Question Affordable drive clone enclosure for these 2 drives

[IrongateJim]

Can someone point me to a drive clone enclosure for these drives? The one I need to replace is in a Dell Inspiron and is labeled "pm991 nvme 128gb".
The new replacement is a "DATO DP330SSD-1TB". I wish I could post images of the two here but I guess that's not possible directly from my PC (don't have a link to a photo host).

I just want to find an affordable drive cloning enclosure that will let me clone the 128 gb to the new 1 tb and it's a bit confusing to me. Just want to know that the enclosure will work with these two drives. I appreciate any advice.

 

[rgd1101]

what is affordable ?

 

[Lafong]

I'd think you have lots of choices around 20 dollars or so. For instance:

https://www.amazon.com/Sabrent-Type...fb6-bb3b-e318e537e87c&pd_rd_i=B08RVC6F9Y&th=1

I use this one, but it is not currently in stock:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07TJT6W8K?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_fed_asin_title

 

[IrongateJim]

what is affordable ?

Well forget price, then (lol) I just need to be sure that the enclosure will handle these small form factor drives to do the clone.

 

[USAFRet]

Can someone point me to a drive clone enclosure for these drives? The one I need to replace is in a Dell Inspiron and is labeled "pm991 nvme 128gb".
The new replacement is a "DATO DP330SSD-1TB". I wish I could post images of the two here but I guess that's not possible directly from my PC (don't have a link to a photo host).

I just want to find an affordable drive cloning enclosure that will let me clone the 128 gb to the new 1 tb and it's a bit confusing to me. Just want to know that the enclosure will work with these two drives. I appreciate any advice.

Why an enclosure?

There are multiple ways of doing it without one.

 

[IrongateJim]

Why an enclosure?

There are multiple ways of doing it without one.

Can you answer a few questions then as I'm not all that savvy with this stuff. I have a Sabrent USB 2.0 to SATA/IDE hard drive adapter, I attached a spare SATA drive to it and then used cloning software to clone the Dell drive to it. So I gather that I can clone back to a new m.2 drive but what would the steps be? I can remove the existing m.2, insert the new one in the m.2 slot but I'm not sure what to do next. I assume I have to boot from

I'd think you have lots of choices around 20 dollars or so. For instance:

https://www.amazon.com/Sabrent-Type...fb6-bb3b-e318e537e87c&pd_rd_i=B08RVC6F9Y&th=1

I use this one, but it is not currently in stock:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07TJT6W8K?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_fed_asin_title

Do they work with the short form factor drives such as m.2 2230? The pics all show the longer m.2 drives.

 

[USAFRet]

Does your motherboard have 2 M.2 ports?

If not, do you have some external drive, with at least 200GB free space?

 

[Lafong]

Can you answer a few questions then as I'm not all that savvy with this stuff. I have a Sabrent USB 2.0 to SATA/IDE hard drive adapter, I attached a spare SATA drive to it and then used cloning software to clone the Dell drive to it. So I gather that I can clone back to a new m.2 drive but what would the steps be? I can remove the existing m.2, insert the new one in the m.2 slot but I'm not sure what to do next. I assume I have to boot from

Do they work with the short form factor drives such as m.2 2230? The pics all show the longer m.2 drives.

You'd have to dig into the specs to answer that. I'm not sure.

Do you know for a FACT that your current clone was successful and will boot at all?

Imaging may have been a better strategy.

 

[IrongateJim]

You'd have to dig into the specs to answer that. I'm not sure.

Do you know for a FACT that your current clone was successful and will boot at all?

Imaging may have been a better strategy.

Yes, I attached the SATA drive to another machine and I see the successful cloning on there. When I attached the Sabrent and this SATA drive to the Dell and hit boot options (F12), it does not show it as a choice to boot from. I'm kind of in over my head and it was at this point that wanted to just find an external cloning device.

 

[USAFRet]

Yes, I attached the SATA drive to another machine and I see the successful cloning on there. When I attached the Sabrent and this SATA drive to the Dell and hit boot options (F12), it does not show it as a choice to boot from. I'm kind of in over my head and it was at this point that wanted to just find an external cloning device.

Your system will not natively boot from an external drive.
Yes, even a 100% perfect clone of your original will fail.

 

[IrongateJim]

Does your motherboard have 2 M.2 ports?

If not, do you have some external drive, with at least 200GB free space?

No, it doesn't...only the one. And yes, as I had mentioned, I connected a spare 640 gb SATA drive to the Dell via the Sabrent USB 2 to SATA/IDE adapter. I ran cloning software, it saw both drives and did a successful clone. That's where I'm stalled.

 

[USAFRet]

No, it doesn't...only the one. And yes, as I had mentioned, I connected a spare 640 gb SATA drive to the Dell via the Sabrent USB 2 to SATA/IDE adapter. I ran cloning software, it saw both drives and did a successful clone. That's where I'm stalled.

OK.....

What you should have done, and should do now is....an Image.

Just like this:

1x m.2 slot with an Image

Assuming you have another drive (any type of drive) with sufficient free space to hold the entirety of your current m.2 drive:

1. Download and install Macrium Reflect
2. Run that, and create a Rescue CD or USB (you'll use this later). "Other Tasks". Create this on a small USB flash drive or DVD.
3. In the Macrium client, create an Image to some other drive. External USB HDD, maybe. Select all partitions. This results in a file of xxxx.mrimage
4. When done, power OFF.
5. Swap the 2 drives
6. Boot up from the Rescue USB you created earlier.
7. Restore (on the toolbar), and tell it where the Image is that you created in step 3, and which drive to apply it to...the new m.2
8. Go, and wait until it finishes.
9. That's all...this should work.

 

[IrongateJim]

Your system will not natively boot from an external drive.
Yes, even a 100% perfect clone of your original will fail.

OK, so that's why I'm looking for an external cloning station because I only have the one m.2 slot.

 

[IrongateJim]

OK.....

What you should have done, and should do now is....an Image.

Just like this:

1x m.2 slot with an Image

Assuming you have another drive (any type of drive) with sufficient free space to hold the entirety of your current m.2 drive:

1. Download and install Macrium Reflect
2. Run that, and create a Rescue CD or USB (you'll use this later). "Other Tasks". Create this on a small USB flash drive or DVD.
3. In the Macrium client, create an Image to some other drive. External USB HDD, maybe. Select all partitions. This results in a file of xxxx.mrimage
4. When done, power OFF.
5. Swap the 2 drives
6. Boot up from the Rescue USB you created earlier.
7. Restore (on the toolbar), and tell it where the Image is that you created in step 3, and which drive to apply it to...the new m.2
8. Go, and wait until it finishes.
9. That's all...this should work.

Wow. Thanks for this. I'll give it a shot and check back. Thank you for taking the time to help.