Upgrading a 2TB SSD to 4TB SSD... is the process as simple as cloning a HDD?

[Richdog]

Hi all. I am going to upgrade my 2GB SSD PCIe3 to a 4TB Lexar NM790 PCIe4 (both Nvme) so I don't need to worry about game install storage for a while. I have a MSI x570 motherboard with 2x PCIE SSD slots and of course my current SSD is in the primary slot. I am please looking for advice on how the process works as I have only done it with regular HDD's before.

To upgrade the SSD do I either:

1) Put the new SSD in the secondary slot then clone it from Windows and THEN swap it over to the primary slot?
2) Immediately put the new SSD in the primary slot and swap the old SSD to the secondary slot (making the changes to boot order in BIOS) and THEN clone it from Windows?
3) When I clone the SSD will the 4TB only be seen as 2TB and if I change it using a HD tool will I then need to repair the MTBR or similar?

Any advice is appreciated to make the experience as smooth as possible.

Cheers.

 

[Snapshot]

What would you expect to happen if you cloned a 2TB HDD to a 4TB? Well, doing the the same with SSDs will give exactly the same result.
Personally, I use an external USB dock for the new SSD but I'm often cloning PCs/laptops with just one M.2 slot. I don't think it matters which way round you do it and the cloning software should take care of the size difference.

 

[Philtor]

If you clone it then you may need to expand the partition afterwards in disk management to make the full 4TB useable.

I would just take an image of the drive and then restore it to the new one, assuming you have an external drive to save the image onto.

 

[Richdog]

What would you expect to happen if you cloned a 2TB HDD to a 4TB? Well, doing the the same with SSDs will give exactly the same result.
Personally, I use an external USB dock for the new SSD but I'm often cloning PCs/laptops with just one M.2 slot. I don't think it matters which way round you do it and the cloning software should take care of the size difference.

If you clone it then you may need to expand the partition afterwards in disk management to make the full 4TB useable.

I would just take an image of the drive and then restore it to the new one, assuming you have an external drive to save the image onto.

Thanks both. i do have a NAS with more than enough space to store an image. My main concerns were around use of the SSD slots, but I assume I can just a) change the boot order to the secondary SSD slot then b) put the boot driver in the secondary slot and the new HDD in the primary slot and then c) boot into windows and clone and then d) reboot and oot from the primary slot with new SSD. After that I can then hopefully expand the partition.

 

[Mcnumpty2323]

It's no different to cloning a hdd apart from
Adding or removing m2 drives can be more challenging
As sometimes under heatsink
or other components in the way like gpu etc

Unless you're the very rare user like me
Who has 5 x m2 drives
Then bifurcation settings can come into play

I agree with make an image
For reasons mentioned
But also because that gives you an image backup
For future use
Cloning doesn't
Unless you already make image backups anyway

 

[Richdog]

It's no different to cloning a hdd apart from
Adding or removing m2 drives can be more challenging
As sometimes under heatsink
or other components in the way like gpu etc

Unless you're the very rare user like me
Who has 5 x m2 drives
Then bifurcation settings can come into play

I agree with make an image
For reasons mentioned
But also because that gives you an image backup
For future use
Cloning doesn't
Unless you already make image backups anyway

Good advice, I will make an image just in case. I guess I will have to remove the GPU etc but shouldn't take long!

 

[Mcnumpty2323]

Good advice, I will make an image just in case. I guess I will have to remove the GPU etc but shouldn't take long!

Don't forget
Use an image making software that has
Some sort of rescue method for
When the pc is unbootable to Windows
I like macrium myself
It allows making a rescue usb
But also adding macrium to your boot menu
Which let's you recover even if forgot where you put
Your rescue usb
So 2 methods to be able to load your backup image
Usb probably enough for most people
But I am a belt and braces guy so the more the better

 

[Richdog]

Thanks everyone for the tips mission successful, though not without a couple of slight hiccups! I cloned the SSD then used a great tool called Minitool Partition Wizard to manipulate and merge/extend the partition. However each time this corrupted the MBR which then simply needed to be repaired by windows and then was fine.

I now have 4TB of PCIe Gen4 speed OS/gaming space and 2TB of PCI-E Gen3 gaming space, woot!