware.com

from a reputable tech news site. Internet search engines will find similar tutorials. Just use your best judgment and choose someone with experience. I tend to favor written instructions from a well known established media site versus some random dilettante on YouTube.

Best of luck.

 

[P4-630]

Clean install is the best option imo...

 

[silentbogo]

+1 for macrium reflect.
Started using it awhile ago, and even a freeware version fits my needs. The only issue I have with it, is that it will refuse to clone some damaged drives even if I tell it to ignore read errors. Other than that - perfect little tool for home use.

 

[RandomWan]

Macrium Reflect is great tool if you're just looking to image a drive over to another. You can also go the route of doing a fresh install, installing matching programs, and then migrate the profile using something like MigWiz. It'll carry over all of your profile files and most of your settings, assuming the programs you're using save those settings in the profile as opposed to the install folder. You'll likely need to export your browser bookmarks and saved passwords separately, but everything else is usually carried over.