[SOLVED] Switch Windows 10 boot drive to NVMe SSD without reinstalling

[gmoothart]

I recently bought and installed a Samsung 970 EVO ssd in my computer. Currently I'm booting from a SATA drive (partitioned with MBR if it matters).

What I would like to do is copy my windows installation over to the new SSD and mark it as the boot drive. I want to avoid having to reinstall Windows, because that's kind of a pain. I just want to do some kind of copy/clone and then update the boot drive.

My motherboard is an ASRock AB350M, if I read the manual correctly the NVMe slot is supported as a boot drive.

I see some articles online about how to install windows from scratch to an NVMe SSD, but none specifically for what I'm trying to do. How can I accomplish this?

TIA,
Gabe

 

[getochkn]

https://www.ubackup.com/clone/clone-nvme-to-nvme-3889.html

 

[USAFRet]

What OS?
How much data is on the current C drive?
What size is the new SSD?

 

[gmoothart]

What OS?
How much data is on the current C drive?
What size is the new SSD?

Windows 10
Current C drive has 105GB of data on it
New SSD is 500 GB

 

[USAFRet]

-----------------------------
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
Download and install Macrium Reflect (or Samsung Data Migration, if a Samsung SSD)
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
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.
-----------------------------

 

[gmoothart]

Thanks for the replies. The one thing that I think isn't covered so far is that the source disk is formatted with MBR and the NVMe SSD must be GPT in order to be a boot drive, at least I thought so according to my internet searches. Anyway, I first used MBR2GPT to convert the source drive to GPT, then I cloned that drive to the NVMe destination using Samsung Data Migration, then I powered off, removed the old boot drive, and powered back on. And it worked!

Thanks everyone.

 

[SkyNetRising]

NVMe SSD must be GPT in order to be a boot drive, at least I thought so according to my internet searches.

BTW - that is not absolutely necessary.
You can boot from NVME drive just fine - even if it is partitioned in MBR.