Cloning a drive to SSD

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jachin99

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Cloning a drive to SSD

#1

Post by jachin99 » Mon May 01, 2017 7:46 pm

I have an extra SSD laying around, and I would like to install it in a sony laptop but I would like to avoid rebuilding the SSD to match what is in the laptop right now. I know cloning cables are cheap but what are my choices for cloning softare? I would rather not pay for it, and once my drive has been cloned, I'd like to remove all traces of the cloning program. What can I use to do this>?

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Doctor Feelgood

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#2

Post by Doctor Feelgood » Mon May 01, 2017 8:03 pm

What brand hard drive and SSD do you have? Check with the manufacturer of either to see if they offer a free version of Acronis True Image to use. I know that at least Seagate and WD offer a free version of it that will only work if it detects one of their drives attached. Even if "their" drive is connected, but not involved in the cloning, it will work. For example, I have a WD USB drive I keep around to connect to systems that require a cloning, so the free WD software always works no matter what drives are being cloned.

jachin99

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#3

Post by jachin99 » Mon May 01, 2017 8:11 pm

ITs a Samsung 850 evo but I'm not a big fan of of Samsung software

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STC

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#4

Post by STC » Mon May 01, 2017 8:13 pm

Doctor Feelgood wrote:...I have a WD USB drive I keep around to connect to systems that require a cloning, so the free WD software always works no matter what drives are being cloned...
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Doctor Feelgood

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#5

Post by Doctor Feelgood » Mon May 01, 2017 10:02 pm

jachin99 wrote:ITs a Samsung 850 evo but I'm not a big fan of of Samsung software
How about the existing hard drive? Any other USB drives laying around?

I have never used it, but Samsung does offer their own free "Data Migration Tool" you should be able to use with the 850.

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#6

Post by webminster » Tue May 02, 2017 3:48 am

Last time I cloned my laptop hard drive to an SSD, used Macrium Reflect Free with the SSD connected via USB adapter. Worked well, and was able to use it to resize the partitions onto the larger SSD.
-Alan

jachin99

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#7

Post by jachin99 » Mon May 15, 2017 11:23 pm

Thanks for the recommendations. I tried going with WD because I had an extra WD drive but windows wasn't seeing the HDD for some reason but I'm thinking it was the cable. I got a cable/software combo from amazon for twenty bucks, and it worked like a charm.

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