How to clone ssd to new ssd

[greenmountain71]

I’m upgrading my 128gb ssd to 1tb ssd. My Omen only has 1 m2 slot. How do I clone os from 128gb ssd and install on new 1tb ssd?

[Photoray002 · Accepted solution]

Hello again @greenmountain71 

I am personally not a fan of cloning. If going from only a 128GB drive to 1TB, I recommend clean installing windows with the Media Creation Tool... Create media Windows 10 

No need to purchase extra hardware to clone with.

But you can clone from smaller to larger with a free tool like Aomei Backupper.

Go to this link and scroll down to "How to clone OS SSD to larger SSD".

https://www.ubackup.com/clone/clone-ssd-to-larger-ssd-4348.html

In your case, you would need an SSD to USB external enclosure to mount the new drive with.

Like this example... https://www.walmart.com/ip/NVMe-PCIE-USB3-1-SSD-HDD-Enclosure-M-2

[Crit289]

If you have a 2.5" drive, clone the M2 to it , boot from it , then clone back to the new M2. This assumes your 2.5" is blank or you have enough space on it to create a boot partition large enough for the data from the 128GB M2. Use the free Mini Partition Tool. Then delete the partition you created on the 2.5"

[Crit289]

The Mini Partition Tool has all the everything for creating, deleting, resizing ... partitions as well as cloning. You can clone from large to small or small to large partitions/drives as long as the data will fit.

[Huffer]

Or you can use a cloning app to create a disk image from the old drive onto an external disk and then restore that image to the blank new drive. I use Macrium Reflect Free which is an amazingly useful free app. I also gotta kinda agree with @Photoray002 ...cloning has its drawbacks and a clean install is what I usually do. 

[greenmountain71]

I already have a media creations tool with all versions of Windows 10 on it. Do I have to put the same version in or can I upgrade to pro?

[Photoray002]

You will have to purchase Win Pro if you want to switch.

It may be cheaper to look for an Activation Key for Pro and simply clean install it from the beginning.

Example: I have used Kinguin in the past. The keys are legit and much cheaper.

https://www.kinguin.net/windows-10/

[Photoray002]

Also NOTE: I dont know which model of Omen 17 you have (next time also post the full model number).

But in some cases, if you require the Omen Command Center, it doesn't always play well with Windows Pro. So if you have an Omen Sequencer keyboard or Mindframe headset, you might not be able to control the functions with the command center.

[Crit289]

If you're going to do a clean install with the same version you might want to make note of your product key before hand, unless you know it will be digitally licensed.

[Photoray002]

Omens that came preinstalled, will activate without the key and activate when connected to the internet, no matter if you use the HP Recovery or clean install with the Media Creation Tool.