Question Advice needed: Moving C: partition to new drive.

[Mugsy]

I'm pretty sure I can do this, though I'm wary of pitfalls. I could use some guidance from someone who's actually done it.

I bought a new faster Gen4 M.2 drive. I currently boot from an older/smaller Gen3 M.2 drive.

I need to move my C: partition to the new drive, but I don't want to remove the old drive.

I have software that will backup & restore the Boot partition (launched from a USB flash drive at boot), but after I backup the old C: partition then restore it to the new drive, I'll have TWO boot partitions masquerading as C:.

I assume at this point I simply tell BIOS to boot from the NEW C: partition, and if successful, I can simply delete the OLD C: partition.

But you know what they say about "assuming". Any pitfalls I should be aware of? TIA

 

[USAFRet]

Details needed:

What is the old drive, and the new drive?
What Motherboard?
What OS?


"I assume..."
No.
Cloning is a possibility, but it has to be done properly.

Specific details and steps to follow.

 

[jeremyj_83]

The easiest way to do this is to clone the drive. I've always used Macrium Reflect for this. https://www.macrium.com/blog/cloning-a-disk-with-macrium-reflect-v8

After you have cloned the drive you go into the BIOS and choose the new drive for booting.

 

[USAFRet]

After you have cloned the drive you go into the BIOS and choose the new drive for booting.

Actually, that is not optimal.

When the clone process is complete, power off, physically disconnect the old drive, and allow the system to try to boot up from only the new.

 

[Mugsy]

Details needed:

What is the old drive, and the new drive?
What Motherboard?
What OS?


"I assume..."
No.
Cloning is a possibility, but it has to be done properly.

Specific details and steps to follow.

Thx for the reply.

I avoided mentioning hardware specifics b/c I didn't want to get bogged down in the weeds. But if it matters:

The old drive is a 500MB Evo 970, but the C: partition is only 120GB.

The new drive is a 2TB Silicon Power MP44Q.

Motherboard is an Asus Tuf-Gaming X570 with overclocked Ryzen 7 5800X running Win11 Pro.

My cloning software is "EaseUS Todo Backup". I've used to backup & restore my C: partition to the same drive, so I know it works for this purpose.

I really don't want to physically disconnect the old drive. Too much of a hassle (plus an opportunity to do damage.) The MoBo has a second/unused M2 slot, so I can add the new drive w/o disconnecting the old one (making backup/restore easier.)

 

[USAFRet]

I really don't want to physically disconnect the old drive.

That is not optional.


-----------------------------
Specific steps for a successful clone operation:
-----------------------------
Verify the actual used space on the current drive is significantly below the size of the new SSD
Both drives must be the same partitioning scheme, either MBR or GPT
Download and install Macrium Reflect (or Samsung Magician (which includes Data Migration), if a Samsung target SSD)
If you are cloning from a SATA drive to PCIe/NVMe, you may need to install the relevant driver for this new NVMe/PCIe drive.
Power off
Disconnect ALL drives except the current C and the new SSD
Power up

Verify the system boots with ONLY the current "C drive" connected.
If not, we have to fix that first.

Run the Macrium Reflect (or Samsung Data Migration)
Select ALL the partitions on the existing C drive

[Ignore this section if using the SDM. It does this automatically]
If you are going from a smaller drive to a larger, by default, the target partition size will be the same as the Source. You probably don't want that
You can manipulate the size of the partitions on the target (larger)drive
Click on "Cloned Partition Properties", and you can specify the resulting partition size, to even include the whole thing
[/end ignore]

Click the 'Clone' button
Wait until it is done
When it finishes, power off
Disconnect ALL drives except for the new SSD. This is not optional.
This is to allow the system to try to boot from ONLY the SSD

(swapping cables is irrelevant with NVMe drives, but DO disconnect the old drive for this next part)
Swap the SATA cables around so that the new drive is connected to the same SATA port as the old drive
Power up, and verify the BIOS boot order
If good, continue the power up

It should boot from the new drive, just like the old drive.
Maybe reboot a time or two, just to make sure.

If it works, and it should, all is good.

Later, reconnect the old drive and wipe all partitions on it.
This will probably require the commandline diskpart function, and the clean command.

Ask questions if anything is unclear.
-----------------------------

 

[Mugsy]

That is not optional.


-----------------------------
Specific steps for a successful clone operation:
-----------------------------
Verify the actual used space on the current drive is significantly below the size of the new SSD
Both drives must be the same partitioning scheme, either MBR or GPT
Download and install Macrium Reflect (or Samsung Magician (which includes Data Migration), if a Samsung target SSD)
If you are cloning from a SATA drive to PCIe/NVMe, you may need to install the relevant driver for this new NVMe/PCIe drive.
Power off
Disconnect ALL drives except the current C and the new SSD
Power up

Verify the system boots with ONLY the current "C drive" connected.
If not, we have to fix that first.

Run the Macrium Reflect (or Samsung Data Migration)
Select ALL the partitions on the existing C drive

[Ignore this section if using the SDM. It does this automatically]
If you are going from a smaller drive to a larger, by default, the target partition size will be the same as the Source. You probably don't want that
You can manipulate the size of the partitions on the target (larger)drive
Click on "Cloned Partition Properties", and you can specify the resulting partition size, to even include the whole thing
[/end ignore]

Click the 'Clone' button
Wait until it is done
When it finishes, power off
Disconnect ALL drives except for the new SSD. This is not optional.
This is to allow the system to try to boot from ONLY the SSD

(swapping cables is irrelevant with NVMe drives, but DO disconnect the old drive for this next part)
Swap the SATA cables around so that the new drive is connected to the same SATA port as the old drive
Power up, and verify the BIOS boot order
If good, continue the power up

It should boot from the new drive, just like the old drive.
Maybe reboot a time or two, just to make sure.

If it works, and it should, all is good.

Later, reconnect the old drive and wipe all partitions on it.
This will probably require the commandline diskpart function, and the clean command.

Ask questions if anything is unclear.
-----------------------------

Noted earlier. Source partition is only 120GB. Destination drive is 2TB.

 

[USAFRet]

Noted earlier. Source partition is only 120GB. Destination drive is 2TB.

In the above steps, the middle section specifically addresses this configuration.

 

[Misgar]

Source partition is only 120GB. Destination drive is 2TB.

I've not used Todo but most cloning software gives you the option (if you dive into the sub-menus) to re-size the C: drive, e.g.:

1).You could keep the C: drive at 120GB, leaving the remainder of the 2TB unused.

2).You could use the entire 2TB as the C: drive (apart from a few small hidden partitions).

3). You could specify a new size for drive C:, in Todo, anywhere between 120GB and 2TB. Any free space left over on the 2TB drive could be then configured as logical drive D:, E; F:, etc.

The choice is yours.

You could even keep the old 120GB connected up inside the machine (if this is practical) for use as an emergency spare boot drive, in case the new 2TB cloned drive becomes corrupted for any reason.

I keep a backup SSD in many of my systems, for just such an eventuality. If the main drive fails, I dive into the BIOS, change the boot order and reboot into the spare drive. I can then fix the main drive when I have time.

 

[Mugsy]

I've not used Todo but most cloning software gives you the option (if you dive into the sub-menus) to re-size the C: drive, e.g.:

1).You could keep the C: drive at 120GB, leaving the remainder of the 2TB unused.

Yes, this is what I plan to do.

I keep my C: drive as small as possible for the smallest possible backup (which I do on the first of every month.) ToDo allows you to backup/restore any size drive/partition to any other size drive/partition (data permitting.) A nice feature.

 

[SkyNetRising]

I really don't want to physically disconnect the old drive. Too much of a hassle (plus an opportunity to do damage.)

That is not optional.

This step is not optional because this messes up drive letter assignments,
when you try to boot from new clone drive with old drive still connected.

Drive letter C: can be assigned to a single partition only - on old drive.
Partition on new drive gets drive letter conflict and gets assigned next available drive letter.
New drive letter assignment gets propagated throughout all registry.
But in the end this all is useless, because windows will not be able to be loaded from a drive with different drive letter this way.
New cloned drive gets messed up and you have to redo cloning.

 

[Mugsy]

This step is not optional because this messes up drive letter assignments,
when you try to boot from new clone drive with old drive still connected.

Thx. That's the kind of insight I was looking for.