Cloning a Computer Drive
The Blind Eternities forum
Posted on Dec. 28, 2017, 4:34 p.m. by DemonDragonJ
One of the computers at my house is still using a mechanical hard drive, so I wish to upgrade it to a solid-state drive. I already have the new drive and a SATA to USB cable with which to connect it to the computer so that I may transfer the data to it, so the only thing that I still need is the proper software to use for the cloning process, so I am seeking advice about that.
What programs are good for cloning a computer drive? I seek a program that is easy to understand, works quickly, and will thoroughly copy every aspect of the original drive, so that the new drive will feel as similar as possible to the original, albeit faster. What feedback can anyone offer in this situation? Thank you very much.
DemonDragonJ says... #3
enpc, the SSD is a Samsung 850 pro, but I am not certain if Samsung's software will clone from a hard drive.
December 28, 2017 9:37 p.m.
We went from 850 to 850, so much confident it will pick up the Samsung drive. Best thing you can do is give it a shot. Is there a reason you're avoiding a clean format?
December 28, 2017 10:16 p.m.
DemonDragonJ says... #5
enpc, I do not wish to go through the trouble of re-installing every program that I currently have installed on the hard drive; I imagine that it would be faster to simply clone it.
December 30, 2017 11:17 p.m.
DemonDragonJ says... #6
I ultimately used Macrium Reflect, and it worked flawlessly; the new drive is exactly like the old one, but noticeably faster; the motherboard has only a SATA 2 (3 gbps) interface, but it is still more than sufficiently fast for my mother, who uses the computer primarily to check her e-mail, browse the internet, and perform occasional word processing.
Now that I have seen how effective this software is, I shall eventually use it to upgrade my own computer's 256 GB Samsung 840 pro to a 512 GB Samsung 850 pro, the same model to which I upgraded the other computer.
enpc says... #2
You make it sound like mechanical drives are bad. They actually have quite a few pros over SSDs, but that's another discussion.
Who makes the SSD? If it's a Samsung drive, they have a clone tool. I've only seen it used to clone from one SSD to another (we were swapping out a 256GB drive at work with a 1TB) but it was super easy to use and resized the drive no problems. It's called Samsung Data Migration - if you're using one of their drive then just use that.
December 28, 2017 7:21 p.m.