Question Thoughts on cloning my hard drive so I can upgrade to a larger one?

[Franknj229]

I have a Dell XPS 15 9560 that is almost out of hard drive space. I’d like to swap it out with a 1 TB drive, mainly just because it’s possible so why not, but I want the most seamless transition possible.

I know I will need cloning software, and I assume I need some kind of hard drive reader, since I don’t have an extra slot in my laptop.

Anyone with experience cloning have any tips? I don’t necessarily need free solutions, just the easiest possible process. I don’t want to lose anything.

Thanks!

 

[USAFRet]

I have a Dell XPS 15 9560 that is almost out of hard drive space. I’d like to swap it out with a 1 TB drive, mainly just because it’s possible so why not, but I want the most seamless transition possible.

I know I will need cloning software, and I assume I need some kind of hard drive reader, since I don’t have an extra slot in my laptop.

Anyone with experience cloning have any tips? I don’t necessarily need free solutions, just the easiest possible process. I don’t want to lose anything.

Thanks!

Do you have any other external drive?

What size/make/model is the current drive?

(yes, this can be done easily, in a couple of different ways)

 

[Lutfij]

I have a Dell XPS 15 9560
Looking through the specs to your laptop;
https://dl.dell.com/topicspdf/xps-15-9560-laptop_specifications_en-us.pdf
it looks like you have provision for more than one drive to populate your laptop, notably 1x 2.5" drive and 1x PCIe 3.0x4 M.2 drive. What do you currently have on your laptop? You can pass on a screenshot of your Disk Management window as well as Device Manager, showing the disk drives listed under it.

Edit:
I've worked on the 9570, and I went looking into my images, there's provision for a 2.5" drive if you merely got an M.2 SSD from the factory.

 

[Franknj229]

I have a Dell XPS 15 9560
Looking through the specs to your laptop;
https://dl.dell.com/topicspdf/xps-15-9560-laptop_specifications_en-us.pdf
it looks like you have provision for more than one drive to populate your laptop, notably 1x 2.5" drive and 1x PCIe 3.0x4 M.2 drive. What do you currently have on your laptop? You can pass on a screenshot of your Disk Management window as well as Device Manager, showing the disk drives listed under it.

Edit:
I've worked on the 9570, and I went looking into my images, there's provision for a 2.5" drive if you merely got an M.2 SSD from the factory.

Sorry, can't figure out how to attach a screenshot, but Disk Management only shows 1 internal drive and my 2 external drives connected to my USB ports. Device manager shows the same 3 drives. Next to the internal is: NVMe THNSN5256GPUK NV

I haven't opened the case yet to physically see what I have, but I've seen some videos that say the 9560 has 2 available slots and some that say it only has 1. Maybe it depends on the year? I got this laptop about 4.5 years ago. I'm going to upgrade the RAM, so I'll see how it looks once I get inside.

 

[USAFRet]

Sorry, can't figure out how to attach a screenshot, but Disk Management only shows 1 internal drive and my 2 external drives connected to my USB ports. Device manager shows the same 3 drives. Next to the internal is: NVMe THNSN5256GPUK NV

I haven't opened the case yet to physically see what I have, but I've seen some videos that say the 9560 has 2 available slots and some that say it only has 1. Maybe it depends on the year? I got this laptop about 4.5 years ago. I'm going to upgrade the RAM, so I'll see how it looks once I get inside.

Upload your pic to imgur.com, post the link here.

 

[Franknj229]

Upload your pic to imgur.com, post the link here.

https://imgur.com/8S4ojVw

View: https://imgur.com/8S4ojVw

https://imgur.com/fROT7b5

View: https://imgur.com/fROT7b5


Did that work?

 

[USAFRet]

Yes.

OK.
You have a 250GB C drive
2 TB 'MyPassport' (USB)
4TB LaCie (USB?)

You wish to change the 250GB C drive for something larger?

 

[Franknj229]

Yes.

OK.
You have a 250GB C drive
2 TB 'MyPassport' (USB)
4TB LaCie (USB?)

You wish to change the 250GB C drive for something larger?

Yes, I want to swap out the 250GB for a 1TB, but I don't want to have to "start over" after the swap. I want everything the same except the storage capacity.

 

[USAFRet]

Yes, I want to swap out the 250GB for a 1TB, but I don't want to have to "start over" after the swap. I want everything the same except the storage capacity.

Just like this:
(You'll need a blank 8GB flash drive)

Assuming you have another drive (any type of drive) with sufficient free space to hold the entirety of your current m.2 drive. Either your D or E:

1. Download and install Macrium Reflect
2. Run that, and create a Rescue CD or USB (you'll use this later). "Other Tasks". Create this on a small USB flash drive or DVD.
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. Restore (on the toolbar), and tell it where the Image is that you created in step 3, and which drive to apply it to...the new drive
8. Go, and wait until it finishes.
9. That's all...this should work.

 

[geofelt]

If this is your laptop, then you have a second m.2 slot.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oZ1Y-kZrcUg

The easy way to upgrade is to buy a samsung m.2 ssd that is sufficiently larger than what you have.
Perhaps 1 or even 2tb.
You would install the new m2 in the second slot and use the samsung ssd migration aid.
It is part of Samsung magician.

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

Take the time to read the included manual.

You run the migration aid which will move your C drive to the new ssd.
Be patient, it might take an hour.
When done, remove the original ssd which will be unchanged.
Move the newly copied ssd to the original location and test.

 

[Franknj229]

If this is your laptop, then you have a second m.2 slot.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oZ1Y-kZrcUg

The easy way to upgrade is to buy a samsung m.2 ssd that is sufficiently larger than what you have.
Perhaps 1 or even 2tb.
You would install the new m2 in the second slot and use the samsung ssd migration aid.
It is part of Samsung magician.

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

Take the time to read the included manual.

You run the migration aid which will move your C drive to the new ssd.
Be patient, it might take an hour.
When done, remove the original ssd which will be unchanged.
Move the newly copied ssd to the original location and test.

https://imgur.com/a/vXJdcHC

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


This is my XPS 15 9560. Is there a slot for a second drive? Maybe I had the option and saved some money by only getting one.

 

[geofelt]

It looks like you do have a m.2 slot, but it looks like it is being used for a wifi capability.
No matter.
You have a normal 2.5" sata ssd of whatever size.
Buy a samsung 870 EVO larger than your current C drive.
A 1tb unit is about $100.
Buy a usb to sata adapter cable like this: about $10.

https://www.amazon.com/StarTech-com...8-2-spons&sp_csd=d2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9hdGY&th=1

Use that to run the migration aid.
When done, replace the ssd in your laptop.
The old drive will be unchanged and you can do what you wish with it.

 

[Franknj229]

You have a normal 2.5" sata ssd of whatever size.

Isn't that an M.2 in my laptop?

 

[USAFRet]

Isn't that an M.2 in my laptop?

The bottom right corner of your pic?
That looks like a 2.5" SATA SSD.

If you can, get a close up pic of the labels on it.

 

[Franknj229]

The bottom right corner of your pic?
That looks like a 2.5" SATA SSD.

If you can, get a close up pic of the labels on it.

I didn't take that bracket off, but I think it's just a space saver for maybe replacing the battery with a longer one. The drive just to the left (the way the pic posted) of that bracket says "Solid State Drive NVMe 256 GB Toshiba" on it. I'm assuming that's an M.2 2280?

 

[USAFRet]

I didn't take that bracket off, but I think it's just a space saver for maybe replacing the battery with a longer one. The drive just to the left (the way the pic posted) of that bracket says "Solid State Drive NVMe 256 GB Toshiba" on it. I'm assuming that's an M.2 2280?

Yes, the thing just to the left is indeed an M.2 drive.
Make/model would be helpful.

Along with a screencap of your Disk Management window.

 

[Franknj229]

Yes, the thing just to the left is indeed an M.2 drive.
Make/model would be helpful.

Along with a screencap of your Disk Management window.

https://imgur.com/a/AA4qQIe

View: https://imgur.com/a/AA4qQIe


Disk management window and Device Manager screen are posted earlier in the thread.

 

[USAFRet]

OK.
256GB Toshiba PCIe 3.0 x 4.

The steps in #9 above should work just fine.