I will replace the hd in an old laptop with a new ssd. Can I clone the old drive to the new one? I have no way to run both drives at once, at least that I can think of. I may be able to put one of the drives into a pc case for this purpose. I don’t mind re-installing TW but I the old drive is a dual boot that came with Windows, and I don’t think I can get a Windows install on a new ssd.
Any advice, including software and proper procedure will be welcome.
Hi
What version of Windows? I prefer fresh installs, less disk writes, then just copy data over. Do you have a USB caddy or USB to SATA (plus power supply) for the old drive?
if you create the partitions first on the SSD then dd each from the old to the new.
blkid the old and change the blkid of the new to match the old blkid’s
you need a bootable USB key to reinstall grub on the new drive. (you mount the new on the usb mount -B dev, sys. run, proc to /mnt/ dev, sys, run, proc , chmod to /mnt , and grub2-install /dev/sd(what the ssd is).)
I did that for OpenSUSE 43 years ago and the new SSD worked perfectly both in Windows and OpenSUSE.
Back then there was no secure boot - in Linux you do need to edit the /etc/fstab to match the blkid of the fat /boot/efi partition or the boot will hang.
Pardon my high level of incompetence but I need help with directions. I purchased the new ssd. I searched through my DVDs and Windows 7 is the newest version I have. I guess I could install that (if the keys still work) on the new ssd and then add TW.
Otherwise, I have an external hd box which has a sata drive inside and power and a usb connections. If I follow directions above, do I install the old drive back into the laptop and the new drive in the external box, or do the opposite: the new drive in the laptop and old drive mounted externally?
Also, is clonezilla an option? Is there a partitioning issue going from hd to ssd?
Hi
Does the old drive still have windows 7 on it? If so, look at upgrading to windows 10 (it’s free), once you have a digital license you can then just do a fresh install of Windows 10 on the new SSD.
What model and spec of the laptop, is it Legacy boot or UEFI?
The old hd has Windows 10 on it which was on it when it was given to me. Not sure if I have a license for Window 7 disks that I have. The licences are probably for Office. The laptop is probably UEFI. I can’t double check until I reinstall the parts. The laptop is a Dell Latitude E6530 with 8GB and an i7 chip. I also have disks for Win 98. I’m donating them to a museum.
In the meantime, I checked my external sata to usb box. It works.
I purchased a needed battery and an ssd the same size as the existing hd. I tried to image the old drive with clonezilla but it failed saying the file system on sda1 was not compatible and it quit. That must be the Windows 10 partition which was the original OS. I wonder if me adding TW caused the problem. I’m ready to give up and make the laptop TW only. Also, the usb drive case that I wanted to use for cloning doesn’t have the cabling for either the old or new drive which is why I tried to image rather than clone.
BTW, I’m posting here because the clonezilla forums and instructions are not much help.
I’m trying to save a Windows 10 install. Clonezilla failed even after making me change many settings. I was trying to image the old drive to DVD but when the first DVD filled, there was no option to go to the next blank DVD. As I type this, I am imaging the Windows partitions using Macrium backup/imaging/cloning software package. It will be about 8 DVDs when finished. I intend to add that to the new, unused, ssd. If it boots, I will add TW to that drive as I have done with other Windows computers in the past.
Trying to figure out Macrium, I made one blunder. I started before stripping out all of the programs I don’t want. So, this image is larger than it need be. I will follow up with results, good or bad.
Clonezilla failed because you can’t make images on multiple DVDs. Macrium just failed! I made 9 DVDs of the Windows partitions and its installer couldn’t find the image file index, couldn’t find the new, bare, ssd and surprised me by saying that the free version doesn’t allow bare disk cloning. They didn’t say that on the web. I wouldn’t pay for the full version if I see the free fails. Also instructions and online support are worthless.
So, I loaded a new TW Net install CD and in about an hour had a clean functioning system. I should never have wasted my time on Windows!
You can run Windows from a virtual machine if you have need for Windows program
Note some VMs do not support direct Graphics so may not work with intense graphic program like games or graphic designers. That is what I have done for years
If ever I need to use Windows, I will try the VM method.
As a wrap up: I installed a new battery that took my usable time from about an hour to six hours. The ssd takes less than 30 seconds from power-on to a usable desktop. The old hd and battery were near the end of life. I spent less than $100 to get a good, useful, laptop back that should last me a few more years.