Cloning a multi-partition drive

[jhansman]

The 500GB spinner in my laptop contains no less than five partitions, two of which are volumes with drive letter C: & D:; what the others are for I cannot say, but in their wisdom Lenovo has created them. I need to move the whole shebang on to a new SSD, intact. So, does the new, target drive have to be the same size, and if not, how can this be done? I have the drive backed up, but I'm not sure how to proceed from here. TIA.

 

[corkyg]

I suppose it depends on the cloneware. It is no problem at all with Acronis TI 2015. All my drives have multiple partitions, and are different sizes. Good cloneware has a proportional option that handles that. Best results come using bootable cloneware and not going through the unit OS.

 

[Charlie98]

I suppose it depends on the cloneware. It is no problem at all with Acronis TI 2015. All my drives have multiple partitions, and are different sizes. Good cloneware has a proportional option that handles that. Best results come using bootable cloneware and not going through the unit OS.

I second the Acronis '15 or newer. :thumbsup:

Chances are, your HDD has a recovery partition (separate from the running part of your OS) and, of course, the reserve partition (for the running part of the OS.) The 5th partition might just be unused space, I reloaded my inlaws Acer, and for some reason they had a D : partition that was just empty space. I wound up wiping the entire drive and just installing a clean reload of the OS (Vista, in this case) without all the bloat. I don't use any sort of system recovery or backup, I use Acronis for that, too. 😀

If you are going to upgrade to something like a 256GB SSD, I would consider just loading a fresh copy of your OS on it.

 

[jhansman]

I second the Acronis '15 or newer. :thumbsup:

Chances are, your HDD has a recovery partition (separate from the running part of your OS) and, of course, the reserve partition (for the running part of the OS.) The 5th partition might just be unused space, I reloaded my inlaws Acer, and for some reason they had a D : partition that was just empty space. I wound up wiping the entire drive and just installing a clean reload of the OS (Vista, in this case) without all the bloat. I don't use any sort of system recovery or backup, I use Acronis for that, too. 😀

If you are going to upgrade to something like a 256GB SSD, I would consider just loading a fresh copy of your OS on it.

I am tempted to do as you suggest, but I don't want to lose the recovery partition just yet. The thing is only a couple of weeks old, and still under warranty. If I need to go back to square one, I don't want Lenovo crying "voided warranty!" the first chance they get. That's why I wanted to just move the whole deal over to an SSD, if for the performance gain if nothing else. I use Acronis TI (2014), but my first attempt to restore the back up I made of the original HD to a 128GB Crucial M4 I've had sitting around failed; it would not let me check all the partitions in the back up. I assumed this was because of the size difference between the two drives. Does that matter? Found this article in the Acronis KB: https://kb.acronis.com/content/2770

 

[Charlie98]

It may not be able to handle a downsize that small... I don't know, I've never tried it.

Can you not open the partitions in Explorer and see what's in them... at least if there is an empty partition you can delete? You may have to enable viewing hidden folders first.

If you can identify the reserve and primary partition, clone them over to the new drive... and then pull the old HDD and stash it. You will have your recovery partition (in fact, your entire drive as sold to you) still intact.

Dumb question: The M4 is a pretty old drive... has this drive seen some use already? Have you checked the SMART readings?

Were you using Acronis as the boot disk? ...not within Windows?

 

[jhansman]

Not in Explorer, but in Disk Mgmt. I can see them all. And yes, I probably can merge or eliminate one or more of them. According to the Acronis info, they may all be able to be shoehorned into a smaller drive; it's worth a shot, nothing to lose trying. As for the age of the drive, yeah, it's an oldie by current standards. I figured that it (or just about any SSD) would out-perform the spinner that's in the laptop now. So all of this is really just an experiment to see what would be gained by upgrading. Lastly, haven't tried a boot disk from Acronis yet. All the info I've gotten has been from running Acronis from within Windows. If I can pick and chose which partitions get moved over to the M4, then that may be the way to do this, at least just to see how the machine runs with with it, and then as you say, stash the original drive as insurance.

 

[Ketchup]

I have had no problems doing this with EaseUS Todo Backup. Select Disk clone, and before you start it gives you options to resize partitions on the target disk as you wish. As long as you aren't using more space than what is available on the target (obviously), you shouldn't have a problem. It also comes with an iso if you would rather do this outside the OS.

Very nice for a free product.

 

[Charlie98]

As an experiment, I cloned from inside Windows... it didn't work very well and the copy wouldn't boot. The only time I clone from within Windows is when it's just a data drive... not an OS drive or partition.

Boot into the CD and try it that way.

My only concern with the M4 is the NAND lifespan remaining (128GB is small by today's standards) or if you are seeing a controller problem or failure. It was (and is) a good drive.

Not in Explorer, but in Disk Mgmt. I can see them all. And yes, I probably can merge or eliminate one or more of them.

I don't understand why you can't open each partition (as a drive, except the system reserve, and probably the recovery partition (which would contain the Lenovo version of the OS and drivers)) and see if there is any files in them using Explorer. I suspect they isolated the faster part of the drive disk for the main OS (to get faster response in use) and the slower part of the disk is isolated and/or used as the recovery partition. As I say (and someone correct me if I'm wrong,) you should be able to clone just the system reserved and the main OS partitions and wind up with a bootable drive.

EDIT: Don't merge or eliminate any partitions on the source drive. I don't think it would void any warranty from Lenovo... I doubt they warrant the software in any event, but you don't want to destroy the seed corn, so to speak, until you are able to successfully get a useable clone.

 

[jhansman]

As long as you aren't using more space than what is available on the target (obviously), you shouldn't have a problem. It also comes with an iso if you would rather do this outside the OS.

Very nice for a free product.

This may be the hangup, as the target drive is but 128GB. The Windows C: boot partition alone on the Lenovo is 419GB, although I know only a small fraction of that is actually occupied. Asking any program to shrink volumes to that much of a size differential may not work. Should be an interesting experiment, but if it cannot be don, then I'll hold off on this project until I can afford a half terabyte SSD; then, it should be easy using the info I've found here. Can't post an attachment here, but here's a link to a screenshot on Google photos:
https://goo.gl/photos/Vvkg9nqgN8wMNh216

 

[Ketchup]

Looks like you are using, at most 48 GB across the partitions. That will leave you plenty of space to put the all the partitions onto your 128 GB on your SSD and have over 50% of free space for future additions.

 

[Ranulf]

Might try Macrium Reflect free version for cloning. It lets you resize partitions.

 

[lakedude]

I've had good luck with both Macrium and Acronis. EaseUS Todo Backup sounds like a good choice as well. Ketchup tends to know what he is talking about.

The interface for shrinking partitions is a little weird on Macrium. It works fine but I've always got to monkey with it a bit to get it right.

I've had good luck with "Parted Magic" as well. It is included free with many Linux distros.

 

[Charlie98]

Looks like you are using, at most 48 GB across the partitions. That will leave you plenty of space to put the all the partitions onto your 128 GB on your SSD and have over 50% of free space for future additions.

I wonder... can the OP shrink the partitions on the source drive, first... and then clone the (hopefully) smaller source drive?

 

[lakedude]

A note on shrinking partitions, I had no luck shrinking a running partition because of unmovable files. My solution was to boot from a bootable Linux disk and use Parted Magic.

I suspect Windows could work so long as you were not trying to shrink a running partition.

Because of the unmovable files it might just be easier to let the cloning software take care of it during the clone.

 

[redzo]

I wonder... can the OP shrink the partitions on the source drive, first... and then clone the (hopefully) smaller source drive?

It's better to boot with a cloning software and let the software shrink the partition. It should do it at runtime. The cloning software does not alter the source drive, it does not write/touch the source disk at all. This is the principle of cloning: the source drive remains untouched.
If you try to shrink the partitions and something goes wrong, you're screwed.
OP has nothing to loose by trying to clone the disk. The only thing to be careful is: do not confuse the source disk with the target one.
Clone the disk first and after that check the results. If it doesn't work, try to figure out why and repeat the process. As long as your source drive is unaltered, you can do this forever.

EDIT: You should try to stay away from cloning solutions that ask the user to alter the source drive. This just defeats the purpose of cloning. It is bad design.

 

[Charlie98]

It's better to boot with a cloning software and let the software shrink the partition. It should do it at runtime. The cloning software does not alter the source drive, it does not write/touch the source disk at all. This is the principle of cloning: the source drive remains untouched.
If you try to shrink the partitions and something goes wrong, you're screwed.
OP has nothing to loose by trying to clone the disk. The only thing to be careful is: do not confuse the source disk with the target one.
Clone the disk first and after that check the results. If it doesn't work, try to figure out why and repeat the process. As long as your source drive is unaltered, you can do this forever.

EDIT: You should try to stay away from cloning solutions that ask the user to alter the source drive. This just defeats the purpose of cloning. It is bad design.

That was my original suggestion, mind you. I just didn't know if there was a problem, even software-wise, trying to shrink those partitions by 60%... I've never tried something that drastic.

 

[jhansman]

That was my original suggestion, mind you. I just didn't know if there was a problem, even software-wise, trying to shrink those partitions by 60%... I've never tried something that drastic.

Tried this today with TI, and it had all the partitions resized and ready to roll. When I clicked "Proceed" and the program rebooted, I got an error message that Acronis could not boot into it's mode that would complete the clone, so I'm thinking those of you who have suggested that this whole process would work better with USB bootable media (no DVD drive in this laptop) are right. That'll be my next attempt. And yes, I know the M4 is an oldie, probably near the end of it's useful life, but this is all just an experiment to see if a) the cloning will work and b) if the SSD offers even modest improvement in performance. If so, then I'll invest in a 21st century SSD (probably Samsung or Intel) and finish the job.

 

[Charlie98]

Tried this today with TI, and it had all the partitions resized and ready to roll. When I clicked "Proceed" and the program rebooted, I got an error message that Acronis could not boot into it's mode that would complete the clone, so I'm thinking those of you who have suggested that this whole process would work better with USB bootable media (no DVD drive in this laptop) are right. That'll be my next attempt. And yes, I know the M4 is an oldie, probably near the end of it's useful life, but this is all just an experiment to see if a) the cloning will work and b) if the SSD offers even modest improvement in performance. If so, then I'll invest in a 21st century SSD (probably Samsung or Intel) and finish the job.

Thanks for the update! I didn't think about the newer laptops not having a DVD drive... doh!

The M4 is a decent SSD, I'm running an old OCZ Agility3 60GB in my old Dell... they are from the same SSD 'era' of 2011 or so. Yes, it makes a BIG difference, even more so with a faster OS (mine originally came with XP.) Reasonably sized SSDs are so cheap now (vs when the M4 was purchased!) I really wonder why laptops even come with spinners, at least as a primary drive.

 

[redzo]

You can try this: http://www.partitionwizard.com/partition-wizard-bootable-cd.html
It seems to be feature rich and it is free. Yes, it takes some time to load and it will fill the screen with loading activity dots.

The "disk copy wizard tool" is quite easy to use and it looks idiot proof.

If the target drive is smaller than your source drive, the software will automatically fit all the partitions on the target disk by using the free space available. It also gives you the option to manually re-size the partitions on the target disk based on your preference.

The idea here is that your total source disk used space(HDD) must not exceed the total capacity of your target disk(SSD), of course.

If you are successful, it would be a good idea to try to restore the system from your new SSD; testing if the OEM recovery process is functional. After that you can copy/clone the disk once again.

Good luck!

 

[jhansman]

Will give the other suggestions a try, as Acronis has failed on every attempt. Not sure why, but it's had its chance. Wish me luck!

UPDATE: Macrium Reflect let me clone enough of the partitions to get the SSD to boot successfully, and a bit more quickly. Still, it would not copy all of them, even though the M4 had more than enough room for the data in those partitions. Next step: pulled my 840 EVO out of my desktop and will see if Macrium can move all the partitions to it. If so, I'm gold, and the 840 is a faster drive. This has been an interesting and educational experiment. As an aside, I could have picked up a 500GB 850 EVO for $138 on Jet.com and been done with it, but I just couldn't take on the debt. Good deal, though.

 

[XMan]

OP, I recently bought a Lenovo as well. I was able to successfully clone the factory disk with all partitions to a smaller SSD using MiniTool Partition Wizard. Might be worth a look?

 

[jhansman]

OP, I recently bought a Lenovo as well. I was able to successfully clone the factory disk with all partitions to a smaller SSD using MiniTool Partition Wizard. Might be worth a look?

Well, it took a while, but I managed to do it. Had Macrium move as many partitions as it could automatically, then dragged the others onto the 256GB 840 EVO. That was fine, except I was left with 53GB of unallocated space that I would have preferred the C: partition take up. Finally found a nifty, free little utility call AOMEI Partition Assistant that let me merge the the two. Worked like a charm, and this machine is at least twice as fast as before.

One concern: in Samsung Magician, I cannot enable RAPID Mode, I suspect because I left no room for over provisioning. Also, a message at the bottom of the screen says "RAPID Mode accelerates only one SSD, even though the system may have more than one supported SSD." This machine has only one drive, so I'm not sure what the problem is.
I reckon I need to find out if I wipe out the HD and do a fresh install of Win10, will that void the warranty. Since the factory restore partition will be gone, they may claim they cannot support me. In any event, thanks to all who chimed in with suggestions and ideas. That's what I love about AT forums-users helping users. :thumbsup:

 

[Charlie98]

Rapid mode uses RAM caching (I believe) to make it seem faster, in real-world use I didn't see it outside of benchmarks... but it's there and probably won't hurt anything. Personally, I don't use it.

As far as voiding any warranty, I don't think it's a problem... seriously. They warrant the hardware, not necessarily the software. But, research is your friend, make sure you have the proper backups and/or downloads to properly recover your OS if you need to build it from scratch... before you wipe it. Use a program to make sure your OS sticker key is correct (vs the one in the system.)

 

[jhansman]

All I had to do was update my version of Magician, and then RAPID mode became available. As you say, can't do any harm. As for over provisioning, I was able to shrink the boot partition enough to enable it. And yes, I have a backup of the original hard drive as it was out of the box, just in case. Mission accomplished, and she runs like a top now.