[SOLVED] Clone advice? NVMe => Sata SSD

[gn842a]

I'd like to clone my M.2 NVMe 500 gig drive with Windows 10 on it to a 500 gig SATA ssd.

I'm wondering if that's going to be a problem.

The immediate reason for the clone is that I want to switch gpus from RX 590 to 1660 TI and I fear some kind of driver nightmare. If I have a clone of the OS at least I can get back to where I started.

In the long run, I think it's probably good to have a backup clone of the OS. If cloning from NVMe to SATA ssd is a problem I could clone NVMe => NVMe but it's more expensive and involves more fiddling around on the motherboard. I prefer to use SATA connections, I have kept extra wires in the build to make hooking up peripherals easy for the occasional test or whatever. Just hook the SSD up do the clone and stash it somewhere hoping not to have to use it.

Thank you,
Greg N

 

[CountMike]

Best to just make a full disk backup using let's say Macrium Reflect free https://www.macrium.com/reflectfree and keep on doing it whenever you change anything.

 

[USAFRet]

You want an Image, not a full clone.

A clone is good if you're actually changing drives now.
An Image is good for backups and long term storage.

And given sufficient drive space, you can store multiple Images on a single drive, unlike a clone.

Macrium Reflect is my go to tool for this.

 

[gn842a]

Well I read last night that if I were to have a clone on an external NVMe I would not be able to take it out of the external hardware and put it into the motherboard. I mean, you can do it but it won't work, because the external NVMe is apparently adapted in some way to the external drive that is not transferable. That was a rude shock.

As I recall, images can be restored from the external media to another storage device and in theory they work, though I find the idea somewhat confusing....

...so I took a break to read this article to freshen up on the difference. I did some experiments with disk imaging in more primitive times, I'd say the mid 00s, and they did not do what I wanted them to do when I finally had a system crash. One theory with the graybeards with whom I was working then was that the defect in the OS was being copied into the mirrors. Another theory was that there was some kind of imperfection in the process by which the restoration occurred across two drives. Either way, I put a lot of effot into it and it was a bust. This led me to the much simpler noob proof (maybe noob resistant) philosophy of preserving files not drives and just eating the cost of reinstalling software (if any) on a replacement drive. So I am out of date on imaging.

Since my build has two 500 gig NVMe's on the mobo I think I will clone the C drive to the D drive, remove the D drive, and put in another NVMe in the D drive's place to serve as storage. I will be out $120 but I gain the advantage of being able to say, if everything goes haywire, OK, we will physically remove this C drive and put a new one in.

I might experiment with Macrium images at a later point. There is an appeal to being able to restore a disk to the way that it was, as customized, rather than start afresh. But I think now it would consume a lot of time and add complexity when I have my hands full just getting stuff to work per specs. I used a simple cloned drive to get me out of a bad situation on my other computer just a few nights ago so I should go with a technique that I have a track record of making work.

Thank you for your replies, however. I don't think this Win 10 build will ever be as stable as my previous 8.1 builds and short of going back to 8.1 imaging is an option I'm going to need to consider.

Greg N

 

[USAFRet]

Once you set up a schedule in Macrium, Full and Incremental or Differential images take zero user time.

My main system has 7 drives. Each back up to an individual folder on the NAS box every night. Each on their own schedule.
Midnight, 01:00, 02:00, 03:00, etc.
I keep a rolling 30 days worth of Incremental images. I can recreate any drive, or the entire system, exactly as it was on any day in the last month.

And I need to do nothing, until I need to recover from a dead drive or other major mishap. All automated, all hands off.

 

[gn842a]

Once you set up a schedule in Macrium, Full and Incremental or Differential images take zero user time.

My main system has 7 drives. Each back up to an individual folder on the NAS box every night. Each on their own schedule.
Midnight, 01:00, 02:00, 03:00, etc.
I keep a rolling 30 days worth of Incremental images. I can recreate any drive, or the entire system, exactly as it was on any day in the last month.

And I need to do nothing, until I need to recover from a dead drive or other major mishap. All automated, all hands off.

So these systems are therefore on 24/7?

I am wondering how the NAS box would be protected from an encryption attack, which, last I inquired attacks any drives it "sees" on the system.

thanks,
Greg N

 

[USAFRet]

So these systems are therefore on 24/7?

I am wondering how the NAS box would be protected from an encryption attack, which, last I inquired attacks any drives it "sees" on the system.

thanks,
Greg N

Yes, on 24/7.

And yes, the Windows systems see the NAS box as just another drive letter, so that are vulnerable to a ransomware attack. Unlikely, because I don't click on random stuff in Windows. Thats what the always running Linux VM is for...

But....Enter the second level backup. Weekly, the entirety of the NAS is backed up to another enclosure with sufficient drive space.

And the Windows boxes cannot see that space at all. Only through an account that exists only in the NAS OS. So I'd have to not notice the encryption for several days for that to be 'affected'.
Unlikely.

And I've calculated the actual added cost of leaving my 3 main systems on 24/7.
My main system, wifes, HTPC.
~$120/year.

This $120 buys me several things:
Automated backups when no one is using the systems
OS updates and reboots when no one is using them
Instant on, AKA 0 seconds boot time

 

[gn842a]

Yes well I took I had a tuner amp that was acting up back in the 80s and took it in to a repair shop. My problem was erratic, hissing once a month, once a week. But only for a few seconds. The guy said if it wasn't a continuous problem it would be impossible to diagnose. I said, "well OK I'll just leave it on 24/7 and burn it out then you can fix it." Then he told me that if I did that it would last another ten to fifteen years because the biggest shock to the system was being turned on. And he was right, I left it on always and it lasted another twelve years.

So yes I understand that one can leave electronics on without ill effect (necessarily). But I'm not sure I am willing to create the backup infrastructure you have. I have three drives which back up files only (no clones no mirrors) and one that gets manually connected once a week. I'm not sure I'm going to be adding images to the routine but I'll give it some thought.

thanks
Greg N