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Clone vs restore image to new NVME

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I want to clone my current m.2 Sata SSD to a new NVME.  I only have one m.2 slot and no enclosure to use to clone.  Is restoring an image to the new drive an option or should I clone?

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I always backup and restore. Furthermore all partitions should remain the same size as original except the Windows partition.

 

I normally prepare a disk with a diskpart script:

rem    Change to correct disk

select disk 0
clean
convert gpt

create partition efi size=260
format quick fs=fat32 label="SYSTEM"

create partition primary size=16

create partition primary
shrink minimum=‭1008
format quick fs=ntfs label="Windows"

create partition primary size=1000
format quick fs=ntfs label="WinRE_DRV"

list vol
exit

You can also try the trial from Macrium where you can literally drag the partitions in place.

 

If you have to fix boot, I use:

bcdboot c:\windows /s I: /f ALL

Changing c and I to correct drive letters.

I am guessing you are talking about a GPT disk.

 

Note I shrunk 1008 instead of 1000, I am just in the habit of leaving 8 MB free space.

And make your script for your partition.

Just the way I do it, you can also just backup and restore if desired, but I like getting the partitions sized correctly.

If you learn this now, it's easier the next time you are doing it.

While I have successfully used cloning, I prefer to use backup and restore as things can go badly pear-shaped with cloning. If you really want to clone, make sure you do a backup first and test is to ensure that both the backup and the recovery media are in good shape.

Ian

See forum topic: Steve migrate NVMe SSD where I have documented (with images) the process that I have used multiple times for my own laptops using Backup & Recovery.