Question Clonning/migrating older SATA SSD (with windows in it) to new NVMe SSD

[afs7]

Hello everyone.
I got a new Samsung 970 evo plus SSD to extend my storage, since I am running low on space on my older Samsung 860 evo. However, I am facing a problem with replacing it since I only have on M.2 slot. Both SSDs are M.2, so the only possible option is to clone the older one to the new one using an M.2 adapter. However, I need to 'migrate' the windows OS to the new one, and in the disk manager, it shows that I have the system(boot) partition and windows partition on my old SSD, while I have the EFI partition on my HDD.
So my concern is, what should I do to clone the system fully to the new SSD without ruining the system, and without losing files or programs already installed. I have looked into EaseUS partition master software, however it doesn’t allow me to ‘migrate OS’ to the other SSD without paying a hefty 40$ price. Can someone recommend a method for cloning and migrating, preferably cheap or free. Attached is a picture of disk management.

 

[USAFRet]

Since you already have a USB adapter for the new drive, doing it via Image is not really necessary.

But we still need to verify the actual potential operation from only the 860.

 

[jay32267]

Do you mean imaging as in this pic, where in mcarium reflect it offers to clone or image the whole disk. If so, may you explain how imaging the disk is different than cloning it. I am really sorry because I feel I am bothering you with all these dump questions, but I am really afraid of messing things up.

When cloning a drive (not to an image file).....an exact copy of all the data on one drive is written to another drive.
The second drive obviously needs to be large enough to hold all the data.
With a clone.....all the files are identical and their locations are identical.
The new drive boots just like the old drive.

When cloning to an image......all the data on the source drive is written to an image file.
This is generally one file....although it might be a couple files depending on certain things....but for now think of it as one file.

This file has all the data of the source drive.....but generally you can't access it and it's just one big file.

However....with this file.....you can make an identical copy of the source drive.
When you do....all the files on the source drive with be on the destination drive in their proper place. The destination drive will also be bootable just like the source drive.

To give you an idea....I clone my OS drive to an image file every so often as backup.
Usually I never need to access the image or even do anything with it. It's just backup.
But let's say something bad happens to OS drive.
I can use that image to make an exact copy of my source OS drive.....how it was.....when I made the image file.

 

[afs7]

And with a laptop with a single M.2 port, I would do it as was suggested above...an Image rather than a direct clone.

Dear USAFRet, I finally got the chance to open up the laptop and test. Turns out that the laptop was booting from the HDD, and I was getting this screen. So far, I am confused on how should I proceed, but I know that I will be keeping the HDD in the laptop. I have looked into the Samsung SSD tool, but I am not sure how to use that either. Can you please help me with this?

 

[USAFRet]

What I would do is a full wipe and reinstall. That current partitioning is all over the place.
Was Linux ever installed on this?

But, if you wish to try this clone thing...
Just select ALL partitions on the current SSD and clone them to the new one.
Then, remove the old and insert the new drive.

See what happens.

I strongly suggest that you have a good backup of any personal files before you start this.