Regarding Cloning Drives

[JoeD11288]

Hello everyone, bit of a possibly dumb question. I've never had to do anything with regards to cloning drives so I am very new to all of this.

My question basically is; I have a PC with a 250gb PNY 2.5 SSD installed that houses my OS. I'm in the process of getting a new laptop. Is it possible to clone my SSD that's in my PC to an m.2 NVMe drive and install that into the new laptop? Or would that cause issues?

Any help would be appreciated. Thanks everyone.

 

[inzane4all]

If your cloning and plan to put the SSD on a different model computer (desktop > laptop), you'll run into problems with device drivers, as your desktop and laptop have different hardware. It's better to just install a fresh copy of the OS on that SSD you plan on using with the laptop. Just download all the drivers from the laptop manufacturer first, create a Bootable USB with Windows, install the OS, finish by installing the drivers for the laptop. Then you would just migrate/reinstall the software that was on your desktop to the laptop.

But yeah, direct cloning only works when you have two of the same model systems.

 

[JoeD11288]

If your cloning and plan to put the SSD on a different model computer (desktop > laptop), you'll run into problems with device drivers, as your desktop and laptop have different hardware. It's better to just install a fresh copy of the OS on that SSD you plan on using with the laptop. Just download all the drivers from the laptop manufacturer first, create a Bootable USB with Windows, install the OS, finish by installing the drivers for the laptop. Then you would just migrate/reinstall the software that was on your desktop to the laptop.

But yeah, direct cloning only works when you have two of the same model systems.

I figured as much; wasn't even taking drivers into consideration, that alone would have been a red flag.

Thanks for your quick response, much appreciated!