Chg to Larger SSD WITHOUT reinstalling software

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QuickRick

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Apr 27, 2016
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Background: ASRock z77extreme9, Intel i7 3770, 240Gig SSD, Windows 7 64. The Kingston 240Gig SSD is almost full so I need to move to a larger SSD. Bought a WD 512 NVMe (M.2) and an adapter card (with heat sink) to fit a PCIe x16 slot.
Has anyone had any experience copying the entire 'C' drive over to a new drive eliminating the need to reinstall all the software???
My plan is to use "Clonezilla" to copy the entire 'C' drive onto a backup drive, install the new NVME SSD then copy the entire 'C' drive to it. Then, go into Bios and make that the new 'C' drive. Appreciate any help. Thanks.

Update: 2018/5/2; First, for those of you talking about the SATA cables...this does NOT use SATA!!! The new 512 SSD is a WD Black PCIe NVMe SSD (much faster than SATA SSD's). Since my ASRock Z77 extreme9 MoBo does not have an M.2 slot I had to buy an adapter card and plugged it into the PCIe4 slot on the motherboard. That slot provides the 4 lanes the card needs to run at optimum PCIe 3.0 speed. Having said all that...I used (paid for) Acronis to clone the 'c' drive to the new 512 PCIe SSD. OK, so up 'till now everything has worked flawlessly.

Windows 7 (64) required going into the Disk Manager to get it to recognize not only the new larger SSD but an older HDD that it never did see. (Stupid Microsoft). OK, so now everything is showing up in Windows Explorer, Acronis cloned the 'C' drive successfully to the new larger (512 GB WD Black PCIe NVMe SSD). Now, all I had to do was go into the BIOS and specify the new larger SSD as the boot drive. PROBLEM: The BIOS doesn't see the new larger SSD! I updated the BIOS (UEFI) from 1.4 to 1.9. Still no luck. Note however than the newer version 1.9 of the BIOS is old...2013 old !

So now my question is; "Can I get the ASRock BIOS to recognize a PCIe SSD???"

Appreciate any help - Thanks!
 
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jay32267

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Mar 16, 2017
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Why not just install the NVME SSD and clone to that.

Here's something you want to watch out for.

Some cloning software will only let you change the partition size with the PAID VERSION of the software. I use Aomei Backup and I know this is true with that software.....so be careful.

Some software will keep the same partition size when you clone. You don't want this.
 
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USAFRet

USAFRet

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Mar 16, 2013
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Skip CloneZilla. It was good several years ago, but the newer tools are better.

Clone directly from old drive to new...

Specific steps for a successful clone operation:
-----------------------------
Verify the actual used space on the current drive is significantly below the size of the new SSD
Download and install Macrium Reflect (or Samsung Data Migration, if a Samsung SSD)
Power off
Disconnect ALL drives except the current C and the new SSD
Power up
Run the Macrium Reflect (or Samsung Data Migration)
Select ALL the partitions on the existing C drive
Click the 'Clone' button
Wait until it is done
When it finishes, power off
Disconnect ALL drives except for the new SSD
This is to allow the system to try to boot from ONLY the SSD
Swap the SATA cables around so that the new drive is connected to the same SATA port as the old drive
Power up, and verify the BIOS boot order
If good, continue the power up

It should boot from the new drive, just like the old drive.
Maybe reboot a time or two, just to make sure.

If it works, and it should, all is good.

Later, reconnect the old drive and wipe as necessary.
Delete the 450MB Recovery Partition, here:
https://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/windows/en-US/4f1b84ac-b193-40e3-943a-f45d52e23685/cant-delete-extra-healthy-recovery-partitions-and-healthy-efi-system-partition?forum=w8itproinstall
-----------------------------
 
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USAFRet

USAFRet

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Ah yes, that's another consideration.
Maybe, maybe not. Depends on the specific BIOS. Z77's did NOT come with NVMe support initially.
 
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Q

QuickRick

Commendable
Apr 27, 2016
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Thanks for responding Jay, but now take a look at my 5-2-2018 update.
 
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Q

QuickRick

Commendable
Apr 27, 2016
14
0
1,510


 
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Q

QuickRick

Commendable
Apr 27, 2016
14
0
1,510
Thank you mdd1963. I think you hit the nail on the head (See my 2018/5/2 update at the top). I've submitted a tech request to ASRock...since the latest BIOS version is from way back in 2013, there is a very serious question as to whether the BIOS will recognize a PCIe drive. I'm hoping ASRock may have made a patch to provide for this??? Who knows? IF not, looks like I'll just have to keep booting from the small 200 SSD but move as much as possible to the larger PCIe SSD. The only alternative for me would be to buy a larger SATA SSD. Thanks for your expertise!

PS While I have your attention...when I bought the ASRock Z77 extreme9 it was certainly one of the best Motherboards out there. In particular it had ALL the protocols and therefore provided immense compatibility and capabilities. It also has 7 count 'em...7 PCIe slots! I love this motherboard. Of course now it's getting old. My question is what would be the equivalent motherboard today? Thanks again.
 
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