Question Best and safest way to clone C drive to a larger drive ?

[i6pwr]

Currently using the stock 512GB NVMe in our Legion 5, and want to upgrade to a 970 EVO Plus, making the 970 the new C drive.

Can this be done using a NVMe to USB adapter, or should I clone internally?

I've never done this with a NVMe drive, all input appreciated.

 

[Lafong]

I have no idea what a "Legion 5" is.

I assume it is a laptop of some type?

Does it have TWO internal NVMe-compatible drive ports?

Do you have any external storage capability at all, excluding these 2 NVMe drives entirely? Possibly an ordinary HDD. If yes, how much free space is available on it?

You mention a "stock 512GB NVMe". What is the total occupied space on it as of right now?

What is the total capacity of the 970 Plus?

Is there anything currently on the 970 Plus that you need to keep?

 

[DanielCalota]

Currently using the stock 512GB NVMe in our Legion 5, and want to upgrade to a 970 EVO Plus, making the 970 the new C drive.

Can this be done using a NVMe to USB adapter, or should I clone internally?

I've never done this with a NVMe drive, all input appreciated.

Hi , if you want to change HDD with a bigger one , you can clone old HDD and I recommend to use Acronis https://www.acronis.com/en-us/products/true-image/cloning/, it is very easy to use and intuitive , after the clone you can take out old HDD and put the new one , if u have space internally for 2 HDD it will be easy to clone if not you can connect HDD on USB rack and if the program will recognize HDD you can make the clone .

 

[USAFRet]

Currently using the stock 512GB NVMe in our Legion 5, and want to upgrade to a 970 EVO Plus, making the 970 the new C drive.

Can this be done using a NVMe to USB adapter, or should I clone internally?

I've never done this with a NVMe drive, all input appreciated.

-----------------------------
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 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.
-----------------------------

 

[USAFRet]

If you only have one M.2 port, 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.

 

[geofelt]

Here is a video of the hardware change involved.
It would appear that there are two m.2 ssd slots available.
The simplest way to handle it would be to use the samsung ssd migration app.
App and instructions here:

Tool & Software Download | Samsung Semiconductor Global

Download various software related to your product, including Samsung Magician, designed for use with Samsung's memory products, and find related information.

semiconductor.samsung.com

Protect whatever you value on the laptop first.

Install the new ssd in the laptop and run the app.
When done, remove the old m.2 and replace it with the newly created C drive.

If you have some problems, the original m.2 will be unchanged.

As an alternative, you should be able to run the app to a usb connected m.2 adapter.
The potential problem is that the adapter may not properly identify the device as a samsung ssd.

I like the samsung utility since it is a logical C drive mover, not a clone which is a bit for bit copy.

You can also do this with macrium reflect. I find that a bit more complicated when extending space.

 

[i6pwr]

I have no idea what a "Legion 5" is.

I assume it is a laptop of some type?

Does it have TWO internal NVMe-compatible drive ports?

Do you have any external storage capability at all, excluding these 2 NVMe drives entirely? Possibly an ordinary HDD. If yes, how much free space is available on it?

You mention a "stock 512GB NVMe". What is the total occupied space on it as of right now?

What is the total capacity of the 970 Plus?

Is there anything currently on the 970 Plus that you need to keep?

Sorry, Lenovo Legion 5

Has two NVMe slots
Stock HD is NVMe, 512GB with about 20GB remaining.

970 is a 2TB and is new

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

We have a few external drives with sufficient capacity.

Protect whatever you value on the laptop first

We will for sure.

I've cloned a few SATA SSD drives but not a NVMe.

 

[Lafong]

Shouldn't be a problem.

512 GB NVMe has about 450 GB used; an image file of that would be somewhere near 250 to 300 gb.

Make an image file of the 512 GB drive with Macrium. Ensure this file includes ALL partitions seen on the 512.

Save it on an external with enough capacity to hold a 250 to 300 gb file.

Shut down, remove 512 NVMe; install 2 TB NVMe.

Boot from Macrium "recovery media" USB stick.

That will load the Macrium interface.

Restore the image file you just made from the external to the 2 TB NVMe.

That's what I'd do.

Or you could use cloning in Macrium. I'd think you could install the second NVMe and just clone direct from internal 512 to internal 2 TB without any adapter.

Either way leads to the same result: bootable 2 TB NVMe replica of the 512 GB NVMe.

Cloning or imaging an NVMe is same procedure as if drives were SATA. I'm not aware of any special requirements as long as both internal ports are NVMe-compatible.