How Do I Transfer My OS From One SSD to Another?

[joshj2398]

Ok so for Christmas a couple things I got were a 256gb Samsung 840 Pro and a 250gb 840 EVO. When I built my computer in December, I loaded Windows 7 onto the 840 Pro because I thought it was the best/fastest SSD on the market and would be the best place for the OS/Software/Games. Recently (today) my friend told me the 840 EVO is better than the Pro, which I was very skeptical about. I looked it up and there are some articles/forum posts that also point to the EVO as the best. Because of this, I'm considering transferring my OS from my Pro to my EVO and have no clue how to go about this. How do I do it? What software do I need? Is transferring from Pro to EVO even worth it considering they're both outstanding SSDs?

 

[joshj2398]

Bump please?

 

[Savvy]

I would seriously doubt the performance of EVO is better than PRO and even it is (if you say you have thoroughly researched) it would be negligible. Personally i would not swap PRO for EVO .. Price says it all. But if you want to .. Here it is.

Use this..
http://www.backup-utility.com/free-backup-software.html

There are 2 ways you use this.. Disk Backup and Restore but i would suggest Disk Clone..

Disk Clone would copy everything exactly from 1 disk to another but the backup and restore option is better if you have a secondary storage.

How to clone if both drives are connected.

Step 1: Install the software.. its free.
Step 2: Use Disk Clone to copy from Disk 1(old) to Disk 2 (new)

Once all is done.. Either remove the old drive or change settings in your BIOS to use your new drive as primary boot.

I would suggest a backup of your OS as it helps accidents in the future.

Good Luck

 

[jiverino]

Saavy, I was wondering, I can't use the disk clone feature if I have secondary storage?

I have a 60 Gb ssd with 2 HDDs where all my games and video, pics, music, etc. are on.
I want to move my OS (Windows 7 Pro) to a new larger 120Gb SSD (Same brand but newer version).

Seems like you have a good handle on this.
What would you suggest? I don't want to have to re-install any games and they are all on different a WD Black 1 TB Drive.
Disk Clone just seems a lot easier than back-up.
I can have both drives installed at the same time.

Thanks, I know I should have started a new thread but I wanted to specifically ask you this.

 

[Savvy]

Saavy, I was wondering, I can't use the disk clone feature if I have secondary storage?

I have a 60 Gb ssd with 2 HDDs where all my games and video, pics, music, etc. are on.
I want to move my OS (Windows 7 Pro) to a new larger 120Gb SSD (Same brand but newer version).

Seems like you have a good handle on this.
What would you suggest? I don't want to have to re-install any games and they are all on different a WD Black 1 TB Drive.
Disk Clone just seems a lot easier than back-up.
I can have both drives installed at the same time.

Thanks, I know I should have started a new thread but I wanted to specifically ask you this.

Hello Jiverino ,

Diskclone feature is easy when you are using from a smaller drive to a bigger drive. Otherway round is difficult if the minimum free space is not equal or larger than smaller disk..

Even if you do not clone the disk and restore a backup of the SSD to a bigger one later.. For eg: you do a full backup of the Disk (not partition) and save it to your 1TB HDD and later lets say after a few months your OS becomes slow/ corrupt for any reason you can easily restore from a backup. (Result is same as clone.. just a lot safer)

In your case you do a clone of the 60Gb to 120Gb ssd (same or different brands DO NOT matter) .. Almost everything should be same. Now the games must be installed in the 1TB disk for you to not have them install again. All you need to remember is that the partition letters of the drives MUST always be same. So if your 1TB is D: and your SSD is C after you copy over your old SSD to 120GB SSD and you do not remove your old SSD, windows might give some of the existing drive letters (D) to your old SSD first. So you just need to change them in the Disk Manager ..

Just NEVER change the C drive letter to any other.

Also if you are using UEFI Windows 7 (not MBR) then to restore you would need to boot from a USB to restore the backup (easily made by the utility for backup).
AOMEI backup imo is the best backup software. and its free...
Hope this helps.

 

[benmisiura]

anyone tried this? does it work?

 

[USAFRet]

anyone tried this? does it work?

Specific steps for a successful clone operation:
-----------------------------
Verify the actual used space on the current drive is significantly below the size of the new SSD
Download and install Macrium Reflect (or Samsung Data Migration, if a Samsung SSD)
Power off
Disconnect ALL drives except the current C and the new SSD
Power up
Run the Macrium Reflect (or Samsung Data Migration)
Select ALL the partitions on the existing C drive
Click the 'Clone' button
Wait until it is done
When it finishes, power off
Disconnect ALL drives except for the new SSD
This is to allow the system to try to boot from ONLY the SSD
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 as necessary.
Delete the original boot partitions, here:
https://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/windows/en-US/4f1b84ac-b193-40e3-943a-f45d52e23685/cant-delete-extra-healthy-recovery-partitions-and-healthy-efi-system-partition?forum=w8itproinstall
-----------------------------


Also, closing this because this is a 3 year old thread, and procedures and applications have changed/become easier.