T480 Upgrade internal 2280 NVME SSD 256 to !Tb

[ronk]

Currently have internal SSDPEKKF256GBL 2280 M.2 Drive NVME in T480, Windows 11. Wish to swap out for larger 1tb size, same 2280 format. I have the Suite Image for Windows product. Can I clone with image backups retaining Windows 11 boot with other data partitions? Do I need an enclosure to accomplish this? Just point to a thread to help if that's possible.

Looking back at what I have done before with HDD to SSD conversions. If I had a M.2 NVMe SSD Enclosure, put the old T480 internal SSD inside it, then the new SSD in the T480, then booted to IFL or IFW thumb usb. Next performed a IFL or IFW 'copy' from the SSD Enclosure to the T480 with these parameters:

Scale to Fit
Align to Target
GLOBAL OPTIONS
Align Partitions on 1Mib boundaries
Automatic Scaling Restrictions
Automatic Partition Update

Would this procedure work for Windows 11 SSD clone?
I have read in some cases though that the target M.2 NVMe SSD may not accept the OS, any truth to that?

Thanks,

Ron

[TeraByte Support]

Since it's already on SSD you can just leave the defaults and choose Scale to Fit. You said you're swapping it out, if not really, but will have both drives in at boot or try to bring the drive online when both installed, ensure you use the change disk id option as well (or just use simple operations when you do the copy). You can also backup, swap them, then restore as well.

[ronk]

OK, so I have a internal Intel M.2 PCi3 2280 256gb SSD to clone to a Crucial PCi3 M.2 2280 NVME 1Tb SSD in an enclosure. Loading IFW from a USB boot. I am using 'Copy' leaving all defaults except Scale to Fit. The drive is recognized, and after 'gathering information, the error popup indicates'cannot write to first track' appears.

In Windows 11, disk management sees the disk, asks to initialize (GPT) clicking OK give 'Fatal Hardware Error Detected'. Does this likely mean a bad SSD which I need to return?

Macrium Reflect and EaseUS don't even see the drive. IFW and Windows does, but cannot write or initialize the SSD in the enclosure.

Ron

[TeraByte Support(PP)]

It's possible that having the drive in an enclosure is causing the problem. It's not uncommon for drives to be seen differently when connected via an enclosure than when installed internally. If it still has issues/errors when installed internally, it may actually be a bad drive.

I would create an entire disk backup image of the currently installed M.2 drive (to a USB drive, for example) and then replace the M.2 drive with the new one, boot to TBWinRE or IFL, and do a restore to it.

[ronk]

OK, doing what you recommended, did an IFW backup, and Restore with TBWINRE IFL. The Drive was detected internal vs. external. (Yay!) Using 'Normal' Restore and Scale to fit failed with partition extension failed. So I tried Automatic, and the Restore completed successfully.
Booted to Windows 11 OK and all works. However, I now have 693 Gb unallocated at the end of the other partitions. I would like to increase the partition sizes. How do I best achieve that? Backup and Delete the data partitions and create patitions to the size I want, then restore with Scale to Fit?
Attached is image of partitions on the new NVME SSD.

Ron

[TeraByte Support(PP)]

You can't use Scale to Fit when restoring single partitions or partial drives.

Since you already have the backup, you should be able to restore the partitions from that one at a time and specify the new size (no need to make new backups if nothing has changed). So, delete the data partitions and then restore them one at a time with the desired size. If something doesn't want to resize as part of the restore, you can restore it normal size and then use Disk Management to enlarge it (check the file system first if there are errors) before continuing with the next partition restore.

[ronk]

I was restoring the entire drive when I used Scale to Fit 'Normal', so thought that would work.

OK, but won't those two partitions at the end, 100mb Healthy EFI system partition, and 1.33gb, be still there after I delete partitions? I also want to increase the C drive as well.

I did some research, and used EASEUS partition software to move the EFI system partition to the end of the allocated. Now will delete partitions and restore to desired size after expanding the 'C' Drive.

Thanks,
Ron

[Bob Coleman]

I don't thoroughly understand what is going on here and I would certainly make another full disk backup before doing anything else.

After doing that, how about using BIU Partition Work to slide the 1.33 GB partition to the end of the unallocated space at the end of the disk, then slide the 100 MB partition to the end of the remaining unallocated space (next to the 1.33 GB partition).

I admit I don't really know what these partitions are or if they can be moved.

If everything still works after this, you could proceed to resize and slide the remaining partitions.

[TeraByte Support(PP)]

I don't thoroughly understand what is going on here and I would certainly make another full disk backup before doing anything else.

It's always a good idea to create an entire disk image backup prior to making partitioning changes. However, in this case, there was already a full image backup and it could just be restored again, if necessary.

After doing that, how about using BIU Partition Work to slide the 1.33 GB partition to the end of the unallocated space at the end of the disk, then slide the 100 MB partition to the end of the remaining unallocated space (next to the 1.33 GB partition).

Yes, Partition Work could also have been used to slide the partitions.

[ronk]

As I planned; I moved the EFI System partition beyond the Unallocated space on the 1TB SSD. Then deleted all the non-boot partitions, then extended the boot partition. Finally Restored with IFW from the full disk image those partitions, extending each partition to the desired size. All worked well.

Thanks so much for the suggestion that the NVME SSD in the enclosure might be an issue vs. having it internally. TBWINRE then recognized the SSD.

Happy and Crucial Smart software indicates all is healthy.

One question, Crucial suggests enabling the 'momentum cache' if the SSD is a Boot drive. Is that an issue with Terabyte Backups similar to hibernation?

Thanks,

Ron