Question How can I safely clone my system disk?

[perzaklie]

I have a rather complex, to me, situation. My SSD that is my C drive, ran low on space. I could not afford to upgrade it so I started installing program files on drive F. So now I have a programs file and programs file (x86) on both drives. Now that the cost of SSD has dropped, I want to get a new SSD for my C drive. I would like to consolidate all my programs to this new SSD without having to re-install all of them that are now on the F drive. Is this possible? My initial thoughts were to clone the present C drive to a new one then symbolically link the F drive program files to the new SSD. Is there a better, more efficient way? All suggestions would be much appreciated! Thanks

 

[PC Tailor]

https://forums.tomshardware.com/threads/trying-to-clone-os-to-new-ssd.3489419/
See my post regarding the cloning mechanism.

If your new drive will be the new C drive (replacing your old one) and a full clone, then you shouldn't need to redirect anything as the address should be exactly the same inside windows.

 

[perzaklie]

Yes, the new drive will be the new C drive. I think you may have missed the most important part of my post. You see, when I started running out of room on my present C drive, I installed new programs on my F drive so that I now have a Programs File and Programs File (x86) on my F drive as well. I would like to get a new very larger SSD to use as my C drive and then to merge my Programs File and Programs File (x86) folders from my F drive to my new C drive.

 

[PC Tailor]

then symbolically link the F drive program files to the new SSD

Ah well i read this bit as - you want to redirect the install file addresses whilst keeping them in the same place. Which related back to my previous comment. The only reason why a Program Files folder would be present is if a windows installation was on the other drive (or you manually created the folder yourself) - which isn't needed.

If you're saying you want to move the F drive software back onto your NEW C drive (apologies If i misinterpreted previously) - In which case it depends on the program, if they are steam games for example, you can simple change the install location via the steam client, easy.

Other applications such as Origin games can simply be moved manually, but you'll need to redirect the individual launcher links to the new location.

Many other applications may require a full reinstall into a new location.

Edit: If you're referring to a full merge, then the below comments are absolutely correct.

 

[USAFRet]

... and then to merge my Programs File and Programs File (x86) folders from my F drive to my new C drive.

That is absolutely not going to work.

Your current OS and its Registry know about the applications installed on your F.
A clone will also know about them on the F.

You can't merge them back into a larger C drive.

 

[SkyNetRising]

I have a rather complex, to me, situation. My SSD that is my C drive, ran low on space. I could not afford to upgrade it so I started installing program files on drive F. So now I have a programs file and programs file (x86) on both drives. Now that the cost of SSD has dropped, I want to get a new SSD for my C drive. I would like to consolidate all my programs to this new SSD without having to re-install all of them that are now on the F drive. Is this possible? My initial thoughts were to clone the present C drive to a new one then symbolically link the F drive program files to the new SSD. Is there a better, more efficient way? All suggestions would be much appreciated! Thanks

You get new SSD with enough size to fit C: and F: drives.
Then clone both of them to the new SSD.

 

[USAFRet]

You get new SSD with enough size to fit C: and F: drives.
Then clone both of them to the new SSD.

That WILL work.

The new drive will have 2 partitions...a C and an F.

 

[SkyNetRising]

Another way -
If F: is too large and you need only F:\Program Files and F:\Program Files (x86) to be on SSD, then
you can clone C: to new SSD (don't forget bootloader partition also) and
create separate partitions for \Program Files and \Program Files (x86) from F: ,
move contents of those folders to the new SSD appropriate partitions and
link those partitions to old folders on F: .