Advice needed: Cloning current OS SSD into a bigger one.

Hi all,

I have a Windows PC which still runs quite well. My primary disk is a 256GB SSD and the secondary is a 1TB HDD. I'm running out of space in my primary SSD

Now I want to replace my primary 256GB SSD and put a new 1TB SSD instead. For this, first I want to clone it (have many programs installed, I'd like to keep it working as is) and then physically replace it so that it boots with the new one.

For this, I have the new SSD connected to the PC with an USB3.2 to M2 NVME/SATA enclosure. It is correctly detected and I have been able to format it with Windows disk manager.

Now, which software would you recommend for cloning? My main concern (may have understood wrongly) is that I've read that, depending on how the cloning process works or is configured, the final SSD will be seen by the system with the same size as the original one. Of course, this is not what I want: I'd like to have what I had, in a 1TB unit instead of a 256GB one.

Thanks in advance for any advice

EaseUS Partition master or AOMEI Partition, the new disk will be 256GB but then you can increase the size of the partitions to the full disk size, using the same SW.

+1 for ease us. Its expensive. You may want to see this.
?https://youtu.be/ 88OSFMoblOI

I'd install Linux (*) on an unused USB drive, boot it without the enclosure attached. Start gparted and find the name of the small, internal SSD. Attach the enclosure, refresh gparted and find the name of the new disk. Then go to a terminal window and use the dd command with the drive names we learned, to clone the disk. Wait for it to finish. Then back to gparted, refresh and go to the new disk. Resize the position and hit save. Done.

This is a pretty good method if you're comfortable working with tools like this. There is a single point where you risk data loss, and that is of you fat finger the disk names in the dd command. (If you mess up you might accidently swap master and destination. I've cloned like this perhaps hundred times and I've never messed up, but I'm also very careful.)

(*) Just about any distro that can live boot should be acceptable, if it contains the gparted tool. (All contain dd, it's so standard.) Then again, most live distros are able to install software of they have internet access. Example distros that would work fine: Ubuntu and Knoppix

We use clonezilla in our workshop for this exact scenario. Good opensource.

Thanks for all the inputs!!

Since I was anxious to already test it, I downloaded AOMEI partition just after my post. Went to sleep and this morning it was correctly cloned

The problem came when I replaced my old 256GB SSD and put the cloned one instead. It didn't recognize absolutely anything, and booted from the secondary HDD (which still has Windows in it, since it was the original disk in my laptop). Updated BIOS, tried several things...until I realized that the new SSD is PCIe and not SATA-III (or whatever) compatible, and that's why the laptop did not recognize it ?. The shocking thing (to me) is that the connector slots are compatible.

It is perhaps the first thing that an experienced user would look, but all those suffixes M.2, 2280, PCIe, SATA-III.... The first ones were correct, but had to be M2 SATA instead of M2 PCIe

Just ordered a new 500GB SATA-III (this time I think I did it correctly) that will arrive tomorrow....will repeat the same operation ?
Regarding the current SSD, I'll check its speed as an external drive (with the USB enclosure) and decide if I return it or use as a portable backup.


Thanks again

Try Macrium Reflect Free.

Here

I use it for drive to SSD clones all the time and have never had a problem (as long as the drive is sound to start from). You can change partition sizes as you go as well.

David