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My plan is to replace my laptop's current 256GB SSD with a 1 or 2 TB SSD. This means that the new SSD will be completely empty without any OS, or my data... I am using Windows 10 on the subject computer.

I have the ability to create a "Windows backup Image" (I do this weekly anyway) of my old SSD and put it on one of my external drives and I was hoping to "restore" this backup image onto the new SSD after it is installed into the laptop, so I can resume exactly how I'd left off but with more space. However, does Windows need to already be on that new SSD in order to do this? If so, are there any other solutions which solve the problem of needing to transfer data/OS image from current SSD to new SSD?

Please Note: This is not a request for a software recommendation. I am wondering about the method for which to go about this. For example, is it possible to restore an image to the SSD after the drive has been installed when the computer now has no current OS installed on it? Without an OS, how is this achieved?

the_endian
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2 Answers2

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There are numerous ways to go about this, and this could largely be interpreted as a request for a software recommendation or opinion, so don't be surprised if this question is closed eventually... Personally I don't feel Windows does this itself very well at all and I recommend NOT attempting it his way.

That said Macrium Reflect Free is excellent at performing this type of operation. I have used it on several occasions, both moving to larger and smaller disks and it has worked perfectly every time.

I would highly recommend it, also Macrium has several tutorials on their site about moving partitions or whole disks from one physical device to another. Check out the Macrium Reflect 6 Knowledgebase for more information.

acejavelin
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If you are comfortable with Linux I'd suggest using a bootable USB stick with clonezilla which is free, otherwise you could use a free/trial version of a Windows based application like Macrium or DriveImageXML etc.

ccpizza
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