Windows 10: Want to confirm advice given for moving C: drive system image to SSD

I have purchased a 1TB solid state drive for the purpose of migrating my system image from a 1TB internal HDD. The system is a laptop running Windows 10, 64-bit 1909. II have read posts here that offer several approaches to do this. One of the simpler methods say you can simply make a system image, replace the drive, and then use a recovery disk or other bootable media to restore the system image to the new SSD. The caveat in the post says you can do this if the target device 1TB SSD in my case is the same size or larger than the current device 1TB internal HDD. I've looked at the properties of the installed HDD and see that the C: partition size is 884GB with 140GB used and 748GB available. Given this information:

a. Can I assume that I can easily migrate the C: drive contents too the new SSD?

b. Since my system image also includes the D: partition on the current internal HDD, can I assume that it will also migrate over without issue i.e., do I need to do anything to create the various system-defined "partitions" that exist on my current HDD on the new SSD for this migration to work?

c. Are there any advantages to using a thrid-party cloning software product?

:)

 

Move C: drive to SSD but there are system partitions on 2 drives

Thanks for the help and advice, however I have encountered problems.
With just C: drive connected the PC booted successfully.
With the new SSD drive connected I attempted to clone C: to the SSD but the cloning failed, Macrium software saying there was a MBR error on C: which needed fixing. This was done (took quite a while) and the PC rebooted OK with just the SSD and C: connected.
Another attempt at cloning was made, this also failed "The following drive (the SSD) is in use and the restore cannot continue. Run from Windows PE"



Restarted the PC in PE mode but then got an error "MapAndValidateXML failed"



When "ReDeploy restored image to new hardware was selected "ReDeploy is not available in this edition of Macrium"




Where do I go from here?

 

Move Windows to new drive using a system image

Hi all!

My C drive, an old SSD, appears to be reaching its end of life. I am occasionally running into complete system freezes after which I have no other choice than to hit the physical reset button.

I would like to move the current Windows installation over to my secondary SSD. I have already created a system image using the build-in tool in Windows, and have created a repair disc (USB). I assumed it would be possible to simply install the system image to a different drive, but unfortunately it doesn't appear to be as easy as I hoped it would be.

To summarize the disk layout (these drives are all internal):

• C: SSD - contains Windows and holds the MBR (the defect one, will be retired)
• D: SSD - is partitioned as a GPT drive (the secondary drive I want to move Windows to)
• F: HDD (this drive contains the image and other data)

The F drive also contains a Linux installation, which has its bootloader on the C drive (the defect SSD carries all boot data). It is no problem for me however to lose this Linux installation as it's only for experimental use and I intend to reinstall it anyway.

I have no clue how to install the system image to the secondary SSD (currently marked D. Is it actually possible at all, and if so, how can I achieve this?

Thanks in advance!

 

System Image Problem

I'm getting a head start in case you get on early.

Can you post camera pics to your thread from your phone?

There will be steps later that require attention to detail and I'd feel better if I could see what's on your screen. I had to try the steps more than once when I tested the process and I'd like to avoid that on your machine.

Here's what I'd like to do for the Macrium Rescue steps later on in the process
I'll post the the step, you'll post an picture of the Macrium screen,
I'll echo same screen back if I see something that needs changing or I'll just say Go Ahead

When I confirm that the Macrium screen, you'll make any changes I've highlighted and THEN execute the step

Here's where you begin today's session, we'll get as far as we get and then pick up when you get back home.

Step 1: Safeguard the System Image by moving it to a new folder

1. Connect the Seagate exp drive
   
   
2. File Explorer: Navigate to the Seagate drive
   
   
3. Create a new Folder named 1_sysImage
   
   
4. Move WindowsImageBackup to 1_sysImage

Step 2: List the VHDs in the System Image

1. File Explorer: Navigate to 1_sysImage\WindowsImageBackup\machineName\Backup date-time
   
   
2. Press the Type column to sort by Type
   
   
3. Post a screen shot