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Windows 10 cloning HDD to new SSD, best software?

IcovaIcova Member UncommonPosts: 34
edited December 2018 in Hardware
Title says it all basically. I have only one partition on the current HDD. The new SSD has plenty of room. I will be then using the old HDD as additional storage.

With tons of free software to clone with, which should I choose, for easiest procedure, in your opinion?

HDD is Western Digital Blue, SSD is Western Digital Blue.

Thank You.

Additional input welcomed.

I endeavor to understand the thinking of those who have shaped our world, yet I lack the ability to insert my head, that far, up my ass.

Post edited by Icova on

Best Answer

  • iatesandiatesand UncommonPosts: 92
    edited December 2018 Answer ✓


    I use Acronis true image to image my os to new drives and to make a backup/restore image in case something goes amuck.  In my case I run it on a back up pc I uses for Audio encodong  so I just hook both drives (new and old) up two external SATA connections and image them.
    [Deleted User]Octagon7711Icova

Answers

  • RidelynnRidelynn Member EpicPosts: 7,383
    My vote, if you aren’t cloning a bootable OS drive, would be a bootable Linux thumb drive and dd, but it’s not exactly the most intuitive to use.

    If this is a Windows install and boot drive, I recommend a fresh install and then manually copy stuff over after that.

    i have tried to use a few other programs
    but none that I have tried have really resulted in repeated success. SSDs often come with some proprietary-branded cloning software that is passable but locked to that particular brand or model of SSD. YMMV.

    MikeBIcova
  • IcovaIcova Member UncommonPosts: 34
    edited December 2018
    yeah acronis is what I used , god I guess it's been five years ago, but I thought there might have been some advances etc since then. I'll wait to hear a few more opinions , but that will probably be my choice. TYVM

    I endeavor to understand the thinking of those who have shaped our world, yet I lack the ability to insert my head, that far, up my ass.

  • MadFrenchieMadFrenchie Member LegendaryPosts: 8,505
    edited December 2018
    Acronis TrueImage is a very easy to use software that'll get the job done.  I buy the newest version every couple of years, but I also do a fair amount of drive cloning/backups.
    Interesting..  You hacker!  Hacktavist!  Script Kiddie!
    [Deleted User]Icova

    image
  • RemyVorenderRemyVorender Member RarePosts: 4,005
    edited December 2018
    Fog. It's free and it'll do what you need. Just split the drivers and the OS. Note: you'd need an instance of linux installed on another drive to do it, or another separate linux box. 
    Icova

    Joined 2004 - I can't believe I've been a MMORPG.com member for 20 years! Get off my lawn!

  • saurus123saurus123 Member UncommonPosts: 678
    EaseUS Todo Backup
    Icova
  • IcovaIcova Member UncommonPosts: 34
    Well I screwed it up somehow. when I got done cloning with Acronis and shut the system down at the prompt, I disconnected the HDD from the motherboard, then moved the sata cable on the SSD to the previous HDD location and the started the computer. The Accer logo came up on the screen then nothing. Waited several minutes still nothing. rechecked connections, started again then nothing... many times.

    So I disconnected the SSD from the board, re connected the HDD to the original connector position. And I get : checking media prescience present start pxe over ipv4  wait a minute or two then : start pxe over ipv6 : wait a minute or two then it started windows.

    After windows started things seem normal so I restarted, went to boot menu in bios. In boot order I have ~ipv4 ~ipv6~ and ~boot manager~ (without tildes) only listed. No HDD1 etc, so I selected boot manager. and the same thing happens.

    Then I stopped as I'm loosing track of what I did and did not do, and posted this.

    any thoughts?

    PS it is entirely possible that I just swapped the sata connectors at the first restart after cloning. I don't know why I would have, I intended to only have the SSD connected. I'm second guessing everything I did as it has been several years and I never had a problem cloning before.

    Anyway Thanks
    Gdemami

    I endeavor to understand the thinking of those who have shaped our world, yet I lack the ability to insert my head, that far, up my ass.

  • IcovaIcova Member UncommonPosts: 34
    Wait thats wrong. I did not have boot manager selected, now I do, and its a different start but it starts windows without the media presence check etc. 

    Very tired think I see what you guys say and start over tomorrow. 

    Sorry man
    GdemamiRidelynn

    I endeavor to understand the thinking of those who have shaped our world, yet I lack the ability to insert my head, that far, up my ass.

  • PhryPhry Member LegendaryPosts: 11,004
    easiest method is probably just to do a fresh install of the OS on the SSD. At the very least it will avoid any issues, may be a pain but i've found whenever change something significant whether its a drive or the mobo, almost always have to reinstall the OS.
    RidelynnIcova
  • IcovaIcova Member UncommonPosts: 34
    Yeah trying to remember about oem windows 10, it's keyed to mobo (Dell) think I use an iso to a flash drive then boot from flash, which I dont even see as a boot option. shit IDK man think Ive just gotten too old for this shit.

    I endeavor to understand the thinking of those who have shaped our world, yet I lack the ability to insert my head, that far, up my ass.

  • RidelynnRidelynn Member EpicPosts: 7,383
    edited December 2018
    Can turn off the ip4 and ip6 — those are to boot remotely via network and just slow down the process.

    windows 10 is not that bad to reinstall any more. On most systems you just grab the media from Microsoft (it’s a free download not, make sure your on the legit Microsoft site), and burn a DVD or thumb drive. The download will even
    have most of the recent major patches already applied.

    Boot from it and reinstall. 9 times out of 10 it won’t even ask for CD key like it used to (it’s stored on the motherboard digitally).
    Icova[Deleted User]
  • PhryPhry Member LegendaryPosts: 11,004
    Icova said:
    Yeah trying to remember about oem windows 10, it's keyed to mobo (Dell) think I use an iso to a flash drive then boot from flash, which I dont even see as a boot option. shit IDK man think Ive just gotten too old for this shit.
    Locking an OS to a specific mobo is one of the most customer hostile things MS has ever done, one of the reasons i am sticking with Win 7 for the moment is that i can reinstall the OS on any system i build, or if i just replace the CPU/Mobo in an upgrade without having to buy the OS again.  :/
    GdemamiOctagon7711IcovaSal1
  • Octagon7711Octagon7711 Member LegendaryPosts: 9,004
    SedrynTyros said:
    MadFrenchie said:
    Acronis TrueImage is a very easy to use software that'll get the job done.  I buy the newest version every couple of years, but I also do a fair amount of drive cloning/backups.
    Interesting..  You hacker!  Hacktavist!  Script Kiddie!
    I have a large collection of stuff I've downloaded over the last 15 years and my method for backup is to clone my internal data drive to an external drive of the same size.  I also backup my OS disk, and my son's computer OS disk, regularly using Acronis imaging. 

    Back in the Pentium 3 days, I had my OS go to shit here and there and also experienced my data drive failing completely back in 2002 which resulted in me losing everything I'd collected.  It was then I realized it's less hassle to just make the time to back your shit up.  Then if something goes wrong, recovery is no big deal.
    I usually mirror the original, usually to a larger drive with Acronis and store the original as a backup and just use the mirrored drives.  Of all the drives I used and upgraded to over the years only one has gone bad and that turned out to be a physical failure.  
    Icova

    "We all do the best we can based on life experience, point of view, and our ability to believe in ourselves." - Naropa      "We don't see things as they are, we see them as we are."  SR Covey

  • Octagon7711Octagon7711 Member LegendaryPosts: 9,004
    Phry said:
    Icova said:
    Yeah trying to remember about oem windows 10, it's keyed to mobo (Dell) think I use an iso to a flash drive then boot from flash, which I dont even see as a boot option. shit IDK man think Ive just gotten too old for this shit.
    Locking an OS to a specific mobo is one of the most customer hostile things MS has ever done, one of the reasons i am sticking with Win 7 for the moment is that i can reinstall the OS on any system i build, or if i just replace the CPU/Mobo in an upgrade without having to buy the OS again.  :/
    I've heard guys that are considered very knowledgeable in the field and they hate Win 10, some even bought extra copies of seven, just in case.  
    GdemamiIcova

    "We all do the best we can based on life experience, point of view, and our ability to believe in ourselves." - Naropa      "We don't see things as they are, we see them as we are."  SR Covey

  • IcovaIcova Member UncommonPosts: 34
    edited December 2018
    I'm inclined to think I just got out of sync and when I finished the clone I swapped the sata's instead of unplugging the old Primary, and fired her up.

    I have a recovery drive,(USB), if I can figure how to get it to boot. I can't imagine the bios got changed. I must not be seeing something.

    Maybe I can recover the original primary, and then re clone the SSD and make sure I dont have them both connected on first boot.

    I endeavor to understand the thinking of those who have shaped our world, yet I lack the ability to insert my head, that far, up my ass.

  • GdemamiGdemami Member EpicPosts: 12,342
    You shouldn't be cloning ssd to hdd unless you know what you are doing, which isn't your case.

    Unplug your hdd and plug in ssd, make a fresh install. Connect back your hdd and copy files to your ssd.
    Icova
  • QuizzicalQuizzical Member LegendaryPosts: 25,483
    Windows 7 goes off support in a little over a year.  If you already have it, fine, but I wouldn't try to go get it now.  Using an unsupported OS is practically begging for malware.
    GdemamiAsm0deusIcova
  • RidelynnRidelynn Member EpicPosts: 7,383
    edited December 2018
    Windows has always been tied to the motherboard. They just never had a good way to enforce it. The new digital signature is a lot more convenient than needing to call an India-based hotline, trying to explain to them that you just swapped a HDD , waiting on the phone 20 minutes for a manager to approve, and then trying to key in a 80-digit unlock key being read to you in a thick accent.
    IcovaGdemami
  • RidelynnRidelynn Member EpicPosts: 7,383
    There are some hidden bits on the front end of the first disk installed in the system: GPT or the older MBR. 

    Its where the BIOS goes to find which drive and partition has the boot disk.

    The newer GPT is also hardware specific - you can’t just say SATA port 3 partition 2 - it’s tied to your disk serial. Which is a good thing - that allows it to support removable and swappable media, it’s not a form of DRM or anything.

    Most cloning software (some exceptions but it’s hit or miss) can’t copy this part correctly, so after a disk clone once you remove the original drive, the GPT or MBR is gone and the computer freaks out. 

    Running Windows recovery to repair the installation usually can correct the problem without a reinstall by recreating the boot loader on the new drive.
    Icova[Deleted User]
  • MadFrenchieMadFrenchie Member LegendaryPosts: 8,505
    Honestly don't remember what I used to clone my drive from HDD to SSD.

    Worked like a charm.  Which is good, because hardware is not my thing. :D 

    Sorry to hear you're having issues dude, but you're in pretty good hands here between Ridelynn and Quizzical! :+1:

    image
  • RidelynnRidelynn Member EpicPosts: 7,383
    Torval said:
    Ridelynn said:
    Windows has always been tied to the motherboard. They just never had a good way to enforce it. The new digital signature is a lot more convenient than needing to call an India-based hotline, trying to explain to them that you just swapped a HDD , waiting on the phone 20 minutes for a manager to approve, and then trying to key in a 80-digit unlock key being read to you in a thick accent.
    If your Windows license is tied to your Microsoft account it's very easy to move the license from disk to disk.

    Last year I replaced my mainboard and reactivation failed, but after I called Microsoft they sorted it out and manually moved the license for me. Overall I've had great success with Microsoft support in the last couple of years.

    Now I use a different OS and don't have to screw with that very much.
    Good point - forgot about the option to link to MS account
  • xpsyncxpsync Member EpicPosts: 1,854
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    Necronium Patronum!

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