What is the easiest and most bombproof way cloning OS (Win10) from NVME to another NVME?

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Jul 6th, 2021 10:41 am

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Jul 5th, 2021 1:31 am

DiamondDallasPage [OP]: Sr. Member; Sep 4, 2016; 889 posts; 347 upvotes

Jul 5th, 2021 1:31 am

What is the easiest and most bombproof way cloning OS (Win10) from NVME to another NVME?

Bombproof way as in the most reliable way that has the lowest risk of running into problems. I want to clone the nvme drive that's in my PC right now (Desktop) right to another new nvme drive that I plan on getting tomorrow.

I know I have a couple options. I can either plug in my external SSD and clone to that, then install the new nvme drive and restore the clone from my ext SSD to the new nvme drive. But then I hear far too many horror stories of new nvme drives (with no OS on it) not booting at all because I guess you can't boot from them without going into the BIOS to enable UEFI mode?

Then there is the other option of cloning right to my new nvme drive with the new nvme drive connected to my PC through a nvme USB enclosure. Some say this is the better way to go with less risk of the new nvme drive not booting after installing.

But then I hear not to clone but to image instead because cloning is far less reliable.

I just want to avoid headaches. I can't be spending days trying to get the nvme drive to boot. So many stories of people having problems trying to do this. Even getting BSOD from attempting to first boot from a a new nvme drive. So taking the time now to go with the safest and least possible headache way. If I have to spend $50 on a USB enclosure for my new nvme drive just to do this if it means it's the better and more sure way, then I will do it.

Also my current desktop does have two M.2 slots but I'm not sure if I'm able to access the second M.2 slots because of my heatsink (biggest dual heatsink you can buy today). If I can get access to my second M.2 slot in my desktop, would this be the best route to take?

"It took eight years for DDP Yoga to become an overnight sensation" - Diamond Dallas Page

15 replies

Jul 5th, 2021 2:15 am

heyyahblah: Deal Addict; Dec 1, 2010; 2429 posts; 1431 upvotes; GTA

Jul 5th, 2021 2:15 am

My motherboard has 3x NVMe slots. I did a clone from 512GB to 1TB NVMe. Yes the best route to take is motherboard NVMe > NVMe. Just run Macrium Reflect Free https://www.macrium.com/reflectfree download and install on PC and have an empty USB drive and do a 1:1 clone. It's fast and easy. Some SSDs come with bundled cloning software like Samsung Data Migration, Arconis Free, etc, but I find Macrium works the best.

If accessing the slot is not an option then yes, the next best bet would be to buy an NVMe enclosure (make sure drive is supported) https://www.amazon.ca/Enclosure-Adapter-Tool-Free-RTL9210B-External-dp-B08DCLPYGK/dp/B08DCLPYGK/ref=dp_ob_title_ce?th=1 and run the clone to clone from NVMe motherboard to USB enclosure. Then just swap the drives and see if everything boots normally (it should).

I find Macrium works hassle free, its easy to use.

Jul 5th, 2021 2:32 am

DiamondDallasPage [OP]: Sr. Member; Sep 4, 2016; 889 posts; 347 upvotes

Jul 5th, 2021 2:32 am

heyyahblah wrote: ↑ My motherboard has 3x NVMe slots. I did a clone from 512GB to 1TB NVMe. Yes the best route to take is motherboard NVMe > NVMe. Just run Macrium Reflect Free https://www.macrium.com/reflectfree download and install on PC and have an empty USB drive and do a 1:1 clone. It's fast and easy. Some SSDs come with bundled cloning software like Samsung Data Migration, Arconis Free, etc, but I find Macrium works the best.

If accessing the slot is not an option then yes, the next best bet would be to buy an NVMe enclosure (make sure drive is supported) https://www.amazon.ca/Enclosure-Adapter-Tool-Free-RTL9210B-External-dp-B08DCLPYGK/dp/B08DCLPYGK/ref=dp_ob_title_ce?th=1 and run the clone to clone from NVMe motherboard to USB enclosure. Then just swap the drives and see if everything boots normally (it should).

I find Macrium works hassle free, its easy to use.

Thanks. I just looked up a diagram of my Asus mobo and it also checked inside my PC case and woohoo my second M.2 nvme slot is easily accessible. If I run Macrium and clone it to the new nvme drive (after putting it into the second slot on my mobo), do I really still need external drive? That's what I'm trying to avoid.

Like once I clone to the new nvme drive after it's been put in the second slot. Shouldn't I be able to just reboot, make the new nvme drive bootable from the bios. Then shut down the PC, remove the nvme drive in the first m2 slot and put the new nvme drive in the first slot and it should work as it should?

When you did your clone from 512>1TB did you have to make any changes in the BIOS to make your new nvme bootable?

"It took eight years for DDP Yoga to become an overnight sensation" - Diamond Dallas Page

Jul 5th, 2021 3:24 am

Quentin5: Deal Expert; Feb 8, 2014; 28912 posts; 12564 upvotes; Socially Distanced

Jul 5th, 2021 3:24 am

I second Macrium and to answer your question it makes the copy bootable.
But you do choose the default first boot device in the bios if you are keeping both drives in the same computer.

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Jul 5th, 2021 3:40 am

heyyahblah: Deal Addict; Dec 1, 2010; 2429 posts; 1431 upvotes; GTA

Jul 5th, 2021 3:40 am

DiamondDallasPage wrote: ↑ Thanks. I just looked up a diagram of my Asus mobo and it also checked inside my PC case and woohoo my second M.2 nvme slot is easily accessible. If I run Macrium and clone it to the new nvme drive (after putting it into the second slot on my mobo), do I really still need external drive? That's what I'm trying to avoid.

No, if you do this method you will not need an external drive.

Like once I clone to the new nvme drive after it's been put in the second slot. Shouldn't I be able to just reboot, make the new nvme drive bootable from the bios. Then shut down the PC, remove the nvme drive in the first m2 slot and put the new nvme drive in the first slot and it should work as it should?

After the drive is in the 2nd slot, boot into Windows. You might need to initialize the drive first. To do that right-click on START and go into Disk Management. Find the new SSD and create a New Simple Volume and assign a drive letter, doesn't matter which one. Once that is done install Macrium and run the clone procedure.

After the clone procedure is done, shut down. Remove both NVMe's and place the new cloned one in SLOT 1. Then boot into Windows and everything should work just fine.

When you did your clone from 512>1TB did you have to make any changes in the BIOS to make your new nvme bootable?

No changes are needed, Macrium makes a 1:1 Clone and the drive is bootable, just with all the more free space. Watch this YT video so you understand how to use/run the software and you can see how easy it is.

Jul 5th, 2021 4:00 am

Gee: Deal Expert; Aug 2, 2004; 36944 posts; 10162 upvotes; East Gwillimbury

Jul 5th, 2021 4:00 am

My complaint about Macrium is that you must install it.

I rather use Clonezilla and boot from a thumb drive, make my clone and swap out the drives.

No software is installed on my main drive and it makes 1:1 copies

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Jul 5th, 2021 9:22 am

DiamondDallasPage [OP]: Sr. Member; Sep 4, 2016; 889 posts; 347 upvotes

Jul 5th, 2021 9:22 am

Quentin5 wrote: ↑ I second Macrium and to answer your question it makes the copy bootable.
But you do choose the default first boot device in the bios if you are keeping both drives in the same computer.

Thanks. I'm on the phone with Asus right now to double check to see if the bootable drive and be in either slot 1 or slot 2. If this is the case then I would prefer to keep the OS drive in slot 2 just because it is at the bottom of the case, has more airflow and doesn't sit right under the GPU.

EDIT: Darn, the second port is a shared drive so the OS has to be in the top slot. Guess that eliminates the idea of me ever getting a second nvme drive for the second slot as Im already running 4 internal SSDs and need them all to be running.

Last edited by DiamondDallasPage on Jul 5th, 2021 9:39 am, edited 2 times in total.

"It took eight years for DDP Yoga to become an overnight sensation" - Diamond Dallas Page

Jul 5th, 2021 9:28 am

DiamondDallasPage [OP]: Sr. Member; Sep 4, 2016; 889 posts; 347 upvotes

Jul 5th, 2021 9:28 am

heyyahblah wrote: ↑ No, if you do this method you will not need an external drive.

After the drive is in the 2nd slot, boot into Windows. You might need to initialize the drive first. To do that right-click on START and go into Disk Management. Find the new SSD and create a New Simple Volume and assign a drive letter, doesn't matter which one. Once that is done install Macrium and run the clone procedure.

After the clone procedure is done, shut down. Remove both NVMe's and place the new cloned one in SLOT 1. Then boot into Windows and everything should work just fine.

No changes are needed, Macrium makes a 1:1 Clone and the drive is bootable, just with all the more free space. Watch this YT video so you understand how to use/run the software and you can see how easy it is.

Thanks, I will give this a shot today. I think my biggest worry from reading online was that so many people trying to do this is not being able to get the nvme drive to boot windows after on the new drive (both fresh or cloned through USB enclosure). So then they mentioned how nvme drives aren't bootable and they have to be put into UEFI mode first or something like that. Some have spent days trying to get their new nvme drive to boot so I wanted to avoid this headache at all costs.

"It took eight years for DDP Yoga to become an overnight sensation" - Diamond Dallas Page

Jul 5th, 2021 9:37 am

DiamondDallasPage [OP]: Sr. Member; Sep 4, 2016; 889 posts; 347 upvotes

Jul 5th, 2021 9:37 am

Gee wrote: ↑ My complaint about Macrium is that you must install it.

I rather use Clonezilla and boot from a thumb drive, make my clone and swap out the drives.

No software is installed on my main drive and it makes 1:1 copies

Hope I can uninstall Macrium after I am done with it as I'm picky about what I have running in the background all the time.

"It took eight years for DDP Yoga to become an overnight sensation" - Diamond Dallas Page

Jul 5th, 2021 9:38 am

sloose: Jr. Member; Oct 17, 2004; 111 posts; 28 upvotes

Jul 5th, 2021 9:38 am

I used clonezilla to clone 256GB->1TB nvme. Made a bootable usb stick with clonezilla, put the new drive in the second slot, booted up clonezilla and made a direct drive to drive copy. No issues, I just had to initialize the additional space on the drive after booting into windows.

If you can get the second slot available then that's the safer/faster option but it should work with the second nvme connected by usb.

Jul 5th, 2021 1:49 pm

DiamondDallasPage [OP]: Sr. Member; Sep 4, 2016; 889 posts; 347 upvotes

Jul 5th, 2021 1:49 pm

heyyahblah wrote: ↑ No, if you do this method you will not need an external drive.

After the drive is in the 2nd slot, boot into Windows. You might need to initialize the drive first. To do that right-click on START and go into Disk Management. Find the new SSD and create a New Simple Volume and assign a drive letter, doesn't matter which one. Once that is done install Macrium and run the clone procedure.

After the clone procedure is done, shut down. Remove both NVMe's and place the new cloned one in SLOT 1. Then boot into Windows and everything should work just fine.

No changes are needed, Macrium makes a 1:1 Clone and the drive is bootable, just with all the more free space. Watch this YT video so you understand how to use/run the software and you can see how easy it is.

So I got the new drive put in the second slot and following that video in your link. He shows a Bootdrive partition on his source disc but I don't see one on mine. This is what I am getting right now.

I knew it, what a nightmare this is. I'm going to use Clonezilla.

"It took eight years for DDP Yoga to become an overnight sensation" - Diamond Dallas Page

Jul 5th, 2021 3:45 pm

kramer1: Deal Addict; Apr 29, 2018; 2609 posts; 1953 upvotes; Vancouver

Jul 5th, 2021 3:45 pm

Just re-install Windows. It'll be easier

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Jul 5th, 2021 6:52 pm

heyyahblah: Deal Addict; Dec 1, 2010; 2429 posts; 1431 upvotes; GTA

Jul 5th, 2021 6:52 pm

DiamondDallasPage wrote: ↑ So I got the new drive put in the second slot and following that video in your link. He shows a Bootdrive partition on his source disc but I don't see one on mine. This is what I am getting right now.

I knew it, what a nightmare this is. I'm going to use Clonezilla.

What nightmare? Were you running a RAID setup with your NVMe boot drive? That screenshot shows you trying to clone a 1TB Kingston to a 1TB Samsung 980 Pro, that already has the exact same data and not an empty drive? IDK how it can be complicated when that video was so self explanatory.

The video shows how to make space for cloning a smaller NVMe to a larger one, which is what you said you wanted to do. By the screenshot, clearly you are cloning 1TB to 1TB and you never said that, so the partitions are perfectly fine. I don't know what nightmare you are talking about.

kramer1 wrote: ↑ Just re-install Windows. It'll be easier

That would be the easiest option, I don't see how Macrium was so complicated, the video is super self explanatory.

Jul 5th, 2021 9:18 pm

Gee: Deal Expert; Aug 2, 2004; 36944 posts; 10162 upvotes; East Gwillimbury

Jul 5th, 2021 9:18 pm

DiamondDallasPage wrote: ↑ Hope I can uninstall Macrium after I am done with it as I'm picky about what I have running in the background all the time.

Even if you uninstall the program, it leaves traces in the registry

The best way is to use Clonezilla and a bootable USB stick. No trace of the program will be on either of your drives

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Jul 6th, 2021 6:03 am

rabbit: Deal Guru; Jun 27, 2004; 14650 posts; 3891 upvotes; Vancouver.bc.ca

Jul 6th, 2021 6:03 am

You don't need to install Macrium for cloning. Grab this Macrium PE image, premade by a third-party (yes, it's trustworthy):
https://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/7 ... crium.html

The dude did the work for you, using Macrium's built-in utility to create the PE image.

Clonezilla is fine, too, if you don't mind a DOS/text GUI.

By "boot partition", if you mean the EFI partition, not all systems have it. It just depends on how things are set up on your computer.

+1

Jul 6th, 2021 10:41 am

sffpcgtx: Banned; Mar 3, 2021; 707 posts; 359 upvotes

Jul 6th, 2021 10:41 am

Hello there,

@rabbit .....Appreciate your post, but I don't see the 'premade image' you speak of in the link provided. Do you mind pointing to it directly, or mention the post #?

Cheers

rabbit wrote: ↑ You don't need to install Macrium for cloning. Grab this Macrium PE image, premade by a third-party (yes, it's trustworthy):
https://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/7 ... crium.html

The dude did the work for you, using Macrium's built-in utility to create the PE image.

Clonezilla is fine, too, if you don't mind a DOS/text GUI.

By "boot partition", if you mean the EFI partition, not all systems have it. It just depends on how things are set up on your computer.

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