Disc Lettering AFter Cloning

BobZ · 22 Jan 2018

I am cloning my C drive to an external USB drive. I will replace the C drive with a new, larger hard drive. Should I change the letter of the new drive to C before cloning to it from the external drive?

storageman · 22 Jan 2018

BobZ said:

I am cloning my C drive to an external USB drive. I will replace the C drive with a new, larger hard drive. Should I change the letter of the new drive to C before cloning to it from the external drive?

You don't need to that. The cloning software is going to make a identical copy of your C drive (bit By bit). The drive in your external enclosure will be just like your C Drive. After the clone is completed, swap the drives.

Word Man · 22 Jan 2018

Or just backup complete disk image (all partitions, forensic if really necessary) to external and then restore from external to new disk using rescue media.
@BobZ - ETA: I guess I should have asked - Which software are you using? I'm a bit overly Macriumcentric...

BobZ · 22 Jan 2018

I'm using Macrium. After cloning to the external USB drive, I will swap out the smaller internal drive for a larger one and clone back to that. Do I need to use rescue media or can I just boot from the external drive?

Word Man · 22 Jan 2018

You won't be able to boot from the clone if it is externally connected. That's why it just seems simpler if not precisely the same to back up to and then restore from the external. No drive letter changes or any other finagling needed. Image, swap the old for new, restore, reboot = done.

NavyLCDR · 22 Jan 2018

If it was me, I would just clone the old drive to the new drive and not even bother with a third drive in between.

Layback Bear · 23 Jan 2018

I use Macrium for cloning all the time.
As NavyLCDR does. One ssd to another ssd.

I recommend changing the name of the partition Windows 10 is on, so you can tell one from the other when they are both hooked up.
Which ever one boots will become partition "C" so the name allows me to know which is which.
Example:

Disc Lettering AFter Cloning-windows-10-clone.png

Jack

Clintlgm · 23 Jan 2018

I also use MR and the way I clone is to pull the Original drive and install the new Raw drive. Install the old drive either in a external case or SATA to USB adapter then clone from USB to the new installed drive. Clone done boot up and carry on.
However the safest way is to create anImage of your Original driver on an external hard drive. Remove Old drive, install the New drive then restore the Image from the external drive directly to the new drive already installed in your computer restore completed boot up and carry one. Now you have a good image stored on an external drive and your old hard drive as back up. You have 2 working back ups should you run into trouble later on.
I made Clone and Image stand out they are two different things used differently, Clone usually works no problem's, but not always. the Image and image Restore work every time and you do not risk corrupting your Original hard drive

RolandJS · 23 Jan 2018

Sometimes, the only minor glitch post-cloning and installing replacement internal HD is that the booting partition has to marked Active again by any partition/disk management USB or DVD boot. I have no idea why that glitch happens.

cereberus · 25 Jan 2018

storageman said:

You don't need to that. The cloning software is going to make a identical copy of your C drive (bit By bit). The drive in your external enclosure will be just like your C Drive. After the clone is completed, swap the drives.

Drive letters are not permanent and are assigned at boot time. Windows will automatically label drive as C during boot. You do not have to do anything.