Hey guys,
I recently bought a Crucial BX100 - 250GB SSD, and I want to swap out my 500GB HDD to my new SSD. HOWEVER, I want to be able to keep all my files and not bother having to reinstall everything as well as having Windows 10 automatically and without having to go through some process of activating etc. Just wondering, would cloning my drive using something like Paragon Compact 14 or Acronis True Image HD work, and allow me to use my laptop as if it were before?
Thanks in advance!
It's got 2 partitions. There's an OS partition and Local D: partition. Can I simply clone the partition and it will be okay?
Not really. You need to copy the MBR which is outside of the partition. I've only used Macrium Reflect so I don't know if Acronis or Paragon will work but copying only the OS partition isn't enough. I've tried restoring the OS partition only and trying to make a new boot info separately using the built-in Windows recovery tools but couldn't get it to work. Ended up making a new install instead.
I'm using Arconis 14, and it automatically does all of this and also makes it bootable. Just working on it now and seeing if it works.
How did it go?
It created a full boot. I'm now running Windows 10 ACTIVATED, no issues whatsoever. It's really great that Acronis 14 was included with the Crucial BX100 SSD that I bought from yesterday's eBay post deal.
That's great. Seems like trying Acronis would have saved me a lot of trouble.
dual HDD dock that will clone it for you, with the press of a button.
Reduce the amount of data in your HDD down to fit the 250Gb before cloning and that should be enough to transfer it.