[SOLVED] Cloning my computer's Samsung 256GB M.2 NVME drive to a new Samsung 970 500GB M.2 drive.....advice plz

[ualdriver]

Windows 10
Asrock X99 Extreme 4 MB
Samsung 950 PRO Series - 256GB PCIe NVMe - M.2 Internal SSD (MZ-V5P256BW) (currently installed in my rig as the boot drive/main drive)

Want to remove Samsung 950 and upgrade to:
Samsung 970 EVO 500GB - NVMe PCIe M.2 2280 SSD (MZ-V7E500BW)

I want to clone my old Samsung 950 256GB M.2 drive that is currently in my rig to a newly purchased Samsung 970 500GB M.2 drive. My plan is to do the cloning, remove the old Samsung 950 drive, insert the newly cloned Samsung 970 drive, boot up, and have my rig run just like it did before, but with the new drive. That will work, right?

My plan was also to put the new Samsung 970 in some sort of enclosure, hook it up to the USB port on my computer, and use the Samsung Migration software to clone the old Samsung 950 to the new Samsung 970.

The problem I'm encountering or not getting is that apparently these enclosures I see on Amazon or NewEgg aren't compatible with the Samsung Migration software for some reason? That makes me wonder about the enclosures that say noting about Samsung Migration compatibility. Are those not likely to be compatible as well? They all look pretty similar to me.

Can someone recommend a good enclosure that won't cost an arm and a leg and be compatible with the Samsung Migration software? If there is no such thing, then how do I copy the data from my old Samsung 950 to the new Samsung 970? Is there a better way?

Thanks for your time.

 

[USAFRet]

NVMe external enclosures aren't cheap. Maybe $50.
And may not work with the Samsung Magician.

If you have any other external drive, and easier way might be to do this with a Image, instead of a direct clone from 256GB to 500GB.

If you have or can borrow an external drive, we can go into specific procedures on this.

 

[SkyNetRising]

I don't see, how this can be done by cloning to image.
If you remove original M.2, you have no OS anymore.

One way - would be cloning to NVME-USB enclosure. Different software will be necessary - MacriumReflect, Minitool Partition Wizard free or similar.

Another way - would be by cloning to another sata drive:

• 1. clone M.2 to sata;
  2. replace M.2, boot from sata;
  3. clone from sata to M.2.

 

[USAFRet]

I don't see, how this can be done by cloning to image.
If you remove original M.2, you have no OS anymore.

One way - would be cloning to NVME-USB enclosure. Different software will be necessary - MacriumReflect, Minitool Partition Wizard free or similar.

Right.
An external enclosure or other drive, Macrium Rescue CD/USB, and a full drive image.

 

[843845947]

Actually, there are many free tools to migrate os to ssd, not limited to sumsung migration. You can have a try. These programs always have good compatibility. Of course, you can also backup system to another external disk, then insert the new SSD internally, and restore system to the new SSD from image.

 

[ualdriver]

OK, well I have another internal drive with more than enough space to mirror my current M.2 boot drive. I guess I'm still a little confused about the process. I also have an external USB drive (i.e. a USB mechanical drive) with enough space as well. The part I don't understand is that once I take the original M.2 drive out and put the new M.2 drive in, how do I boot? Then what do I do next?

 

[USAFRet]

OK, well I have another internal drive with more than enough space to mirror my current M.2 boot drive. I guess I'm still a little confused about the process. I also have an external USB drive (i.e. a USB mechanical drive) with enough space as well. The part I don't understand is that once I take the original M.2 drive out and put the new M.2 drive in, how do I boot? Then what do I do next?

No problem. Just like this:

1. Obtain an empty USB or DVD...something to boot from later.
2. Install Macrium Reflect
3. Run that, and create a Rescue CD or USB. On the menu bar, under "Other Tasks"
4. Still in Macrium Reflect, make an Image of your entire current drive. Select ALL partitions. Save this Image to your External drive.
5. When that finishes, power off
6. Physically swap drives. Take the 256GB out, and put the 500GB in.
7. Power up, booting from the Macrium Rescue CD or USB you created earlier
8. Follow the directions to recover that Image you created in #4 to the new drive.
9. Go, and wait until its done.
10. Power off, disconnect the USB, and reboot.
11. It should work. Any problems, and you still have the original 256GB untouched, to fall back on.

 

[ualdriver]

Wow man thanks for typing all that out. If we're ever at the bar, beers on me : )

This will be my little weekend project now.

 

[USAFRet]

Wow man thanks for typing all that out. If we're ever at the bar, beers on me : )

This will be my little weekend project now.

Good luck.
Shouldn't take more than an hour or two.

 

[ualdriver]

Wow man thanks for typing all that out. If we're ever at the bar, beers on me : )

This will be my little weekend project now.

Good luck.
Shouldn't take more than an hour or two.

The steps above worked great. The only problem that I had was that the new 500GB drive showed up as only having 256GB of space, the same as the old drive. One has to use a program like AOMEI partitioning software to re-partition the new drive so that the full volume can be recognized.

Thanks much for your help!