[SOLVED] Need to transfer the boot drive from 120gb SSD to 512gb SSD, only have 1 m.2 slot. How do I go about migrating the whole OS?

[xslabs.sai]

Basically I have 120gb SSD installed in my m.2 slot, and I want to migrate my whole OS and boot drive to a new 512gb SSD. I do have another disk to transfer the contents. How do I transfer all my data along with boot drive to my new SSD without creating partitions and such?

Any help is appreciated, thank you!

 

[USAFRet]

What is the specific make/model of both drives?
What motherboard is this going on?
How much free space is available on this other drive?

 

[xslabs.sai]

What is the specific make/model of both drives?
What motherboard is this going on?
How much free space is available on this other drive?

Ah, nice meeting you again after 4 months, USAFRet. Thanks for responding.
The one I'm using is WDC WDS120G2G0B (WD Green 120GB SATA m.2 SSD)
The new drive is XPG S40G 512GB RGB 3D NAND PCIe Gen3x4 NVMe 1.3 M.2 2280 Internal SSD (AS40G-512GT-C).
The motherboard is ASUS PRIME A320M-K.
I do have Macrium Reflect. The problem is I don't have 2 m.2 slots.
There is enough space to clone this 120gb SSD on my other drive.

 

[USAFRet]

Ah, nice meeting you again after 4 months, USAFRet. Thanks for responding.
The one I'm using is WDC WDS120G2G0B (WD Green 120GB SATA m.2 SSD)
The new drive is XPG S40G 512GB RGB 3D NAND PCIe Gen3x4 NVMe 1.3 M.2 2280 Internal SSD (AS40G-512GT-C).
The motherboard is ASUS PRIME A320M-K.
I do have Macrium Reflect. The problem is I don't have 2 m.2 slots.
There is enough space to clone this 120gb SSD on my other drive.

The problem you may run into is installing the NVMe driver for the XPG, without the XPG being actually connected.

First, lets see if we can install the driver for this new drive, without it being installed.
Download it here:

XPG SPECTRIX S40G RGB PCIe Gen3x4 M.2 2280 Solid State Drive

www.xpg.com

If we can get past this hurdle, the rest is easy.

 

[xslabs.sai]

The problem you may run into is installing the NVMe driver for the XPG, without the XPG being actually connected.

First, lets see if we can install the driver for this new drive, without it being installed.
Download it here:

XPG SPECTRIX S40G RGB PCIe Gen3x4 M.2 2280 Solid State Drive

www.xpg.com

If we can get past this hurdle, the rest is easy.

I don't have the new SSD yet, but I'll try installing it. Can you tell me the what to do afterwards?

 

[USAFRet]

I don't have the new SSD yet, but I'll try installing it. Can you tell me the what to do afterwards?

I'm thinking that will not work.

But....we do this with an Image, not a clone.

1. Download and install Macrium Reflect
2. Run that, and create a Rescue CD or USB (you'll use this later). "Other Tasks"
3. In the Macrium client, create an Image to some other drive. External USB HDD, maybe. Select all partitions. This results in a file of xxxx.mrimage
4. When done, power OFF.
5. Swap the 2 drives
6. Boot up from the Rescue USB you created earlier.
7. Recover, and tell it where the Image is that you created in step 3, and which drive to apply it to...the new m.2
8. Go, and wait until it finishes.
9. That's all...this should work.

 

[xslabs.sai]

I'm thinking that will not work.

But....we do this with an Image, not a clone.

1. Download and install Macrium Reflect
2. Run that, and create a Rescue CD or USB (you'll use this later). "Other Tasks"
3. In the Macrium client, create an Image to some other drive. External USB HDD, maybe. Select all partitions. This results in a file of xxxx.mrimage
4. When done, power OFF.
5. Swap the 2 drives
6. Boot up from the Rescue USB you created earlier.
7. Recover, and tell it where the Image is that you created in step 3, and which drive to apply it to...the new m.2
8. Go, and wait until it finishes.
9. That's all...this should work.

Thanks for replying. Will this erase other data on the rescue media? Will this create another partition on the new drive?

 

[USAFRet]

Thanks for replying. Will this erase other data on the rescue media? Will this create another partition on the new drive?

On the RescueUSB flash drive, yes. Wiped clean.

On the HDD(?) you're saving the Image to? No. It is saved as a single file, not a partition.

 

[xslabs.sai]

On the RescueUSB flash drive, yes. Wiped clean.

On the HDD(?) you're saving the Image to? No. It is saved as a single file, not a partition.

I mean in the 512 gb SSD. Will the restored image divide the SSD into 2 partitions when I'm done restoring?

 

[USAFRet]

I mean in the 512 gb SSD. Will the restored image divide the SSD into 2 partitions when I'm done restoring?

However many partitions are on the source will be on the target.

But in Macrium, you can manipulate the size(s) of the resulting partitions on the target drive.
Look into "Cloned partition sizes"

 

[xslabs.sai]

However many partitions are on the source will be on the target.

But in Macrium, you can manipulate the size(s) of the resulting partitions on the target drive.
Look into "Cloned partition sizes"

Thank you so much for your help. I'll message you if I run into trouble with the cloning partition sizes.
You're doing god's work ❤️

 

[USAFRet]

Good luck. As said, I think the main hurdle will be the NVMe driver for the new drive.

SATA->NVMe can be problematic.