Transfer an OS boot drive from one SSD to a new SSD?

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CutCutCut

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Ultimate Geek
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Topic # 185453 23-Nov-2015 16:31

Ok, so I have a Windows 10 (insider Preview version) installed on an older 120GB SSD and I want to swap it across to a new bigger SSD. I've been doing some reading but I think I'm getting a bit muddled. I think all I need to do is clone the old drive to the new drive and then swap the drives physically. Is that right? Do I need to change the drive letter of the new drive to C: somehow before I unplug the old one? Do i need to intialise/format the new SSD in a particular fashion?

Has anybody done this with a Windows 10 machine?

Thanks!

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Reply # 1433394 23-Nov-2015 16:36

Hi,
There are a bunch of free utilities that will clone the drives - you just need them both plugged in.

I have used EaseUs, otherwise:
http://lifehacker.com/5837543/how-to-migrate-to-a-solid-state-drive-without-reinstalling-windows
http://www.maximumpc.com/how-clone-hard-drive-or-ssd-2014/

both a little out of date but still valid.

MadEngineer

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Reply # 1433397 23-Nov-2015 16:44

You're correct and it's a very simple task. Your new ssd should have come with instructions or even a link to get some free software to do this for you. If not, take a look at the manufacturers website and see if they offer some software

The alternative is to connect a drive of a manufacturer that does offer such software to you PC and simply use theirs.

I've had great success with "acronis", cloning drives on their way out which is free to seagate and western digital owners, for example.

Depending on your system, I highly suggest googling for and running the "Intel driver update" utility before hand, especially on older hardware that uses "rapid storage technology".

CutCutCut

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Reply # 1433398 23-Nov-2015 16:47

It sounds relatively straight-forward, I was probably just over thinking it.

timmmay

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Reply # 1433402 23-Nov-2015 16:51

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Macrium Reflect Free, make a boot USB. Though why not keep the OS on the smaller SSD and use the bigger SSD for data? That's what I do, that way my OS images with Macrium Reflect to back up my OS are small, without heaps of data making them bigger. A partition for OS and programs is another approach - my OS + programs (W10 with Office, Photoshop, bits and pieces) is 26GB not including swap, scratch, or data.

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ScuL

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Reply # 1433410 23-Nov-2015 17:01

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Be careful with Windows 10, if the BIOS is not in legacy mode but in UEFI mode, it may refuse to boot from the new disk. I've experienced great trouble with this due to conflicting disk UUID's

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Reply # 1433414 23-Nov-2015 17:12

timmmay: Though why not keep the OS on the smaller SSD and use the bigger SSD for data? That's what I do, that way my OS images with Macrium Reflect to back up my OS are small, without heaps of data making them bigger. A partition for OS and programs is another approach - my OS + programs (W10 with Office, Photoshop, bits and pieces) is 26GB not including swap, scratch, or data.

+1 for using two SSDs. Multiple partitions on one physical drive is also a good idea.

There are many benefits in terms of functionality and performance, including those timmmay points out, but there are also some cautions. For example, if you move your files/folders around a lot then multiple partitions could be slower to use. Moving files within one partition only involves writing new pointers in the file directory without having to move the files at all.

CutCutCut

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Reply # 1433433 23-Nov-2015 17:35

ScuL: Be careful with Windows 10, if the BIOS is not in legacy mode but in UEFI mode, it may refuse to boot from the new disk. I've experienced great trouble with this due to conflicting disk UUID's

I'm pretty sure the bios is set to UEFI mode. Did you find a way around this? I thought maybe Windows 10 would have some kinda check for the os drive.

ScuL

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Reply # 1433441 23-Nov-2015 17:44

My solution was to format it all and go back to Windows 7 :P But I'm sure you didn't want to hear this. Let's just try it and see if it works, you've got nothing to lose. If it fails you can always put the old disk back and find another method :)

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Reply # 1433472 23-Nov-2015 19:02

YIKES. Just bought a new SSD ... didn't want to hear this!

1101

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Reply # 1433738 24-Nov-2015 09:34

The software that comes with Samsungs SSD's works very well. Otherwise WD software(acronus) or Active@ to do the clone.
Active@ isnt free but you get a 1-2 week trial period & that all you need to do the job.
http://lsoft.net/bootdisk.aspx

Booting from CD/USB will be the hard part , UEFI can be a painfull experince
http://www.howtogeek.com/175649/what-you-need-to-know-about-using-uefi-instead-of-the-bios/

Otherwise you may be able to clone drives from within Windows itself , thats an option with some HD clone software .\

Just my opinion, but I wouldnt bother spitting a drive into multiple partitions, unless it was a large HD (ie 500Gb+)
Even then, its often not worth the effort , certainly dont do it with a small SSD .

CutCutCut

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Reply # 1433755 24-Nov-2015 09:55

I plan to re-purpose the old SSD as a boot drive for another PC.
I'll try the cloning, hopefully in the next few days if I get the time.
Slightly off topic but I was having a quick flick through what was on my current SSD drive, there was more on there than I thought. What is windows.old, it was pretty full, about 10gb I think. I know you get those folders when you do an upgrade from a previous windows version. But I did a clean install to the windows insider version. Is it an older version of windows 10 in there, if I want to roll back a version?

richms

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Reply # 1433776 24-Nov-2015 10:37

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ScuL: Be careful with Windows 10, if the BIOS is not in legacy mode but in UEFI mode, it may refuse to boot from the new disk. I've experienced great trouble with this due to conflicting disk UUID's

Yes, so make sure you only boot first time with one of the drives plugged in, windows will re-number one of them, and there is a chance that it will be the wrong one.

Once booted off the replacement drive, the old one can be connected and it should get changed.

Richard rich.ms

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Reply # 1433814 24-Nov-2015 11:28

richms:
ScuL: Be careful with Windows 10, if the BIOS is not in legacy mode but in UEFI mode, it may refuse to boot from the new disk. I've experienced great trouble with this due to conflicting disk UUID's

Yes, so make sure you only boot first time with one of the drives plugged in, windows will re-number one of them, and there is a chance that it will be the wrong one.

Once booted off the replacement drive, the old one can be connected and it should get changed.

Sorry i don't get this, what do you mean boot first time?