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HD to SSD

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3K views 25 replies 9 participants last post by  gzolehana0 
#1 ·
I have a 250 GB Samsung 970 EVO coming on Monday to take the place of a mechanical. The OS is Windows 10 v20H2. The mechanical is a 500 GB Western Digital. However, the Western has about 46 GB of data on it. So, I shrank the volume to slightly less than the SSD's capacity. My HD backup software had a "clone" function. I have never attempted to do anything like this before. Is this the proper procedure to use?

Note: I have the same SSD in my primary Windows 10 system and it works excellently.
 
#2 ·
What is the Hard Drive Backup software?
Most Clone or Image programs have an option to create a bootable USB Rescue Flash drive with the Clone software on it. You'll want to do this first. You probably didn't need to shrink your C: drive as most Clone programs can clone a larger drive to a smaller one as long as as the larger drive doesn't exceed the size of the smaller one.
Boot off of your Rescue Flash drive and in your Clone program choose to Clone a disk. You want to Clone the Whole HDD (Source drive) including the hidden partitions not just the C: partition. Next you will choose where to clone it to, and you would choose the new SSD (Destination, or Target Drive) then start it.
Make sure your hard drive and Windows are in good shape before starting. (ie) the latest Windows Updates, uninstall any unwanted programs, delete files you no longer need etc. When complete, remove the old HDD put the SSD in it's place and start your computer. It should boot normally and have all or your files.
 
#3 ·
Is there a question some where?

This is what I would do: I'm old school and with that, any major hardware changes....ie SSD, CPU, Mobo. I do a clean install especially with these 2 pieces (CPU/mobo). No chance for any carry overs.

I do backup all my software, doc's, music, photos to a USB thumb drive and then once the clean install is done I move my data over. It just works for me. I do take periodic (weekly) backup of data and personal info after the clean install.

NOTE: I'm looking forward to my Samsung 980 Pro 1Tb, along with new mobo and cpu.
 
#4 ·
Is there a question some where?

This is what I would do: I'm old school and with that, any major hardware changes....ie SSD, CPU, Mobo. I do a clean install especially with these 2 pieces (CPU/mobo). No chance for any carry overs.

I do backup all my software, doc's, music, photos to a USB thumb drive and then once the clean install is done I move my data over. It just works for me. I do take periodic (weekly) backup of data and personal info after the clean install.

NOTE: I'm looking forward to my Samsung 980 Pro 1Tb, along with new mobo and cpu.
Yes, there was a question. Last sentence of the first paragraph.

My install DVD is v1909. I don't think I want to do a clean install unless there is no way around it. It wasn't long after I did the conversion on that particular system that it wanted to go to 20H2. Insisted actually. It had always been Windows 7 before. My primary system is v2004. It has not forced the issue, yet.

I've been a firm believer in making backups since the days of Colorado tape drives. Mid '90's, I would say. Fortunately, I never had to try to restore anything from back then. For years, I used Acronis True Image. When they went to what I would call "subscription-ware," I stopped. Now, I use EaseUS To-Do Backup. It does just as good as Acronis did. It is also free to use.

About a week ago, I bought a 1TB WD Passport USB drive. Very small and runs with only a USB connection. It makes for excellent portability. I have three desktops and a laptop. Why so many? Until recently, I participated in a distributed math project based at MIT. I had done this since 2005. I began to lose interest last fall and started to reduce the amount of work I was doing. Now, I don't do any. Some of their programs use GPU's. I have one in each desktop, all Nvidia. Before I got the Passport, each machine had its own external HD. Now they're all boxed except for one on my primary system. It is for data storage. Anything old, I transfer to a Verbatim USB drive.

So, I now have a lot of hardware I am not using. I would rather keep it all than to sell it and take a beating on it. Besides, you never know when something may fail. Thanks for the reply.
 
#7 ·
In your situation and insistence on a clone vs clean install, this is what my process would have been.

On the existing drive, do a Disk Cleanup on C: and on the first window, click the Clean Up System Files button. Scroll down the list and find Previous Windows Installations. This section can often be responsible for 20-30 GB of unneeded files. Click OK and whatever it asks you to do this cleanup.

Next is a defrag. I use MyDefrag 4.3.1 for some extra features. During install UNCHECK the part about adding scheduled tasks. We don't want your SSD to be defragged once cloned. Dirst to the System Monthly routine on C;. And after this one completes, Do the routine labeled Consolidate Disk Space (or similar). This moves your newly defragmented HDD data toward the center.

Reboot. You should see an improvement in how snappy your computer reacts.

Now for the cloning software. I use Acronis WD Edition Free because I only buy WD SSD drives and one of the requirements of using the WD Free Edition is that one of the drives on the system must be WD. I use my shop computer for this cloning task by connecting the two drives (source and destination) to the computer using simple USB interfaces and letting the Acronis software do an automatic clone.

Once your SSD us successfully cloned and installed in the old computer, check your scheduled tasks to make sure windows defrag is not set to run on a schedule. Computer Management and open the twisties: Task Scheduler, Task Scheduler Library, Microsoft, Windows, Defrag. Delete the task that is in the middle window.

This is what I do to clone. But my recommendation is for a clean install because your OS has gone through a series of major updates and those updates to carry some trash with them that will slow the performance of your OS. You can download the appropriate Win10 OS using the Windows ISO Downloader tool at HeiDoc.net and burn it to disk but the program will require a dual-layer DVD, I do clean installs quite often for computers I am servicing so my preference is to always have the newest build on flash drives. Older computers often need the installer on the flash drive to be bootable in BIOS so I use Rufus to create that flash drive. For a drive that is bootable in UEFI, I use the Windows Media Creation Tool and choose the option to create media for another computer which puts the installer on an external drive of your choice. Modern BIOS setups have their security settings set to be protected from bootable drives so in order to get these drives to boot, you must access BIOS and disable bootable device security.

Be sure to choose the version of Windows 10 (Home, Pro, 64, 32) you already have and the product key associated with your system board will activate your clean install.
 
#8 ·
All of my drives are WD. Having one 9 years old and with 52,000 hours on it led me to the conclusion WD was the brand to stick with. Don't laugh, I have 9 total, ranging in size from 250GB to 2TB. Why so many is a long story. I know for a fact that each one I have stored is in perfect working condition.

The last time I looked, I could not find the Media Creation Tool for v20H2. It was in the link you provided above. I downloaded it. I put the ISO's on re-writable DVD's. I have one for v2004 in my desk. I usually keep these until they are a couple of versions old then I erase them. If 20H2 requires a dual-layer disc, I have an unopened stack of Verbatim's. Those are not re-writable. To my knowledge, there is no such animal as a re-writable dual-layer DVD.

I believe I will go with the clean install. This HP does not have much on it beyond the OS. It has a UEFI bios. I don't know if this one has bootable device security. I've been in the BIOS several times and I don't remember seeing anything that indicated this. I will not erase the spinner until I know everything is working properly with the SSD.
 
#9 ·
It is evident now that the USPS has lost my Amazon order. The last scan was in Seattle, WA, three days ago. I have watched it on Amazon's web site, and can request a replacement tomorrow (Friday the 16th). Sometimes, small packages, like this one would be, can literally fall through the cracks.

The 20H2 ISO required a dual-layer DVD. It was in the area of 4.8 GB. I had no problems burning it to the DVD, and verifying that it was written correctly. I have always had good luck with Verbatim discs.

I have a SSD in my primary Windows 10 system. It's still running v2004. I was amazed at how fast the startup was after the switch and the loading of larger applications. After the last 20H2 feature update on my HP, it because quite sluggish. It runs fine. I just have to be patient and allow it to completely load. That takes 1 1/2 minutes or more. Application loads take much longer as well. It seems the days of running recent builds of Windows 10 on mechanical drives is over.
 
#12 ·
I finally got all the pieces to do this. A SSD and adapter card. So far, it's been a total fail. Until the SSD is visible to the BIOS, nothing will work properly. I had disconnected the primary HDD and tried a clean install. At the first restart, the install process from the DVD reverted back to the beginning. I reconnected the primary drive then tried cloning with Macrum Reflect. It worked as it should but still would not boot. This application can create a recovery disc. I did that. An option was to correct a SSD which would not boot. This didn't work either. I booted from my 20H2 DVD and selected system repair. An article on the web said to use Diskpart. It was unable to set any parition on the SSD to "active." In Disk Management, the primary partition on the SSD is described as a "simple data volume." With the HDD connected and running, this would probably be correct. There were no settings in the BIOS which would help.

Question
: Is there anything else which I can try? I have run out of options.
 
#13 ·
I had disconnected the primary HDD and tried a clean install. At the first restart, the install process from the DVD reverted back to the beginning.
Try it again, but this time, remove the DVD as the computer is rebooting so that the computer will attempt to boot from the SSD instead of the DVD (which starts the install process all over again).
 
#18 ·
This was my mistake. Sorry! There was some research to be done which I failed to do. Live and learn. I put the SSD in my primary system to function as a secondary drive. It's boot drive is the same brand and model. As for the old HP, I will leave 20H2 on the "spinner." It's a long load process. The HDD is capable of 6 MB/s, but the SSD ports are not suited for it. I believe they all are 3 MB/s. In any case, once it all gets loaded, it runs very well.

I mentioned above my original order had been lost. I found it in my mailbox today. The padded envelope was in very poor condition, and the label was barely readable. Amazon had issued a refund after they determined the order had been lost. I have arranged a return. Amazon stated, that if it eventually showed up, I was to return it.

I thank you all for following along. I will mark this as "solved" if I can remember how to do it.
 
#20 · (Edited)
Many Clone or Image programs offer the option to create a bootable USB Rescue Flash drive with the Clone software on it. Do this first. Your C: drive probably didn't need to be shrunk because most Clone programs can copy a larger drive to a smaller one as long as the larger drive doesn't exceed the smaller one.

Boot from your Rescue Flash drive and choose Clone from your Clone program. The whole HDD, including hidden partitions, should be Cloned, not just the C: partition. Then you will choose where to clone it to, which is usually a new SSD or Target drive, and start it.

You need to make sure your hard drive and Windows are in good shape before you begin. After the update completed, remove the old HDD, put the SSD in its place, and start the computer. You should be able to boot normally and see all your files

I hope it helps
Thanks
 
#26 ·
Many Clone or Image programs offer the option to create a bootable USB Rescue Flash drive with the Clone software on it. Do this first. Your C: drive probably didn't need to be shrunk because most Clone programs can copy a larger drive to a smaller one as long as the larger drive doesn't exceed the smaller one.

Boot from your Rescue Flash drive and choose Clone from your Clone program. The whole HDD, including hidden partitions, should be Cloned, not just the C: partition. Then you will choose where to clone it to, which is usually a new SSD or Target drive, and start it.

You need to make sure your hard drive and Windows are in good shape before you begin. After the update completed, remove the old HDD, put the SSD in its place, and start the computer. You should be able to boot normally and see all your files

I hope it helps
Thanks
Thanks for sharing your point of view i really like it and especially the Boot for the clone program are really amazing
 
#24 ·
Clone programs can copy a larger drive to a smaller one as long as the larger drive doesn't exceed the smaller one."
What does this mean?
it should have read that As Long as the Used Space on the Larger drive doesn't exceed the Free Space of the smaller drive. it should clone, but not all Free Clone programs do this (ie) if the Used Space on the large 1TB HDD is 300 GB you can clone it to a 500 GB SSD.
 
#22 ·
Right? If "larger" "exceeds" "smaller" then how can it be called "larger"?

exceed: to be greater than

large: exceeding most other things of like kind especially in quantity or size

small: comparatively little size​

Okay, now my brain hurts. Need more coffee.

;)
 
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