[SOLVED] Use a backup image of Windows 10 on a new SSD.

[ptferg1234]

Currently waiting on a new M.2 SSD to arrive and I just need to know how to properly use the image of the SSD.

The SSD has Windows 10, programs, settings, a game or two, and some mods.

I used Macrium Reflect to make the image and it's stored on one of my hard drives.

 

[Darkbreeze]

Are you cloning from an identical sized drive as the new drive, or is the old drive larger?

Normally, this is the accepted steps, and I'll just link to fellow moderator USAFRet here since he has a very good list of steps to use with Macrium.

https://forums.tomshardware.com/threads/cloning-hdd-to-ssd-failing.3361274/post-20464337


As far as an actual guide goes, this:

https://blog.macrium.com/techie-tuesday-cloning-a-disk-764bed0ad6e1

 

[ptferg1234]

The drive I am going to upgrade too is a 1 TB M.2 Intel 660p from a Crucial MX300 275GB.

 

[Darkbreeze]

Ok, so going bigger is not a problem, BUT, you will likely want to make an adjustment to the size of the partition when you prepare to actually copy the partitions to the new drive or else you'll likely end up with a partition on the new drive that is only the size of the partition that was on the old drive.

So, don't forget to include the boot and EFI partitions when you clone the old drive, if you ONLY clone the C: partition, you're going to be in for a big surprise when it won't boot. Clone ALL partitions from the old drive, EXCEPT, and this is up to you whether to include it or not, any recovery or restore partitions. I generally leave those off and only include the boot, efi and C: partitions. And after moving all required partitions into the window that represents what the clone will look like, you can generally stretch the size of the C: partition to take up any remaining space that will be available on the new drive. It will then create a partition that is as large as possible, but not the the exclusion of having enough space for your "hidden" partitions that need to be kept.