Cloning M.2 SSD to Larger M.2 SSD using M.2 to Sata Adapter

Xcelorin · Jul 13, 2015

I am running a 32gb SSD in my ASUS Gene VI's M.2 slot. I thought I would be able to solely run my operating system on it without it getting too full; I was foolish to assume as much. I am wondering if I will be able to use this adapter (http://www.amazon.com/ZTC-Thunder-Board-Adapter-ZTC-AD001/dp/B00HKV2TVK/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top?ie=UTF8) and a cloning software to clone a larger M.2 (64gb). After I clone the drive, it will occupy the same spot that the current M.2 drive is in.

I heard that because the adapter is SATA, it won't work. Is this correct?
Or, can I clone the current SSD to a different partition in a larger hard drive, then clone from that partition to the new SSD and drop the adapter entirely?

i7Baby · Jul 13, 2015

64gb will end up too small too.

Get a 120gb Samsung and use their migration software. Just have it and the other SSD plugged in and you should be sweet.

Xcelorin · Jul 13, 2015

i7Baby :

I understand that most people believe that the 64gb will be too small as well, but I have lived with this current drive for over a year with persistence and WinDirStat as my guide. I plan on keeping the same persistence, just removing the incredibly small drive. I edited my first post to add another option.

USAFRet · Jul 13, 2015

I agree with the above. 64GB is still too small. It can work, if you want to spend far too much time in space managing, and not using an SSD to its full potential.

Xcelorin · Jul 13, 2015

USAFRet :

My answer has still not been answered. It was NOT whether or not the 64 drive will be large enough. It was if it was POSSIBLE to do it with the indicated adapter or a different method.

i7Baby · Jul 13, 2015

As I said "Get a 120gb Samsung and use their migration software. Just have it and the other SSD plugged in and you should be sweet."

Xcelorin · Jul 13, 2015

i7Baby :

Look, I am using a M.2. The question was not if I should get a larger drive. It was whether or not the adapter was capable of cloning the drive, or if I could use a different method to clone the drive onto the 64 gb one without using an adapter.

i7Baby · Jul 13, 2015

Then change the 120 to whatever you want.

Xcelorin · Jul 13, 2015

i7Baby :

Are you saying that the adapter will work then? That is the question I wanted answered in the first place.

"I heard that because the adapter is SATA, it won't work. Is this correct?"
"Or, can I clone the current SSD to a different partition in a larger hard drive, then clone from that partition to the new SSD and drop the adapter entirely?"

The second question does not mean that I will purchase another hard drive to use for cloning it. It implies that I have a large hard drive that I can use to clone the drive IF it is possible.

i7Baby · Jul 13, 2015

You don't need the adapter. "Just have it and the other SSD plugged in (by sata cables) and you should be sweet.""

Xcelorin · Jul 13, 2015

i7Baby :

Did you even read the first post?!

The ASUS GENE VI OBVIOUSLY doesn't have two M.2 SSD slots. If I am to use a larger M.2 SSD, I need an adapter to directly clone the current M.2 drive to the new M.2 drive. I was wondering if this was possible, as I have heard that because the current M.2 is PCIE based, and using the adapter will make the new M.2 SATA based.

This is the comment that worried me: http://www.amazon.com/forum/-/TxEKZDY08W5AGV/ref=ask_dp_dpmw_al_hza?asin=B00HKV2TVK

I ALSO asked if it was possible to clone the current M.2 onto a separate (already owned) HDD, THEN clone over to the new SSD using the same slot, bypassing the need for the adapter at all.

USAFRet · Jul 13, 2015

Xcelorin :

If that adapter actually works, I see no reason why your cloning thing should not work.
PCI-E based or SATA based is only the connection type. It won't change the data properties on the drive.

Xcelorin · Jul 13, 2015

USAFRet :

Xcelorin :

If that adapter actually works, I see no reason why your cloning thing should not work.
PCI-E based or SATA based is only the connection type. It won't change the data properties on the drive.

Finally, someone who actually answered my first question. Thank you for all your suggestions, and I apologize if my first question was unclear. This answer right here was what I was looking for the entire time: Whether or not the adapter will work.

USAFRet · Jul 13, 2015

Yes, sometimes discussions here go a bit off track.

(I still say a 64GB is right on the edge of 'too small')

Xcelorin · Jul 13, 2015

USAFRet :

I went ahead and got a 128gb M.2 as per your suggestion; The price of doubling the space was $15. I had been looking at a 256 gb drive that was over $50 more and thought it was only 128 gb.

USAFRet · Jul 13, 2015

Xcelorin :

USAFRet :

I went ahead and got a 128gb M.2 as per your suggestion; The price of doubling the space was $15. I had been looking at a 256 gb drive that was over $50 more and thought it was only 128 gb.

There ya go.

luissep · Sep 23, 2015

Xcelorin :

Did the adapter work? I'm in the same situation as you (transferring system drive from a PCIE M2 to a bigger PCIE M2 drive)

The Original Ralph · Sep 23, 2015

that adaptor appears to simply allow you to mount a Sata M.2 SSD in a PCI slot,

if your ssd is mounted in the M.2 socket, the it's a PCIe M.2 SSD, not a Sata SSD

i think i know where you want to go, and believe you're on the right track but that's not the adaptor you want - this addionics PCIe M.2 expansion card is what you're looking for http://www.amazon.com/Addonics-M2-PCIe-SSD-Adapter/dp/B00K7CJG1U - you'll have to go to their website to see an actual picture of it, not sure why they didn't put it in their amazon listing

i clone my xp941 (PCIe M.2 SSD) to a sata SSD (samsung 840 evo) using EaseUS ToDo Backup, and the bridge across those two controllers does corrupt something in the boot file - when i tried cloning back to the xp941, it won't boot, but will once i've inserted the win 7 DVD and do a "repair the installation"

Going the route i think you're looking for, ie PCIe to PCIe should work - i'll know for sure when i've got my samsung 950 Pro SSD
I'm running an Asus Z97M-Plus - a tip for you, that M.2 socket on your board i believe is x2 or 2 lanes which means it's limiting the speed of your PCIe SSD

if you put it in an expansion card like the addionics, and mount it in the last PCi lane on your board, which should be x4, you'll see your benchmarks jump considerably - mine went from 560 MB/s write in the M.2 socket to 870 MB/s in the addionics card - that is max speed for the xp941

hope that helps

ZubeySweets · Nov 15, 2015

The Original Ralph :

that adaptor appears to simply allow you to mount a Sata M.2 SSD in a PCI slot,

if your ssd is mounted in the M.2 socket, the it's a PCIe M.2 SSD, not a Sata SSD

i think i know where you want to go, and believe you're on the right track but that's not the adaptor you want - this addionics PCIe M.2 expansion card is what you're looking for http://www.amazon.com/Addonics-M2-PCIe-SSD-Adapter/dp/B00K7CJG1U - you'll have to go to their website to see an actual picture of it, not sure why they didn't put it in their amazon listing

i clone my xp941 (PCIe M.2 SSD) to a sata SSD (samsung 840 evo) using EaseUS ToDo Backup, and the bridge across those two controllers does corrupt something in the boot file - when i tried cloning back to the xp941, it won't boot, but will once i've inserted the win 7 DVD and do a "repair the installation"

Going the route i think you're looking for, ie PCIe to PCIe should work - i'll know for sure when i've got my samsung 950 Pro SSD
I'm running an Asus Z97M-Plus - a tip for you, that M.2 socket on your board i believe is x2 or 2 lanes which means it's limiting the speed of your PCIe SSD

if you put it in an expansion card like the addionics, and mount it in the last PCi lane on your board, which should be x4, you'll see your benchmarks jump considerably - mine went from 560 MB/s write in the M.2 socket to 870 MB/s in the addionics card - that is max speed for the xp941

hope that helps

Did you ever find out if you were able to clone from PCIe to PCIe? I have a 256g 950 pro and want to clone to a 512g 950 pro. I only have one m.2 on my Asus x99-a motherboard. Will the adapter and samsungs migration software work?

The Original Ralph · Nov 15, 2015

EaseUS ToDo wouldn't clone to the NVMe 950 PRO, but the samsung data migration did it flawlessly, cloning from an xp941 to the 950 PRO. But it cloned it so thorougly, not only did the 950 PRO boot without use of the windows dvd to repair boot files, the xp941 was taken "offline" (or so it said in disk management) because of a "signature collision"

- check it out http://www.samsung.com/global/business/semiconductor/minisite/SSD/global/html/support/downloads.html?CID=AFL-hq-mul-0813-11000170

but to make it screwier, it wouldn't clone back to the xp941, only because the 941 is an OEM unit and not on samsung's list of drives it will recognize

ZubeySweets · Nov 15, 2015

The Original Ralph :

Ah. Weird stuff. I think The risk of me ruining my 256g 950 by trying to migrate OS to a larger one is too great then. I will have to be stuck with it unless I wanted to clean install on the larger one which I don't. I will just have to leave it as a os and programs drive and expand by raiding some 850 pros or something.

The Original Ralph · Nov 15, 2015

ZubeySweets :

maybe my choice of words wasn't the best - the samsung data migration software worked flawlessly, including cloning the 950 PRO (512 GB) to a 256 gb samsung 840 EVO - that part actually surprised as much as the perfect clone from the xp941. We only cloned it to the 840 as we tweaked the OS after cloning to the 950 and running it as the OS drive.

what caught me by surprise was that, while it cloned the OS from the xp941 fine, once i had the 950 PRO running as the OS drive, it wouldn't clone back to the xp941 - mainly because the xp941 is an OEM drive, and samsung does not offer support for it, not even in their data migration software. The manual for the data migration software lists the sammy drives it will support, ie clone to, and obviously the 840 EVO is one of them.

Also what was a little surprising, was that it would clone a larger drive, the 950 at 512GB, to a smaller drive, the 840 at 256GB. The 950 only held 102GB of data, so i created an "unallocated" partition of about 325 GB on the 950 hoping the samsung migration software would clone it, and it did. EaseUS refused, instead indicating the target drive was not large enough.

All this was on a bud's computer, a near identical build to mine - we actually built computers at the same time, a "first" DIY for both of us, kind of the blind leading the blind.

ZubeySweets · Nov 15, 2015

The Original Ralph :

ZubeySweets :

maybe my choice of words wasn't the best - the samsung data migration software worked flawlessly, including cloning the 950 PRO (512 GB) to a 256 gb samsung 840 EVO - that part actually surprised as much as the perfect clone from the xp941. We only cloned it to the 840 as we tweaked the OS after cloning to the 950 and running it as the OS drive.

what caught me by surprise was that, while it cloned the OS from the xp941 fine, once i had the 950 PRO running as the OS drive, it wouldn't clone back to the xp941 - mainly because the xp941 is an OEM drive, and samsung does not offer support for it, not even in their data migration software. The manual for the data migration software lists the sammy drives it will support, ie clone to, and obviously the 840 EVO is one of them.

Also what was a little surprising, was that it would clone a larger drive, the 950 at 512GB, to a smaller drive, the 840 at 256GB. The 950 only held 102GB of data, so i created an "unallocated" partition of about 325 GB on the 950 hoping the samsung migration software would clone it, and it did. EaseUS refused, instead indicating the target drive was not large enough.

All this was on a bud's computer, a near identical build to mine - we actually built computers at the same time, a "first" DIY for both of us, kind of the blind leading the blind.

Ohhhh ok. Gotcha. I guess my question still is can it be said for sure that I can clone from 950 to 950? The sammyyyy migration doesn't state to support 950's so I'm worried somehow it wont work? Or is it unlikely that I would encounter problems?

The Original Ralph · Nov 15, 2015

yes - the samsung data migration manual does show it supports the 950 - on the link below scroll down to the 4th page

http://www.samsung.com/global/business/semiconductor/minisite/SSD/downloads/software/Samsung_SSD_Data_Migration_User_Manual_v30_ENG.pdf

make sure to use the latest version of data migration (v 3.0)

ZubeySweets · Nov 15, 2015

The Original Ralph :

Oh! Amazing. I was looking at something older that only went up to 850.

So last question then. I have a Asus X99-a 3.1 Motherboard (Specs here: https://www.asus.com/us/Motherboards/X99AUSB_31/specifications/ )

Will I be able to actually connect another m.2 with adapter if the m.2 on the motherboard is in use? If not that leaves me with no way to transfer from one to the other and I am out of luck yeah?

Thanks so much for the info.

Cloning M.2 SSD to Larger M.2 SSD using M.2 to Sata Adapter

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