Question novice- transferring existing Win10 to larger NVMe

[eco_bach]

I have my current Win10 installed on a 512GB NVMe drive (C drive designation).
I want to replace with a larger 2TB NVMe.
What is the easiest way of transferring the OS to this new 2TB NVMe drive?

Will I require external media or USB boot drive to reinstall my OS after installing my 2TB NVMe or?
Thanks in advance!

 

[USAFRet]

I have my current Win10 installed on a 512GB NVMe drive (C drive designation).
I want to replace with a larger 2TB NVMe.
What is the easiest way of transferring the OS to this new 2TB NVMe drive?

Will I require external media or USB boot drive to reinstall my OS after installing my 2TB NVMe or?
Thanks in advance!

This is probably easily doable.
Need details on the rest of the system.

Detailed steps to follow.

 

[Lafong]

I have my current Win10 installed on a 512GB NVMe drive (C drive designation).
I want to replace with a larger 2TB NVMe.
What is the easiest way of transferring the OS to this new 2TB NVMe drive?

Will I require external media or USB boot drive to reinstall my OS after installing my 2TB NVMe or?
Thanks in advance!

If you "transfer" the OS to the new drive, you should not have to "reinstall" the OS. The premise of transferring is to avoid reinstallation.

Are you thinking about transferring ONLY the OS and nothing else? Not a good thought. "Transferring" is typically an all or none proposition...OS, installed programs, personal files, and whatever else happens to be on the drive......rather than just this or just that.

There's a couple of methods...cloning and imaging. Which is suitable for you depends on details you have not yet provided. Success rate in the high 90s.

You might need a USB flash drive. You might need external storage. All depending on further details you need to provide.

 

[geofelt]

Your simplest solution is to clone your C drive to a larger ssd.
If the new ssd is samsung, use the samsung ssd migration aid.
Instructions and app here:

Tool & Software Download | Samsung Semiconductor Global

Download various software related to your product, including Samsung Magician, designed for use with Samsung's memory products, and find related information.

semiconductor.samsung.com

 

[eco_bach]

Thanks for the replies.
Not sure what information is required. Win 10.
I have 3 NVMe 512GB drives installed with one obviously designated a C startup.
See attached

https://imgur.com/a/pzBRR5s

View: https://imgur.com/a/pzBRR5s

 

[SkyNetRising]

Not sure what information is required. Win 10.

Full system specs are required.

I have 3 NVMe 512GB drives installed with one obviously designated a C startup.
See attached

What is on Disk 1 ?
It appears to be completely empty. 477GB of available free space.

 

[USAFRet]

Thanks for the replies.
Not sure what information is required. Win 10.
I have 3 NVMe 512GB drives installed with one obviously designated a C startup.

Motherboard?
Full system specs, please.

 

[eco_bach]

ASUS ROG Zenith Extreme
To be honest not 100% sure whats going on with Drive 1. Unable to assign a drive letter.

https://imgur.com/a/rzq3mZX

View: https://imgur.com/a/rzq3mZX

I think it may have something to do with a dual boot Windows-Linux setup when I first did the build 5 years back but haven't booted into Linux for a few years! WIndows is all I really need at the moment

 

[USAFRet]

To be honest not 100% sure whats going on with Drive 1. Unable to assign a drive letter.

To start, remove the Pagefile from that drive.

Also, it is 91% full. What is on that?

Install and run either WinDirStat, or WizTree.

Run as Administrator, selecting only the drive in question.
Post a screencap here.

 

[USAFRet]

Also, what, exactly is on your current C drive?

Do the same WinDirStat on the C drive.

 

[eco_bach]

Both WinDirStat and WizTree only recognize C and D drives.

My C drive is a combination or Program Files, and UnrealEngine work and Cache data.

 

[USAFRet]

Both WinDirStat and WizTree only recognize C and D drives.

My C drive is a combination or Program Files, and UnrealEngine work and Cache data.

Right.
Disk 1 has no drive letter.

But please post the screen cap of each of those individually.
We can probably identify a LOT of waste.

Currently, you have 3x 512GB drives. 1.5TB.
Likely, at least 1/2 of that is totally wasted.

 

[SkyNetRising]

To be honest not 100% sure whats going on with Drive 1. Unable to assign a drive letter.
I think it may have something to do with a dual boot Windows-Linux setup when I first did the build 5 years back but haven't booted into Linux for a few years! WIndows is all I really need at the moment

That drive is probably with some linux specific file system.
Windows can't read it.

Format it to NTFS and then you'll be able to assign a drive letter.

 

[eco_bach]

Thanks. Am probably going to remove and replace anyways with a 2TB NVMe.
Ditto for C Drive Disk 0
My only challenge really is the best way to move copy or transfer my existing Win10 install to the newer 2 TB NVMe.
Appreciate all the help I’ve received here!

 

[Lafong]

Have you bought the 2 TB drive yet? What drive do you intend to use?

Your current boot drive seems to have about 360 gb used;

That will easily fit on a 2 TB drive.

Method either cloning or imaging.

Try cloning. If that fails, try imaging.

Macrium Reflect would be the standard recommendation. Possibly others depending on what SPECIFIC 2 TB drive you use.

 

[USAFRet]

Thanks. Am probably going to remove and replace anyways with a 2TB NVMe.
Ditto for C Drive Disk 0
My only challenge really is the best way to move copy or transfer my existing Win10 install to the newer 2 TB NVMe.
Appreciate all the help I’ve received here!

-----------------------------
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 Magician (which includes 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.
-----------------------------

 

[USAFRet]

BUT.....

Undo the pagefile from Disk 2. And any other OS links that may live on that drive (cache?)

This is why I asked about the WinDirStat image...to evaluate what is on these drives.

 

[eco_bach]

Have you bought the 2 TB drive yet? What drive do you intend to use?

Your current boot drive seems to have about 360 gb used;

That will easily fit on a 2 TB drive.

Method either cloning or imaging.

Try cloning. If that fails, try imaging.

Macrium Reflect would be the standard recommendation. Possibly others depending on what SPECIFIC 2 TB drive you use.

Thanks. Think I am going with the Samsung 980 Pro 2 TB. There is also the 990 EVO which seems a bit cheaper.

 

[SkyNetRising]

Think I am going with the Samsung 980 Pro 2 TB. There is also the 990 EVO which seems a bit cheaper.

Why don't you just reuse available space on Disk 1 ?
It will probably take you years to fill it.

 

[eco_bach]

Why don't you just reuse available space on Disk 1 ?
It will probably take you years to fill it.

Thanks. You obviously don't work in the VFX industry. In a typical complex 1 minute volumetric simulation the rendered VDB sequence can easilly fill a TB of drive space! Same goes for both RAM and VRAM. Never enough!

 

[eco_bach]

BUT.....

Undo the pagefile from Disk 2. And any other OS links that may live on that drive (cache?)

This is why I asked about the WinDirStat image...to evaluate what is on these drives.

Just wanted to thank you for your detailed help!

2 points I wanted to confirm

1_ You run Samsung Data Migration on the C drive you are actually cloing?
2_ After the cloning operation and before rebooting, should you swap the slots of your current source C drive) and target NVMes?

Thanks again!

 

[USAFRet]

Just wanted to thank you for your detailed help!

Good luck.

Let us know how it turns out.

 

[SkyNetRising]

You obviously don't work in the VFX industry. In a typical complex 1 minute volumetric simulation the rendered VDB sequence can easilly fill a TB of drive space! Same goes for both RAM and VRAM. Never enough!

If that is your usual workload, how will 2TB SSD help there?
You'll need a high capacity storage device - 10TB HDD? 20TB HDD?

 

[quiffboy]

I've done this a few times

Download Macrium Reflect - there's an older "free edition" version that is free and 100% functional - v8.0.7783

https://www.softpedia.com/get/System/Back-Up-and-Recovery/Macrium-Reflect-Free-Edition.shtml

As long as the new nvme is larger than the old one, its super easy

This video explains it all:

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yNgMl5zK09E


You may need a cheap external nvme usb case, if you dont have enough slots on the motherboard for both the old and new drives to be connected at the same time - I used this and it did the job perfectly https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B08RVC6F9Y

 

[eco_bach]

I've done this a few times

Download Macrium Reflect - there's an older "free edition" version that is free and 100% functional - v8.0.7783

https://www.softpedia.com/get/System/Back-Up-and-Recovery/Macrium-Reflect-Free-Edition.shtml

As long as the new nvme is larger than the old one, its super easy

This video explains it all:

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yNgMl5zK09E


You may need a cheap external nvme usb case, if you dont have enough slots on the motherboard for both the old and new drives to be connected at the same time - I used this and it did the job perfectly https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B08RVC6F9Y

Thanks! Since I’m cloning Samsung to Samsung I’m inclined to use Samsung Magician software for the cloning process. Not sure if I will still need the MinitooksPartition Wizard software to adjust partitions afterwards.