[SOLVED] Need help with cloning my OS ?

[Karapoly]

My OS drive is a small 128 gb ssd and i want to upgrade to a bigger one.I am using this 128 gb drive for my OS. I am also using two 2TB hdds for storing games.
If i clone the 128 gb OS drive to the new one will I lose my data on the other two drives once i boot from it ?

 

[Lutfij]

Welcome to the forums, newcomer!

What OS are you working with? You're advised to reinstall the OS from scratch. If you're on Windows 8/8.1 or 10, you can fabricate your bootable USB installer using Windows Media Creation Tools. Cloning the OS can and will yield a lot of issues, which is why you're advised to reinstall the OS as opposed to cloning it. Might want to also make sure you're on the latest BIOS version for your platform prior to reinstalling the OS.

 

[Karapoly]

Cloning software is bad?I have win 10.My internet is slow.Will take me 10 days to redownload eveything.

 

[USAFRet]

No, cloning isn't necessarily bad.
Done properly, it works.

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Specific steps for a successful clone operation:
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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)
If you are cloning from a SATA drive to PCIe/NVMe, 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
Run the Macrium Reflect (or Samsung Data Migration)
Select ALL the partitions on the existing C drive

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 specifiy the resulting partition size, to even include the whole thing

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 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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[Karapoly]

All the data on the rest of my hdds will be lost or not?

 

[jay32267]

My OS drive is a small 128 gb ssd and i want to upgrade to a bigger one.I am using this 128 gb drive for my OS. I am also using two 2TB hdds for storing games.
If i clone the 128 gb OS drive to the new one will I lose my data on the other two drives once i boot from it ?

What is the new drive?

 

[Karapoly]

The new drive is an M.2 ssd i bought.Here is my setup.https://imgur.com/a/HDVyZ0x

 

[jay32267]

The new drive is an M.2 ssd i bought.Here is my setup.https://imgur.com/a/HDVyZ0x

I would get some cloning software on the OS drive.
I would power down....remove the 2 TB drives and install the M2 drive and leave the OS drive.
I would clone to the OS drive to the M2 drive.
I would power down and remove the OS drive and boot ONLY with the M2 to make sure it functions properly.
Then I would power down and add the other drives.
Then the next time I powered up I would MAKE SURE I was booting to the M2 and not the old OS drive.
I would wipe the old OS drive at this point.

 

[Karapoly]

I would get some cloning software on the OS drive.
I would power down....remove the 2 TB drives and install the M2 drive and leave the OS drive.
I would clone to the OS drive to the M2 drive.
I would power down and remove the OS drive and boot ONLY with the M2 to make sure it functions properly.
Then I would power down and add the other drives.
Then the next time I powered up I would MAKE SURE I was booting to the M2 and not the old OS drive.
I would wipe the old OS drive at this point.

I agree but will the 2tb drives be wiped after that?

 

[jay32267]

I agree but will the 2tb drives be wiped after that?

No.
What motherboard.

 

[Karapoly]

No.
What motherboard.

Ok good.Its an old one .Gigabyte H170-hd3.

 

[jay32267]

Ok good.Its an old one .Gigabyte H170-hd3.

Sorry about the MB question. I got my posts confused.
You are removing the two 2TB drives in the beginning.
You aren't adding them back until the end.
Nothing will happen to the data.

 

[Karapoly]

Sorry about the MB question. I got my posts confused.
You are removing the two 2TB drives in the beginning.
You aren't adding them back until the end.
Nothing will happen to the data.

Ok thanks

 

[jay32267]

Ok thanks

You're welcome.
As far as cloning software....
There is lots out there for free.
I use Aomei Backupper.
Macrium Reflect is popular.

 

[oillogger]

Please allow me to ask another cloning question. I will be building another PC soon and would like to move all programs and data over from my old PC to my new one but keep my old PC the same as before. Below are the steps I plan on following. Please let me know if my steps sound reasonable.

1. Build the new PC with a 1TB M.2 boot/data drive and a 2TB M.2 BU data drive.
2. For the time being install Windows 10 from a Windows boot USB drive onto the 2TB M.2 BU data drive. I will not register Windows at this time. Power down.
3. With my old PC 1TB SATA boot/data drive disconnected I will connect power and SATA cables from my new PC to it just while cloning. Yes, both cases will be quite close to each other.
4. Power up the new PC booting off the 2TB M.2 BU data drive.
5. Run free clone software to move a clone of my old PC 1TB SATA drive onto my 1TB M.2 boot/data drive. Power down.
6. Disconnect my old 1TB SATA PC boot/data drive and power back up my new PC booting off my newly cloned 1TB M.2 boot/data drive.
7. Install a new Windows key at this time after making sure all is fine with the cloned 1TB M.2 boot/data drive.
8. Delete all files and remove the windows partition from the 2TB M.2 BU data drive and also get rid of any potential partition on the 1TB M.2 boot/data drive that was created when cloning over to the 1TB M.2 boot/data drive due to maybe my old PC 1TB SATA boot/data drive being a few megabytes larger.
9. Just to check I will reconnect the old 1TB SATA boot/data drive in my old PC and power up to insure all is as it was.

Well am I nuts or have I missed something important?
I now keep one internal and two normally disconnected external drives after encountering two different times where I had a unusable BU drive. No data lost because another BU drive rescued restored my data. SecondCopy makes backing up easy.

From an email it appears this was a bonehead idea I had so please disregard my post. A issue would have been drivers.

 

[USAFRet]

Please allow me to ask another cloning question. I will be building another PC soon and would like to move all programs and data over from my old PC to my new one but keep my old PC the same as before.

1. Please start a new thread for your particular situation. It is completely different than the OP.
2. Your plan fails in its basic concept. A clone operation is for moving the contents of drives within the same system. ex: smaller to larger, or HDD to SSD. NOT for moving between 2 different systems. Your new PC needs its own fresh OS install.
3. If you want to delve further into this, see #1...