Windows 10: How to system clone an external hard drive to internal ssd

I recently got my laptop hdd replaced with an ssd and needed the entire system cloned but I guess the technician didn't understand because he gave me a laptop with a fresh windows 10 copy and only the user profile files stored in a folder called backup



Is it possible to system clone my external hard drive to the current ssd in the laptop and how would I go about doing that.

:)

 

How to clone a hard drive?

I'm a little confused about one thing with this guide.

If my existing HDD is unplugged, and the only thing plugged in is my new, blank, SSD...where is the system image being stored for Windows to restore from?

Edit: I missed the part where it says you'll need an extra HDD to do this, my bad. Do you know if an external HDD would work to store the system image on?

 

Cloning to SSD then swapping drive letters


@SamHobbs
What you want done is very simple and can be done in short period of time. Here's my suggestion:
There's 2 modes that Windows can be installed: UEFI and the old legacy MBR. Open Disk Management, look at the disk where your C drive is, if there's a

1. EFI System Partition, your Windows was installed using UEFI.
2. System Reserved partition, your Windows was installed using MBR

Next, Connect your SSD to an available Sata port (no need to format or do anything). Download: Macrium Reflect Free . Install and run. Follow the steps below:

1. From Macrium, click on image this disk under your C drive and save it to either an Internal or External Drive. This will create a single backup image of the whole disk containing your C drive.
2. Again, from Macrium, click on Restore tab and select the image created from step 1, Select your SSD as the destination drive, click Next->Finish
3. Exit Macrium. If your Windows was installed using MBR, Open disk management and make sure the SSD is marked "Active" else go to next step.
4. Shutdown your PC. Disconnect the HD containing Windows C drive then connect your SSD to it.
5. Reboot. Your PC should boot and the Windows should have C as the drive letter.

NOTE: The procedure above is to backup your Windows to an image file then copy it back to the SSD. This ensures proper cluster size aligment for the SSD. In addition, Macrium also perform Trimming for the SSD. This is more preferable than cloning.

 

Migrating to a SSD - clone or fresh install?

Also to make it clear when cloning both the source (your hard drive) and the destination drive (your SSD) must both be connected.

When Imaging only the source (hard drive) and an external USB drive to store the image need be connected. After the Image Backup is created you remove the hard drive, connect the SSD and restore the image (using the image backup product's "Recovery Media"
which you need to create and boot from) to the SSD. Most products also have a "SSD" option check box to properly configure the SSD offset.

You can read a product's user's guide to see exactly what step are required for cloning or imaging.

: http://www.pagestart.com