Question Clone Windows 10 Pro from SSD to NVMe M.2 - is it possible?

[sharath_83]

Hey all,

I recently brought a Western Digital WD SN550 1TB NVMe M.2, for my Desktop PC.

My desktop configuration are as below:
CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 3700X 3rd Gen
Motherboard: ASUS ROG Crosshair HERO VIII
RAM: G.Skill Ripjaws V 16 GB X 2 (32GB) 3600Mhz
Graphic Card: Sapphire Radeon RX580 8GB DDR5
SMPS Power Supply - Cooler Master 750W 230V
Cabinet - Cooler Master MasterBox MB511 RGB

I have currently Samsung 860 EVO SSD 500GB, which has the Original Windows 10 Pro, this new 1TB NVMe M.2 i need it as C Drive. So will it be possible to clone the Windows from SSD to M.2?

Currently the 500 GB is not sufficient and it is currently filled up 433 GB of 465 GB, leaving with 32 GB free space. Further i will be installing softwares and others in M.2, for daily use.

Btw, how is M.2 review so far, good to have one? What should one do if the M.2 stops working, what is quick solution for it?

 

[USAFRet]

If the new drive stops working, you get a new one and recover from your backup routine.
Just like any other drive.


For the clone operation....


-----------------------------
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
Download and install Macrium Reflect (or Samsung Data Migration, if a Samsung SSD)
If you are cloning from a SATA drive to PCIe/NVMe, 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
Run the Macrium Reflect (or Samsung Data Migration)
Select ALL the partitions on the existing C drive

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 specifiy the resulting partition size, to even include the whole thing

Click the 'Clone' button
Wait until it is done
When it finishes, power off
Disconnect ALL drives except for the new SSD
This is to allow the system to try to boot from ONLY the SSD
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.
-----------------------------

 

[sharath_83]

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

Understood on the steps mentioned.

Now in regards to Windows 10 Pro serial key, what about it? When cloned it copies on to the new M.2?

And what should be done if the Win 10 OS does not boot?

The reason am asking is i don't want to through the entire process of reinstalling everything on the new 1 TB M.2 as i have several softwares and plugins, to be installed if installing as fresh, that will be very time consuming and waste of time.

 

[USAFRet]

Understood on the steps mentioned.

Now in regards to Windows 10 Pro serial key, what about it? When cloned it copies on to the new M.2?

And what should be done if the Win 10 OS does not boot?

The reason am asking is i don't want to through the entire process of reinstalling everything on the new 1 TB M.2 as i have several softwares and plugins, to be installed if installing as fresh, that will be very time consuming and waste of time.

The license key is no issue.
It moves everything to the new drive.

If it fails to boot, then we investigate why, and probably do it over.

 

[sharath_83]

The license key is no issue.
It moves everything to the new drive.

If it fails to boot, then we investigate why, and probably do it over.

Got it, one more question before i go ahead.

The SSD currently i have is 'Samsung SSD 860 EVO 500GB' and the M.2 is 'WD Blue SN550 1TB', so the make (Hardware) will matter when cloning?

 

[Lafong]

Brand doesn't matter.

Cross your fingers.

If cloning fails, you can either try another cloning program or try imaging rather than cloning.

 

[sharath_83]

Brand doesn't matter.

Cross your fingers.

If cloning fails, you can either try another cloning program or try imaging rather than cloning.

Okay, got it, let me see how things goes ... fingers crossed.

 

[sharath_83]

Brand doesn't matter.

Cross your fingers.

If cloning fails, you can either try another cloning program or try imaging rather than cloning.

Hi there,

I got too busy and could not update anything on this one.

I had brought M.2 Nvme, WD make Gen 4 i think, but looks like the motherboard did not detect it, and the previous version of 1TB was bit expensive than the latest version of M.2.

Anyway, i happened to add an Samsung 870QVO 1TB, had to replace this with WD M.2 Nvme by paying extra.

Now when am on Disk Management, the SSD shows up and when i right click and select 'Initialize Disk' i get MBR (Master Boot Record) and GPT (GUID Partition table), which option should i select, and i want to clone the entire Samsung SSD 860 EVO 500GB to this Samsung 870QVO 1TB, and need the entire 1TB for C drive, and use the 500 GB as D drive may be.... what is the suggestion and how do i proceed please?

 

[faalin]

select GPT.

If using Macrium Reflect like stated above ( what i use ) it will reformat the 1TB drive again when cloning from the 500Gb to 1TB. Once done remove the 500Gb drive and try booting to the 1TB cloned drive. When you boot into the 1TB drive it may only show as a 500GB drive, you will have to go into disk management and expand the C: drive to the unallocated portion to get the full drive. Once fully happy with how everything is you can format the original drive and set it to the D: drive.

 

[USAFRet]

and i want to clone the entire Samsung SSD 860 EVO 500GB to this Samsung 870QVO 1TB, and need the entire 1TB for C drive, and use the 500 GB as D drive may be.... what is the suggestion and how do i proceed please?

Macrium Reflect can manage the size of the Target drive during the proces.s

-----------------------------
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 SSD)
If you are cloning from a SATA drive to PCIe/NVMe, 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
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 specifiy 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
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.
-----------------------------

 

[sharath_83]

Both drives must be the same partitioning scheme, either MBR or GPT

How do i check if the current SSD am using for C drive, is MBR or GPT?

 

[Lafong]

How do i check if the current SSD am using for C drive, is MBR or GPT?

Run Diskpart from the command line.

After it opens, type

list disk

That will show you the drives connected at the moment.

If they are GPT, you will see an asterisk in the right hand column of that window.

 

[SkyNetRising]

How do i check if the current SSD am using for C drive, is MBR or GPT?

How to check if a Disk uses GPT or MBR Partition in Windows 11/10

https://www.thewindowsclub.com/check-if-a-disk-uses-gpt-or-mbr-partition-in-windows-10

 

[Zolock24]

I went through this M.2 upgrade process (from SATA to NVMe), and it worked, but I had to turn Bitlocker Off on all active drives (ie decrypt both the boot drive AND the HDD where my data is saved.) You really need to do this if you use Bitlocker.