Question Cloning old SSD to new SSD

[OwenWilsonsNose]

Hello all,

First off - I am mostly a noob when it comes to computers.

I have an old 250GB SSD that I am trying to replace with a 2TB SSD. My motherboard (Asrock b360m ib-r1) only has one SATA connection which is currently connected to my the 250GB SSD. I am unsure as to what my options are here. I have an external hard drive available if that is of any use. Would purchasing a USB to SATA cable make this easier?

If anyone can provide any guidance it would be appreciated. Thanks in advance for your time!

 

[USAFRet]

Your system has only ONE SATA connection?

Strange.

But if so, and you have an external drive of some sort large enough to hold the entirety of the current drive, no problem.
You'll also need a small flash drive.


Just like this:
1x drive slot with an Image

Assuming you have another drive (any type of drive) with sufficient free space to hold the entirety of your current 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 SSD
8. Go, and wait until it finishes.
9. That's all...this should work.

 

[SkyNetRising]

My motherboard (Asrock b360m ib-r1) only has one SATA connection which is currently connected to my the 250GB SSD.

It has 6 sata ports.
You just need to get additional sata data cable.

 

[OwenWilsonsNose]

Thank you guys for your responses!

 

[USAFRet]

And if you get to having both drives connected for this clone...this:

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Specific steps for a successful clone operation:
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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.
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