How do I make my new M.2 SSD bootable

[rhfuerte]

How do I make my new SSD bootable? 

I just bought a Samsung 970 EVO Plus SSD 1TB M.2 NVMe to upgrade my existing slow 1TB HDD.  I intend to make the new SSD bootable while the existing HDD just to be my data drive.

Can I create a recovery boot device (32 GB USB) via the HP Cloud Recovery Tool and then use the recovery manager to set-up the new SSD (System recovery > Recover without backing up your files)? I still intend to retain my existing HDD data.

Is this the right approach? or would it be just simpler if I use Samsung's  Magician software and let it do its thing?

Thank you very much dear community experts!  I look forward to hear from your expert advise.

[WAWood]

@rhfuerte 

The answer to your first question, using recovery media on the SSD, is most likely NO.  Why? Because the recovery media expects a drive much the same size as the original and your SSD is a lot smaller.

What I would do is read the information below about connecting the SSD to your PC and CLONING your existing OS to it:

1) Download and install Macrium Reflect (MR) from here: https://www.macrium.com/reflectfree
2) Connect the new drive to the PC using a USB-to-SSD drive adapter (like the one illustrated below)
3) Follow the instructions in this link: http://knowledgebase.macrium.com/display/KNOW/Cloning+a+disk
4) Shutdown the PC when done
5) Swap the drives and reboot the PC.

NOTE: To do this easily, the SDD has to be the same capacity as the HDD.  IF you get an SDD that is a lot smaller, then before you do the cloning, you have to shrink the largest partition on the HDD (usually the OS partition), to the size such that it, and the other partitions, fit easily on the SSD.

You should boot from the new drive without any problems.

Typical USB-to-SSD adapter:

NOTE: If your SSD is an M.2 SSD, then you will have to also get a second SATA SSD to M.2 SSD adapter.

Good Luck

[rhfuerte]

Hello WAWood,

Thank you very much for your quick reply. Nevertheless, if I may, both the new SSD and the HDD are 1 TB, so I just thought that using the methodology I proposed might be okay?

Also, my existing HDD has 3 partitions: C (OS), D (data), and the G 9recovery image).  I wish to have only 2 partition in the new SSD ( OS and recovery).  Would this work with the cloning software (macrium) you mentioned below? or would it be best to use the cloning software from Samsung (Samsung Magician)?

[Paul_Tikkanen]

Hi, @rhfuerte 

In reply to your other question at this link...

Re: restore window 10 after ssd upgrade ? - HP Support Community - 8025266

See this discussion...

Solved: HP EliteBook 840 G4 and SATA - HP Support Community - 7991517

I believe you will need to remove Windows from the 2.5" drive in order for the PC to boot from the M.2 drive.

If you want to use the cloud recovery tool to install Windows on the M.2 SSD, you will need to temporarily disconnect the 2.5" drive, or the tool will just reinstall Windows on the 2.5" drive and not the SSD.

[rhfuerte]

Hello Paul,

Thank you very much for your quick response and pointing me to some previous discussions.

With regard to removing the windows from my existing 2.5" HDD, perhaps this will not be a problem if I make my new SSD as the bootable drive in my UEFI/Boot settings?  Of course you are correct in wanting me to remove my windows OS in my existing HDD as this will provide my disk space as I really intend to make my existing HDD as my data drive.

Many thanks! Will work this out.

[Paul_Tikkanen]

You're very welcome.

If you plan to clone the drive, do that first and then you can remove Windows from the 2.5" drive.

You can try to set the SSD as the first bootable device, but don't be surprised if it doesn't work.

In that case you will need to remove Windows from the 2.5" drive.