[SOLVED] Issue cloning smaller drive to larger drive

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Solution
USAFRet
jaged said:
Is there anything major to that or is it as simple as changing the existing C: 500gb into say D: drive & then changing the new 2tb drive into the C:?
Click to expand...
Do not do this.

At the end of the clone process, physically disconnect all other drives.
Boot up from only the new drive.

It will be the C drive.

You can't change it like you think.

Later, reconnect other drives. They will be other drive letters.
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You could have prevented this in the clone process, before you hit the Go button.

If the original source drive is still working, redo it.

This, and pay attention to the middle part where it talks about different drive sizes...
-----------------------------
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
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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You can try merging the unallocated space with the 2tb drive which only has 500 gigs on it atm. Based on my experience i used an app called AOMEI Partition Assistant and merged it together there was a feature of merging the unallocated space with a partition did it to a pc of mine and it worked still working and operational.
 
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jaged said:
I must be losing my mind or my eyesight b/c I don't see an option to do that.
Here his what I see while going through the process.
Click to expand...
You didn't clone properly.
Clone source and clone result should be the same. That's why it's called cloning - making identical copy.
On source you have 3 partitions, on result - only 2 partitions. Bootloader partition is missing.
Result is not bootable.

And no you can not extend a partition, if there's no free space next to it. You have recovery partition next to partition F: .
That is, why you can not extend F: partition. Recovery partition has to be deleted first.
 
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USAFRet said:
You could have prevented this in the clone process, before you hit the Go button.

If the original source drive is still working, redo it.

This, and pay attention to the middle part where it talks about different drive sizes...
-----------------------------
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
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.
-----------------------------
Click to expand...
Finally figured it out. I had to click on Copy Partition and the option was "hidden" in there.

I now want to make the Samsung 980 2tb the C: drive and make the 500gb into another letter, maybe D:

Is there anything major to that or is it as simple as changing the existing C: 500gb into say D: drive & then changing the new 2tb drive into the C:?

Thanks for all the help.
 
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jaged said:
Is there anything major to that or is it as simple as changing the existing C: 500gb into say D: drive & then changing the new 2tb drive into the C:?
Click to expand...
Do not do this.

At the end of the clone process, physically disconnect all other drives.
Boot up from only the new drive.

It will be the C drive.

You can't change it like you think.

Later, reconnect other drives. They will be other drive letters.
 
Upvote 1 Downvote
Solution
USAFRet said:
Do not do this.

At the end of the clone process, physically disconnect all other drives.
Boot up from only the new drive.

It will be the C drive.

You can't change it like you think.

Later, reconnect other drives. They will be other drive letters.
Click to expand...
Well, THOUGHT I was done.

There's an extra drive showing up on File Explorer.

EDIT yet again: while waiting on this I put the PC back together, hooked everything back up, put the sides back on......now the 500gb drive doesn't show up in Disk Management or File Explorer. So I take it all apart again. I can't even count how many times I've taken out this GPU in the last 2 days.
I took the NVMe out of the slot and put it back in. put the GPU back in the looked again. Still not there. Any ideas on that??

https://imgur.com/a/MC0KyD3
View: https://imgur.com/a/MC0KyD3
 
Last edited:
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USAFRet said:
It doesn't show in that Disk Management window, but go in there, and simply remove that drive letter E.

That partition needs to exist. It does not need a drive letter.
Click to expand...
Hey there, not seeing an option anywhere to remove the drive letter from that system partition
https://imgur.com/a/po9IyZU
View: https://imgur.com/a/po9IyZU





Also, not sure you saw my EDIT on my last note but now the 500gb drive isn't showing up. I took it out and reinstalled it again to be sure it was seated right but I dunno.
 
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