How do I clone my SSD drive ? at DVinfo.net

James Manford · March 21st, 2015, 05:55 AM

If I ever had to re-install windows it would be an absolute pain to get all my settings the way I currently have it for optimum editing comfort.

I have done many tweaks over the last 2 years from advice I have received. But such tweaks were not noted down. So if I lose them, they are gone.

For this reason I want to clone my 250GB SSD drive to another 250GB SSD drive. So if it ever died on me I can simply put the other drive in and carry on working like nothing has changed.

I am using Windows 7. Any advice would greatly be appreciated.

Mark Watson · March 21st, 2015, 09:54 AM

I would like to know this also. Just yesterday my laptop was taking several hours to download video files off an SD card and I thought my internal SSD might be going bad. I had recently installed a new version of Norton Security and Backup software. I know you're not supposed to de-frag an SSD, so I went into the setting to see if it was doing a de-frag during its Disk Optimize routine. Yep, de-frag was turned on by default. I've turned it off, and have downloaded more 4K video files today and they completed in minutes rather than hours. Might be the SSD or might be something else that caused that hiccup, but it sure got my attention.

Mark

Mark Williams · March 21st, 2015, 03:56 PM

I recently cloned my HD with operating system to a Crucial SSD using Acronis which came bundled with the SSD. All went well. Be sure to reassign your SSD as boot drive and disconnect the old HD before start up. A few weeks latter I tried to open up some software I rarely use and noticed that it had reverted to demo mode. Have all your software license serial numbers and registration codes handy in case you have to re-enter them in admin mode.

Dave Blackhurst · March 21st, 2015, 04:18 PM

I'd expect Acronis to work to a HDD if it's the correct brand, or if they have a special version for SSD - might check with the SSD manufacturer website, sometimes they have utilities.

I've also used a freeware program called Macrium Reflect that seemed to do the clone trick fairly well, although I had issues with external USB 3.0 cases (cheap ones off ebay...) - one didn't work on 3.0 ports, but did on a 2.0... not so good for a current laptop.... the other would sometimes crash as though it had a buffer overload - took a few tries to succeed with the cloning process, but eventually I've pulled it off!

Oren Arieli · March 21st, 2015, 06:39 PM

Look for standalone drive duplicators. I have one like this: Vantec NexStar NST-DP100S3 standalone SATA 2.5” & 3.5” Hard Drive Duplicator Dock with USB 3.0 - Newegg.com

You can use them as a bare drive dock as well. I like the fact that it makes perfect clones without tying up a computer.

James Manford · March 22nd, 2015, 04:23 AM

Thank you so much Oren. That will definitely do the job. I simply want a clone of my drive exactly the way it is.

David Banner · March 24th, 2015, 01:05 PM

I have used this several times. I've cloned an SSD to another SSD and also cloned 3.5inch HDD to another 3.5 HDD:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

It's my understanding that is does a bit by bit clone and the nice thing is that it doesn't require connecting to a computer. You simply put the orignal drive in, the new drive and press the button.

The drives I cloned had a lot of software and plugins installed and the backup clone worked just like the original. On one computer I even had MAC OSX and WIN7 installed and it still worked perfectly.

The amount of time this would save when a drive failed by simply replacing the failed drive with the backup drive versus having to re-install and re-activate all the software should a drive fail is incredible. Well worth the money!

March 21st, 2015, 05:55 AM	#1
James Manford Trustee Join Date: Jan 2013 Location: London, UK Posts: 1,393	How do I clone my SSD drive ? If I ever had to re-install windows it would be an absolute pain to get all my settings the way I currently have it for optimum editing comfort. I have done many tweaks over the last 2 years from advice I have received. But such tweaks were not noted down. So if I lose them, they are gone. For this reason I want to clone my 250GB SSD drive to another 250GB SSD drive. So if it ever died on me I can simply put the other drive in and carry on working like nothing has changed. I am using Windows 7. Any advice would greatly be appreciated.

March 21st, 2015, 09:54 AM	#2
Mark Watson Major Player Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Whidbey Island Posts: 873	Re: How do I clone my SSD drive ? I would like to know this also. Just yesterday my laptop was taking several hours to download video files off an SD card and I thought my internal SSD might be going bad. I had recently installed a new version of Norton Security and Backup software. I know you're not supposed to de-frag an SSD, so I went into the setting to see if it was doing a de-frag during its Disk Optimize routine. Yep, de-frag was turned on by default. I've turned it off, and have downloaded more 4K video files today and they completed in minutes rather than hours. Might be the SSD or might be something else that caused that hiccup, but it sure got my attention. Mark

March 21st, 2015, 03:56 PM	#3
Mark Williams Trustee Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: Deep South, U.S. Posts: 1,526	Re: How do I clone my SSD drive ? I recently cloned my HD with operating system to a Crucial SSD using Acronis which came bundled with the SSD. All went well. Be sure to reassign your SSD as boot drive and disconnect the old HD before start up. A few weeks latter I tried to open up some software I rarely use and noticed that it had reverted to demo mode. Have all your software license serial numbers and registration codes handy in case you have to re-enter them in admin mode. __________________ Mark videos: http://vimeo.com/channels/3523 Stock: http://www.pond5.com/artist/mark29 Last edited by Mark Williams; March 21st, 2015 at 09:32 PM.

March 21st, 2015, 04:18 PM	#4
Dave Blackhurst Inner Circle Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Apple Valley CA Posts: 4,874	Re: How do I clone my SSD drive ? I'd expect Acronis to work to a HDD if it's the correct brand, or if they have a special version for SSD - might check with the SSD manufacturer website, sometimes they have utilities. I've also used a freeware program called Macrium Reflect that seemed to do the clone trick fairly well, although I had issues with external USB 3.0 cases (cheap ones off ebay...) - one didn't work on 3.0 ports, but did on a 2.0... not so good for a current laptop.... the other would sometimes crash as though it had a buffer overload - took a few tries to succeed with the cloning process, but eventually I've pulled it off!

March 21st, 2015, 06:39 PM	#5
Oren Arieli Major Player Join Date: May 2007 Location: San Jose, California Posts: 919	Re: How do I clone my SSD drive ? Look for standalone drive duplicators. I have one like this: Vantec NexStar NST-DP100S3 standalone SATA 2.5” & 3.5” Hard Drive Duplicator Dock with USB 3.0 - Newegg.com You can use them as a bare drive dock as well. I like the fact that it makes perfect clones without tying up a computer.

March 22nd, 2015, 04:23 AM	#6
James Manford Trustee Join Date: Jan 2013 Location: London, UK Posts: 1,393	Re: How do I clone my SSD drive ? Thank you so much Oren. That will definitely do the job. I simply want a clone of my drive exactly the way it is.

March 24th, 2015, 01:05 PM	#7
David Banner Major Player Join Date: Mar 2015 Location: Bentonville, AR Posts: 239	Re: How do I clone my SSD drive ? I have used this several times. I've cloned an SSD to another SSD and also cloned 3.5inch HDD to another 3.5 HDD: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...?ie=UTF8&psc=1 It's my understanding that is does a bit by bit clone and the nice thing is that it doesn't require connecting to a computer. You simply put the orignal drive in, the new drive and press the button. The drives I cloned had a lot of software and plugins installed and the backup clone worked just like the original. On one computer I even had MAC OSX and WIN7 installed and it still worked perfectly. The amount of time this would save when a drive failed by simply replacing the failed drive with the backup drive versus having to re-install and re-activate all the software should a drive fail is incredible. Well worth the money!