[SOLVED] Transferring windows over from small M.2 to larger one with only one M.2 slot. Best approach?

[joeljoel1947]

Hi,
I currently have a 128GB M.2 SSD but have bought a 500GB one on the cheap to upgrade it a bit. Windows 10 is obviously installed on the M.2 SSD. I have a large 6TB HDD in the system as well for my main storage and various USB storage sticks laying around.

With only one M.2 slot on my motherboard, I'm wondering how and what would be the best approach to get Windows over from the smaller M.2 to the larger new one. Any thoughts or ideas or a step by step instruction? Trying not to screw things up in the process! Thanks in advance!

 

[USAFRet]

Assuming you have another drive with sufficient free space to hold the entirety of your current m.2 drive:

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.

 

[Mr.Spock]

Acronis or Macrium can create a disk image on you HDD.
If your HDD is a WD you can download the OEM Acronis otherwise Acronis is fully functional for 30-days anyway. (Crucial/Sabrent also offer it)

You create a recovery USB in either. Then create a disk image of the original NVMe to a directory on your HDD. shutdown, swap NVMe drives, boot off the USB and recover from your HDD to the new NVMe.

both work and sometimes one works where the other fails and vice versa. either way the old NVMe is unaffected and can be re-installed in a pinch

Hi,
I currently have a 128GB M.2 SSD but have bought a 500GB one on the cheap to upgrade it a bit. Windows 10 is obviously installed on the M.2 SSD. I have a large 6TB HDD in the system as well for my main storage and various USB storage sticks laying around.

With only one M.2 slot on my motherboard, I'm wondering how and what would be the best approach to get Windows over from the smaller M.2 to the larger new one. Any thoughts or ideas or a step by step instruction? Trying not to screw things up in the process! Thanks in advance!

 

[joeljoel1947]

Thanks a lot to you both!!!