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Hello I have almost saturated my 256GB NVME ssd of my laptop and it was about time i upgrade, I have bought a 1TB NVME ssd to migrate into. It would seems that comments on how to clone a drive only copies the OS and not the programs too.

Installing my programs again and setting my preference profile back is a boot to much for me, I am looking for after the cloning it to the new drive i will be able to continue using it like nothing happened.

The old drive does not contain any user partitions but it does contain partitions from the manufacturer ( dell)

Can anyone give a concrete guide on how do i do this? I do have a PC that can read nvme no problem and YES the data is already backed - up its just the program specific profiles and preferences that i dont want to loose.

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  • Please see this answer
    – JW0914
    Commented Feb 15, 2020 at 13:32
  • @JW0914 It has a lot of steps and a lot of points where i could mess it up, I find it a bit much for someone who does not fully understand it much.
    – Jack
    Commented Feb 15, 2020 at 13:37
  • I have done this (replacing a HDD with an SSD). There is much value in starting fresh with the install. You get the correct partitions, new drivers, ans a reasonable assurance that the end result will work correctly
    – anon
    Commented Feb 15, 2020 at 13:50
  • @John I pretty much have nothing to loose at of the moment because theoretically the old drive wont be erased, i am also worried about the manufacturer built in partitions they might be important
    – Jack
    Commented Feb 15, 2020 at 13:52
  • 1
    Does this answer your question? How can I clone a Windows 10 disk onto a larger disk?
    – halt9k
    Commented Feb 11, 2023 at 19:49

2 Answers 2

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You'll need to boot to WinRE or WinPE (Windows Setup Media) and perform the following:

  1. Capture a WIM of the original drive's partitions via DISM
    • Required partitions: OS & WinRE
    • Optional partitions: OEM tools and Recovery Image partition(s)
  2. Configure partition layout of the new drive
  3. Apply each captured WIM to the corresponding new drive's partitions


Imaging

  • Windows has always natively supported imaging of partitions or individual directories.
    • The system partition can only be imaged from WinPE/WinRE, while all other partitions are able to be imaged while booted to Windows.
    • WIMs (Windows IMage) can be captured of an entire partition or individual folders/files and is the best method to use (specify exclusions/exceptions in a WimScript.ini file)

  • All WinPE/WinRE WIMs have DISM included within them.
    • WinPE: Windows Preinstallation Environment
      • Such as a Windows Setup boot media (SHIFT + F10 to access terminal)
    • WinRE: Windows Recovery Environment


Commands

WinPE only has 32MB of scratch [temp] space by default, so /ScratchDir is required

  • Capture an image:

    dism /Capture-Image /ImageFile:"Z:\Base.wim" /CaptureDir:"C:" /Name:"Windows Backup" /Description:"Base Image 2020.02.15 @ 07:59" /Compress:Max /CheckIntegrity /Verify /NoRpFix /ScratchDir:"Z:\"

    Append an Image:

    dism /Append-Image /ImageFile:"Z:\Base.wim" /CaptureDir:"C:" /Name:"Windows Backup" /Description:"Base Image 2020.02.15 @ 07:59" /Compress:Max /CheckIntegrity /Verify /NoRpFix /ScratchDir:"Z:\"

  • Apply an image:

    dism /Apply-Image /ImageFile:"Z:\Base.wim" /Index:1 /ApplyDir:"C:" /CheckIntegrity /Verify /NoRpFix /ScratchDir:"Z:\"

    • If applying a system image, the following commands must be issued prior to booting:

      bootrec /FixMBR && bootrec /RebuildBCD


NOTE:

  • It's impossible for an ESD/WIM image to become corrupted
    • Provided imaging commands are always issued with: /CheckIntegrity & /Verify

  • ESDs can only be taken of a system partition
    • /Compress:Recovery is the only compression algorithm available.
      • ESD compression ratio is ~33% more efficient than the WIM compression ratio.
      • In Windows 10, Microsoft only allows ESDs for Push-Button Reset exported images

  • ESDs/WIMs are smart compression image formats
    • Only changed files are added to an image when a new image is appended to it
      • Newly appended images utilize the same copy of unchanged files already contained within the image from the previous image(s).
        • This allows for an image to remain small in relation to the data contained within.


Configure Partitions

  1. Boot to WinRE or WinPE:
    • WinRE: Settings > Update & Security > Recovery - Advanced Startup >
      Troubleshoot > Advanced > Command Prompt
    • WinPE: Boot Windows Setup Media and open a terminal via SHIFT + F10

  2. Issue the following commands:
    1. diskpart
    2. lis dis
    3. sel dis X
      • Where X is the # of the new drive
    4. clean
    5. convert gpt
    6. cre par pri size=665 id=de94bba4-06d1-4d40-a16a-bfd50179d6ac offset=1024
      • WinRE partition must have 320MB free (WinRE.wim is ~300MB in size)
    7. format quick fs=ntfs label=WinRE
    8. gpt attributes=0x8000000000000001
    9. cre par efi size=100
    10. format quick fs=fat32 label=EFI
    11. cre par msr size=16
    12. If wanting:
      1. Rest of the disk as the system partition:
        1. cre par pri id=ebd0a0a2-b9e5-4433-87c0-68b6b72699c7
        2. format fs=ntfs quick label=System
      2. To create additional partitions after the System partition
        1. cre par pri size=204800 id=ebd0a0a2-b9e5-4433-87c0-68b6b72699c7
          • Creates 200GB System partition, w/ max size required being ~300GB if storing User Data directories on a partition other than C:\ (recommended)
            (i.e %UserProfile%\Documents, %UserProfile%\Downloads, etc.)
          • Multiply partition size wanted by 1024 (i.e. 200*1024=204800)
            1. format fs=ntfs quick label=System
    13. Close DiskPart: exit

  3. Follow this guide to recreate the EFI partition's boot contents
    1. Another way is to close the terminal and proceed through Windows setup
      1. Select the 4th partition you created to install Windows to (partition from 2.12.1 || 2.12.2)
      2. Once setup reaches the "Installing Features" step, cancel the install
        • Setup can likely be canceled sooner, however, I'm not sure at which point it configures the EFI partition with the boot files, which is the only reason you're utilizing Windows Setup.

  4. Capture and Apply the System, WinRE, and any desired OEM partitions from the previous disk, utilizing the commands under Imaging
    • If using the option in 3.1, before applying the WIM of the system partition to the new drive, format the System partition on the drive (partition #4 from 2.12 above):
      diskpart > lis vol > sel vol <X> > format fs=ntfs quick label=System


DISM Prerequisites


Example: /Get-WIMinfo

PS $  ls -File "Z:\WIM"

  Directory: Z:\WIM

    Mode                LastWriteTime            Length  Name
    ----                -------------            ------  ----
    -a----        2018.12.24 03:34:13   95,019,530,773B  Base.wim
    -a----        2016.06.14 22:32:36              568B  DISM.cmd
    -a----        2016.05.17 05:36:10               97B  wimscript.ini

PS $  dism /Get-WIMinfo /WIMfile:"Base.wim"

  Deploy Image Servicing and Management tool
  Version: 10.0.18362.1

    Details for image : "Base.wim"

    Index : 1
      Name : Alienware 18: Windows 10
      Description : v1803: Base (Drivers Only)
      Size : 22,710,283,446 bytes

    Index : 2
      Name : Alienware 18: Windows 10
      Description : v1803: Software Installed (No Customizations)
      Size : 45,591,850,754 bytes

    Index : 3
      Name : Alienware 18: Windows 10
      Description : v1803: Software Installed (Customized)
      Size : 94,958,267,312 bytes

    Index : 4
      Name : Alienware 18: Windows 10
      Description : v1803: Software Group 1 Installed (Customized)
      Size : 101,588,267,910 bytes

    Index : 5
      Name : Alienware 18: Windows 10
      Description : v1803: Software Group 2 Installed (Customized)
      Size : 101,905,314,237 bytes

    Index : 6
      Name : Alienware 18: Windows 10
      Description : v1809: Updated Applications
      Size : 114,959,954,040 bytes

  The operation completed successfully.

PS $  dism /Get-WIMinfo /WIMfile:"Base.wim" /Index:1

  Deployment Image Servicing and Management tool
  Version: 10.0.18362.1

    Details for image : "Base.wim"

      Index : 1
      Name : Alienware 18: Windows 10
      Description : v1803: Base (Drivers Only)
      Size : 22,710,283,446 bytes
      WIM Bootable : No
      Architecture : x64
      Hal : acpiapic
      Version : 10.0.17134
      ServicePack Build : 1
      ServicePack Level : 1
      Edition : Professional
      Installation : Client
      ProductType : WinNT
      ProductSuite : Terminal Server
      System Root : WINDOWS
      Directories : 24288
      Files : 112665
      Created : 2018.05.05 - 13:56:47
      Modified : 2018.05.05 - 13:56:47
      Languages :
              en-US (Default)

  The operation completed successfully.


PS $  dism /Get-WIMinfo /WIMfile:"Base.wim" /Index:2

  Deployment Image Servicing and Management tool
  Version: 10.0.18362.1

    Details for image : "Base.wim"

      Index : 2
      Name : Alienware 18: Windows 10
      Description : v1803: Software Installed (No Customizations)
      Size : 45,591,850,754 bytes
      WIM Bootable : No
      Architecture : x64
      Hal : acpiapic
      Version : 10.0.17134
      ServicePack Build : 1
      ServicePack Level : 1
      Edition : Professional
      Installation : Client
      ProductType : WinNT
      ProductSuite : Terminal Server
      System Root : WINDOWS
      Directories : 45803
      Files : 203058
      Created : 2018.05.06 - 01:55:47
      Modified : 2018.05.06 - 01:55:48
      Languages :
              en-US (Default)

  The operation completed successfully.


PS $  dism /Get-WIMinfo /WIMfile:"Base.wim" /Index:3

  Deployment Image Servicing and Management tool
  Version: 10.0.18362.1

    Details for image : "Base.wim"

      Index : 3
      Name : Alienware 18: Windows 10
      Description : v1803: Software Installed (Customized)
      Size : 94,958,267,312 bytes
      WIM Bootable : No
      Architecture : x64
      Hal : acpiapic
      Version : 10.0.17134
      ServicePack Build : 1
      ServicePack Level : 81
      Edition : Professional
      Installation : Client
      ProductType : WinNT
      ProductSuite : Terminal Server
      System Root : WINDOWS
      Directories : 62409
      Files : 350446
      Created : 2018.06.01 - 19:09:51
      Modified : 2018.06.19 - 21:26:18
      Languages :
              en-US (Default)

  The operation completed successfully.


PS $  dism /Get-WIMinfo /WIMfile:"Base.wim" /Index:4

  Deployment Image Servicing and Management tool
  Version: 10.0.18362.1

    Details for image : "Base.wim"

      Index : 4
      Name : Alienware 18: Windows 10
      Description : v1803: Software Group 1 Installed (Customized)
      Size : 101,588,267,910 bytes
      WIM Bootable : No
      Architecture : x64
      Hal : acpiapic
      Version : 10.0.17134
      ServicePack Build : 1
      ServicePack Level : 81
      Edition : Professional
      Installation : Client
      ProductType : WinNT
      ProductSuite : Terminal Server
      System Root : WINDOWS
      Directories : 61908
      Files : 346074
      Created : 2018.06.08 - 21:54:02
      Modified : 2018.06.19 - 21:26:18
      Languages :
              en-US (Default)

  The operation completed successfully.


PS $  dism /Get-WIMinfo /WIMfile:"Base.wim" /Index:5

  Deployment Image Servicing and Management tool
  Version: 10.0.18362.1

    Details for image : "Base.wim"

      Index : 5
      Name : Alienware 18: Windows 10
      Description : v1803: Software Group 2 Installed (Customized)
      Size : 101,905,314,237 bytes
      WIM Bootable : No
      Architecture : x64
      Hal : acpiapic
      Version : 10.0.17134
      ServicePack Build : 1
      ServicePack Level : 81
      Edition : Professional
      Installation : Client
      ProductType : WinNT
      ProductSuite : Terminal Server
      System Root : WINDOWS
      Directories : 76113
      Files : 423408
      Created : 2018.06.09 - 20:38:36
      Modified : 2018.06.19 - 21:26:18
      Languages :
              en-US (Default)

  The operation completed successfully.


PS $  dism /Get-WIMinfo /WIMfile:"Base.wim" /Index:6

  Deployment Image Servicing and Management tool
  Version: 10.0.18362.1

    Details for image : "Base.wim"

      Index : 6
      Name : Alienware 18: Windows 10
      Description : v1809: Updated Applications
      Size : 114,959,954,040 bytes
      WIM Bootable : No
      Architecture : x64
      Hal : acpiapic
      Version : 10.0.17763
      ServicePack Build : 195
      ServicePack Level : 0
      Edition : Professional
      Installation : Client
      ProductType : WinNT
      ProductSuite : Terminal Server
      System Root : WINDOWS
      Directories : 87659
      Files : 452028
      Created : 2018.12.24 - 04:27:13
      Modified : 2018.12.24 - 04:27:15
      Languages :
              en-US (Default)

  The operation completed successfully.
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2
  • I assume that configure partitions is done in a another machine since my laptop has only one drive?
    – Jack
    Commented Feb 15, 2020 at 14:02
  • @Jack If you're unable to connect the new drive to the PC at the same time as the original drive, then capture a WIM of the OS and WinRE partitions from WinRE or WinPE, saving the resultant image (/ImageFile: parameter) to external storage, and if desired, the OEM tools and Recovery Image partition as well (these OEM partitions may be a single partition or two separate ones). Once all partitions have been captured as WIMs, install the new drive, then start from the top of the answer. (I recommend creating separate WIMs for each partition) I've also re-ordered 1 & 2 in the answer
    – JW0914
    Commented Feb 15, 2020 at 14:11
0

I also asked the dell forum It worked with this solution

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