Question Windows 11 - Changing two M.2 drives around / cloning windows drive

[AdamOnDrumz]

So I'm looking to change my main windows 11 drive to a new drive with better performance / more space. I'm a little stuck on exactly how to clone/ move the drives about as three will be 2 drives and only two slots :')
Please Help :')

My motherboard has slots for TWO M.2 drives which are both filled. The first m.2 slot on the motherboard is PCIE 4, the second M.2 slot is only PCIE 3. so id like the keep the boot drive in the first PCIE 4 slot.
Currently, The first drive (C) ( with windows on it) is a Crucial 1TB p2 M.2 Drive. I want to swap this out with a Samsung 2TB 990 pro by cloning my Crucial 1tb windows drive to the new 990 pro2tb keeping all the file sin place .... windows install plus all file in place. The Other drive (D) i want to leave in the second M.2 slot.


My questions is:
To clone the drive would i remove the second (D) SSD temporarily, put the new 990 pro in its place to clone it. power off then remove the Crucial 1tb from the (C) Slot, put the new 990 Pro 2tb (Now cloned) back in the (C) Drive slot? Then put my second drive i have back in the (D) slot?

Would i have any problems doing this?

Any help would be greatly appreciated! i Hope this makes sense :')
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ---------------------------------------------------------------
My current system specs:
Operating System: Windows 11
Motherboard: Gigabyte b550 Aorus Elite v2
CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 - 5600x
GPU: MSI gaming x trio - 3070
RAM: Corsair Vengeance LPX 32GB(2 x 16GB) 3600Mhz-C16
SSD1: Crucial p2 1tb (Currently)
SSD2: Kingston nv2 1tb

 

[Bob.B]

So I'm looking to change my main windows 11 drive to a new drive with better performance / more space. I'm a little stuck on exactly how to clone/ move the drives about as three will be 2 drives and only two slots :')
Please Help :')

My motherboard has slots for TWO M.2 drives which are both filled. The first m.2 slot on the motherboard is PCIE 4, the second M.2 slot is only PCIE 3. so id like the keep the boot drive in the first PCIE 4 slot.
Currently, The first drive (C ( with windows on it) is a Crucial 1TB p2 M.2 Drive. I want to swap this out with a Samsung 2TB 990 pro by cloning my Crucial 1tb windows drive to the new 990 pro2tb keeping all the file sin place .... windows install plus all file in place. The Other drive (D i want to leave in the second M.2 slot.


My questions is:
To clone the drive would i remove the second (D SSD temporarily, put the new 990 pro in its place to clone it. power off then remove the Crucial 1tb from the (C Slot, put the new 990 Pro 2tb (Now cloned) back in the (C Drive slot? Then put my second drive i have back in the (D slot?

Would i have any problems doing this?

Any help would be greatly appreciated! i Hope this makes sense :')
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ---------------------------------------------------------------
My current system specs:
Operating System: Windows 11
Motherboard: Gigabyte b550 Aorus Elite v2
CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 - 5600x
GPU: MSI gaming x trio - 3070
RAM: Corsair Vengeance LPX 32GB(2 x 16GB) 3600Mhz-C16
SSD1: Crucial p2 1tb (Currently)
SSD2: Kingston nv2 1tb

Looks fine I would suggest before adding the orig ssd back in slot 2 you boot from the new ssd in slot 1 and make sure everything works.

 

[AdamOnDrumz]

Looks fine I would suggest before adding the orig ssd back in slot 2 you boot from the new ssd in slot 1 and make sure everything works.

Thank you bob! I will do that
You are a legend ^_^

 

[AdamOnDrumz]

Looks fine I would suggest before adding the orig ssd back in slot 2 you boot from the new ssd in slot 1 and make sure everything works.

actually thinking about it, wouldn't it just be WAY easier to get an external M.2 enclosure, temporarily put the new Samsung 990 Pro in it and then clone to the new 990 through the M.2 adapter?
That way I could totally leave my 2nd SSD in its place right?

 

[USAFRet]

actually thinking about it, wouldn't it just be WAY easier to get an external M.2 enclosure, temporarily put the new Samsung 990 Pro in it and then clone to the new 990 through the M.2 adapter?
That way I could totally leave my 2nd SSD in its place right?
I could also use the enclosure later on to wipe my old Crucial SSD as I want to sell it

You can do it that was as well, but extra expense.


-----------------------------
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
Both drives must be the same partitioning scheme, either MBR or GPT
Download and install Macrium Reflect (or Samsung Data Migration, if a Samsung target SSD)
If you are cloning from a SATA drive to PCIe/NVMe, you may need to install the relevant driver for this new NVMe/PCIe drive.
Power off
Disconnect ALL drives except the current C and the new SSD
Power up

Verify the system boots with ONLY the current "C drive" connected.
If not, we have to fix that first.

Run the Macrium Reflect (or Samsung Data Migration)
Select ALL the partitions on the existing C drive

[Ignore this section if using the SDM. It does this automatically]
If you are going from a smaller drive to a larger, by default, the target partition size will be the same as the Source. You probably don't want that
You can manipulate the size of the partitions on the target (larger)drive
Click on "Cloned Partition Properties", and you can specify the resulting partition size, to even include the whole thing
[/end ignore]

Click the 'Clone' button
Wait until it is done
When it finishes, power off
Disconnect ALL drives except for the new SSD. This is not optional.
This is to allow the system to try to boot from ONLY the SSD

[ignore this cable swapping]
(swapping cables is irrelevant with NVMe drives, but DO disconnect the old drive for this next part)
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
[/end ignore]

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.
-----------------------------

 

[AdamOnDrumz]

You can do it that was as well, but extra expense.


-----------------------------
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
Both drives must be the same partitioning scheme, either MBR or GPT
Download and install Macrium Reflect (or Samsung Data Migration, if a Samsung target SSD)
If you are cloning from a SATA drive to PCIe/NVMe, you may need to install the relevant driver for this new NVMe/PCIe drive.
Power off
Disconnect ALL drives except the current C and the new SSD
Power up

Verify the system boots with ONLY the current "C drive" connected.
If not, we have to fix that first.

Run the Macrium Reflect (or Samsung Data Migration)
Select ALL the partitions on the existing C drive

[Ignore this section if using the SDM. It does this automatically]
If you are going from a smaller drive to a larger, by default, the target partition size will be the same as the Source. You probably don't want that
You can manipulate the size of the partitions on the target (larger)drive
Click on "Cloned Partition Properties", and you can specify the resulting partition size, to even include the whole thing
[/end ignore]

Click the 'Clone' button
Wait until it is done
When it finishes, power off
Disconnect ALL drives except for the new SSD. This is not optional.
This is to allow the system to try to boot from ONLY the SSD

[ignore this cable swapping]
(swapping cables is irrelevant with NVMe drives, but DO disconnect the old drive for this next part)
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
[/end ignore]

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.
-----------------------------

Wow thank you that's amazingly detailed i understand fully nothing is unclear!
I brought a M.2 Enclose anyway as I'm going to turn the old m.2 into a external SSD.

My only question is, would i still need to remove my second drive to do the cloning process, if i use the M.2 enclosure with the 990-Pro in it?
This guy did the process identically to the way you suggested just with his other drives still in

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D31gW5_4Tk4
- is this okay?

I really appreciate the help!!!

 

[USAFRet]

Ideally, you DO remove the other drive.

This does a couple of things:
1. It verifies the system boots from ONLY the supposed C drive
2. It prevents mistakes. 'oops, I selected the wrong drive' (we see this here all the time)

 

[AdamOnDrumz]

Ideally, you DO remove the other drive.

This does a couple of things:
1. It verifies the system boots from ONLY the supposed C drive
2. It prevents mistakes. 'oops, I selected the wrong drive' (we see this here all the time)

Ahh i see, that makes perfect sense :')
Thanks again ^_^

 

[Dark Lord of Tech]

Use the disk genius OS migration Tool! bETTER THAN sAMSUNG Migration Software in my opinion.

DiskGenius: Data Recovery, Partition Manager, Backup & Disk Utilities

DiskGenius provides an all-in-one solution for data recovery, disk partition management and backup & restore for Windows PCs, Servers and workstations.

www.diskgenius.com

 

[AdamOnDrumz]

Ideally, you DO remove the other drive.

This does a couple of things:
1. It verifies the system boots from ONLY the supposed C drive
2. It prevents mistakes. 'oops, I selected the wrong drive' (we see this here all the time)

Success! i did it EXACTLY how you said and it worked first perfectly ^_^
Thank you so much for your help!