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[wierd]

1st partition is for the "startup recovery" handler, that gets called when the OS cannot boot properly.
Then there is the main OS partition.
The last partition is reserved space for partition alignment.

Just DD the entire device.  In that case, SDA

I am guessing that /dev/sda is your current ssd, and /dev/sdb is your new one.  The syntax would be like this

sudo dd if=/dev/sda of=/dev/sdb bs=4096

Just be VERY SURE of your input and output.

It will copy ALL partitions on the device. 

[methylatedspirit]

That's not my new SSD. That one's 1TB, the one you're seeing is my boot drive. The second one is my old SSD, though. The new one's already arrived in the mail, it's on my desk, but the SATA to USB cable that I need to actually begin copying data off the old one hasn't arrived yet. My laptop can only take one SATA drive, so I can't just insert both into the laptop at the same time. Unless you have some plans that don't involve another computer, that's all I can do.

I suppose the syntax is almost the same if I plugged in the new SSD using said cable, just using "if=dev/sdb" and "of=dev/sdc" instead for the dd command?

[wierd]

Just be sure to double check (and triple check) which devices are which. 

The next step after that is to use windows' DISKPART command to extend the partition so it fills the new volume.

That is multiple operations with diskpart, but not hard.

(run as administrator cmd.exe)
diskpart
select disk 0
select partition 2
extend

[methylatedspirit]

Is there something wrong with using something like GParted (or KDE Partition Manager in this case) to expand the partition in Linux right after running dd?

[wierd]

Windows' tools know about ntfs better than the reverse-engineered tools in linux?

[Starver]

That may be more the case with exFAT (anything more than a few years old, though, though I think it's broken through into a well supported form for almost all current systems/LLTs), but I'm sure if NTFS has any surprises left it's MS drivers that can't handle some weird emergent edge cases and the crowdsourced FOSS stuff should have all the maintained tools fully prepped for them, with or without access to the full developer specsheet/etc.

[methylatedspirit]

I've copied the files over from the old SSD to the new one, since I got my cable today. I'll summarize my process.

Plug in new SSD via USB-to-SATA -> Clonezilla (disk-to-disk copy to clone disks) -> Lubuntu -> KDE Partition Manager (resizing main partition to full disk capacity) -> Disassemble laptop -> (...) -> Swap SSDs -> Confirm new SSD is working -> Done

Clonezilla's so good, that when I try to plug in the old SSD, Windows refuses to mount it because of "a signature collision with another disk that is online". It's an exact, one-to-one copy. Same thing could've been accomplished with dd, but feels like way too much risk when it could be done without the fear that you've done something wrong. I wouldn't be surprised if Clonezilla actually uses dd under the hood.

Something went a little wrong in the "Swap SSDs" part, but the SSD's been working fine so far. Part of the clip to hold in the SATA header cable broke. Here's a picture of that:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Should I be concerned? How do I fix something this tiny?

[LordBaal]

That is inside a laptop rigth? Most likely wont give you issues if you dont shake the laptop volently.

You still have the part that broke off? I would try to open it amd superglue it while open (so it doesnt end up shut forever) but most likely will break again.

A bit of silicon (I think it is called hot glue in english) migth help keeping it down and removing it without making futher damage is very easy. This is not really recomended but can help until a better fix is done.

The best option would be taking it to some electronic engineer or repair shop and change the whole clip if possible. But I sense that would be like too much of a hassle, specially rigth now.

If you dont have any issues with it rigth now then most likely you wont in the future unless the rest of the clip also breaks.

[bloop_bleep]

There is hot glue but there is also "silicone" in English which is different. Which one are you referring to?

[LordBaal]

The one that  is sold on sticks and usuallly applied with a "gun" that heats it up.

Is dielectric, can fill up space and be easily removed if needed.

[King Zultan]

Clonezilla (disk-to-disk copy to clone disks)

If I use this would I have to buy a new copy of Windows or would it still think the clone is the original install?

[methylatedspirit]

Clonezilla (disk-to-disk copy to clone disks)

If I use this would I have to buy a new copy of Windows or would it still think the clone is the original install?

Depends. Unless the source and target drives are both the same size, things will probably go wrong, assuming the source drive has an OS on it.

If the source drive doesn't have an OS on it, it's perfectly fine, since there's no boot manager to screw up.

Trying to clone Windows boot drives with Clonezilla was not my finest moment. See, the annoying thing with Windows is that there's this Windows recovery partition, and it's placed pretty much at the end of the drive. I tried cloning a 1TB HDD with Windows on it to a 240GB SSD, moving the recovery partition with GParted so that it would fit in that smaller space.

Did not go well; Windows kept complaining that its essential files were corrupted and stuff. Absolute shitshow. I gave up and decided to just reinstall Windows onto the SSD, because that's far easier than trying to figure out how to stop that error. Maybe someone more competent can do it, but I can't. BTW, you can't do an upgrade-in-place and keep your files if you boot directly off the Windows install disk. You need to be able to boot into Windows first. Learned that the hard way.

That was an MBR install of Windows. I've heard that a GPT install would be more tolerant of this kind of partition screwery, but I fear that you'd still get the same error about the corrupted system files.

Overall, I don't recommend it for cloning Windows installs, but my experience is limited.

Also, you don't even need to buy a copy of Windows 10, if that's what you use. Either you can use the Media Creation Tool to download yourself an ISO file or make a USB thumb drive, or you can skip that nonsense using this article's method (changing user-agent strings). I'd suggest skipping the tool entirely. Just get yourself an ISO of Windows 10 directly (the 64-bit version is what you probably need), and use Rufus to make yourself a Windows 10 install disk. It's the product key that costs money, not Windows itself.

Spoiler: Sidenotes for Windows 10 Install (click to show/hide)

The current version of Windows forces you to make an online account, however. Skip the process of connecting to WiFi (and disconnect all Ethernet cables from the PC), and when it complains, just skip the process and make a local account.

If you were activated before, it'll recognize that your computer (I think it's tied to motherboard) is already activated when you connect to the Internet for the first time. You can safely skip the product key part. If not, you can also skip the product key, since all it does is that Windows complains sometimes that you're not activated, and you can't do any personalization (wallpapers and stuff).

I can't say for Linux. Maybe it's less sensitive to this kind of screwery. I think you'll have to restore the GRUB boot manager using your distro's install disk, at least.

[King Zultan]

Well shit I was hoping to salvage Windows 7 from a dying harddrive so I could fix my old laptop without having to buy a new harddrive and another copy of Windows 7.

Also does the drive in your wanting to clone need to be be the one in use when cloning it?

[LordBaal]

For windows keys, in laptops at least, since windows 8 the key is installed on the bios in the mother board.

To check it out use this tool:
https://www.nirsoft.net/utils/product_cd_key_viewer.html
(They have a lot more tools, all usefull overall).

On the list it will show there will be a key that will say "(Bios)".

That is your original OEM key that came with your machine when you bought it. Windows 7 users should rely on doing this on the original OS before wiping and installing anything else or in the stickers with the key somewhere in the laptop.

Now, if you have installed already another operative system and cant remeber which version of windows did you use, check it on this other program:
https://github.com/Superfly-Inc/ShowKeyPlus/releases

Among other things, that program has a tab were you can put a windows key and will let you know for which software is (not only OS's but programs too) and is safe, being open source and all, at least no problems for me so far.

Now, armed with the information of which is your key and for what specific version of windows is, go ahead, download the corresponding iso from Microsoft and do your thing...

One more thing, if by chances is not windows 10 but 7 or 8, but want to upgrade to 10, I have seen over the internet you can still upgrade it to 10 for free, but haven't really check it out.

Well shit I was hoping to salvage Windows 7 from a dying harddrive so I could fix my old laptop without having to buy a new harddrive and another copy of Windows 7.

Also does the drive in your wanting to clone need to be be the one in use when cloning it?

If you still have the key sticker around, or can open the OS and run the first program above to get it, and know which version of 7 is (ultimate, pro....) you can reinstall and use the same key, as long is the same mortherboard it should validate again.

[wierd]

In your condition, I would instead suggest that you extract the product key from the running system's registry, and produce a windows 7 install CD that has all the service packs and windows updates slipstreamed onto it with nLite.

https://www.nliteos.com/

The key is found in the registry at:

"HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\ProductId"


Get a list of all the installed updates from the history of windows update application.  Then pull all the stand alone installers from the windows update support cache website.

https://www.catalog.update.microsoft.com/Home.aspx

You can pull them individually, then integrate them onto the installer using nLite.  Then when you reinstall from that CD, it will immediately be up to date.