Question Help with SSD data transfer ?

[ohJayyo]

Hello everyone,

I am hoping someone can help walk me through the steps of transferring all the data on my two current ssds to a new bigger one. Right now I have two 1TB samsung 970 ssds, one with windows 10 and some programs/files and the other with just programs/files. They are both pretty much full and I am currently in the process of building a new PC. I plan on buying a new 2TB samsung 980 SSD (possibly 2) to install in my new pc. I want to move everything on my two current 1TB SSDs to the new 2TB one and then completely wipe the old two drives so I can then give that old PC and those two drives to someone else to use with nothing on it.

I just have never cloned drives before and don't know if I need a third party software or not and I don't want to mess anything up. Also my current PC mobo only has two slots for these nvme drives and both are used by the two 1TB ssds already installed so I don't know the correct order of transferring to the bigger 2TB. I'm assuming I will have to remove one of the full 1TB ssds so I can install the 2TB one and then transfer over one ssd at a time. I am not going to have some parts for the new PC for a little while so I need to use my current PC to do this. Thank you guys.

 

[AdimuruganV]

Samsung it self provides a free cloning software. Use it to clone.
Samsung Magician

 

[ohJayyo]

Samsung it self provides a free cloning software. Use it to clone.
Samsung Magician

Ok thank you I will check it out. The thing that confuses me is trying to merge the two ssds into the third one. If I clone the first one into the third one it says I can't also clone the second one into the third one without deleting everything on it first. So I would essentially be undoing the first clone.

 

[SkyNetRising]

I am hoping someone can help walk me through the steps of transferring all the data on my two current ssds to a new bigger one.

Prepare for windows reinstall.
Cloning is not the correct way here.
If you transplant OS drive from one pc to another (cloning OS is the same thing),
you get following issues (some or all of them) :

boot mode compatibility - system doesn't boot,​

drivers incompatibilities - bsods/crashes/bad performance,​

windows activation issues - can not activate windows.​

​

Install windows on new pc on new drive,
install your software on new pc,
connect both PCs to same network and copy user data over.
Game library usually also can be copied. You just have to reconfigure game launcher.

 

[ohJayyo]

Prepare for windows reinstall.
Cloning is not the correct way here.
If you transplant OS drive from one pc to another (cloning OS is the same thing),
you get following issues (some or all of them) :

boot mode compatibility - system doesn't boot,​

drivers incompatibilities - bsods/crashes/bad performance,​

windows activation issues - can not activate windows.​

​

Install windows on new pc on new drive,
install your software on new pc,
connect both PCs to same network and copy user data over.
Game library usually also can be copied. You just have to reconfigure game launcher.

Ok so when I am booting the new pc for the first time and installing windows I should only have the new empty drive installed?

 

[SkyNetRising]

Yes.
While installing windows, have only single drive connected.
Or else you'll probably end up with bootloader on one drive and windows on the other
(system unbootable without both drives connected).

 

[ohJayyo]

Ok sounds good, thank you for the advice. Now once I do a fresh install of windows on my new pc and transfer my license key over to that one how do I go about copying the user data from my old pc over my network to my new pc? I’m assuming the old pc won’t have windows activated on it anymore once I set up my new one.

 

[SkyNetRising]

how do I go about copying the user data from my old pc over my network to my new pc?
I’m assuming the old pc won’t have windows activated on it anymore once I set up my new one.

You connect both computers to same network (same switch/same router).
Share folder with user data on one pc, access shared data from the other pc and copy data over.
Windows 10/11 can run unactivated just fine.

 

[ohJayyo]

You connect both computers to same network (same switch/same router).
Share folder with user data on one pc, access shared data from the other pc and copy data over.
Windows 10/11 can run unactivated just fine.

Ok thanks again for all your help.