Introduction
In this article, we will discuss the process of cloning a smaller M2 SSD to a bigger one. This can be particularly useful if you want to upgrade your laptop's storage while preserving the data and operating system on your current drive. In this example, we will be using Clonezilla, a free and open-source disk imaging and cloning software.
Requirements
- Two M2 SSDs: one with a smaller capacity (e.g., 128GB), and one with a larger capacity (e.g., 256GB)
- Two laptops with a single M2 slot or one laptop with two M2 slots
- Clonezilla installation: available as an ISO image from the official website or as a bootable USB drive
Preparation
Follow these steps to prepare your SSDs for cloning:
- If possible, connect both SSDs to your laptop simultaneously using a USB-to-M2 adapter or external enclosure.
If you have only one M2 slot in your laptop, remove the smaller SSD and replace it with the bigger one temporarily. - Identify the current drive letter of your smaller SSD. You can find it in Windows Disk Management or through a terminal by typing
sudo fdisk -l(Linux) orwmic logicaldisk get deviceid,volumename,description(Windows). - Ensure that the SSD you want to clone to has a larger or equal capacity compared to your current SSD.
Installing and Booting Clonezilla
To boot Clonezilla:
- Download the ISO image from the official Clonezilla website or obtain a Clonezilla bootable USB drive from a trusted source.
- Create a bootable Clonezilla USB drive using Rufus or a similar tool.
- Insert the Clonezilla USB drive into one of your laptops.
- Restart the laptop and boot from the USB drive. During the boot process, select your preferred language and keyboard layout.
Cloning the Smaller M2 SSD to the Bigger One
Follow these steps to start the cloning process:
- After booting Clonezilla, select "Start Clonezilla".
- Choose "Device-Device" mode for cloning one disk to another.
- On the next screen, select "Disk_to_local_disk" for the source and destination disks.
- Specify the source drive (smaller SSD) using the provided text input. For example, if the source drive is /dev/sda, enter it as "sda".
- Specify the destination drive (bigger SSD) using the provided text input. For example, if the destination drive is /dev/sdb, enter it as "sdb".
- Confirm the source and destination disks before proceeding.
- Select the cloning method: "Beginner" or "Expert" (for more options).
- If prompted to keep the partition table or not, select "Keep the partition table and all partitions information".
- Confirm the cloning operation and allow the process to complete.
Post-Cloning Verification
After the cloning process is complete, verify your newly cloned larger SSD:
- Connect the cloned larger SSD back to your laptop.
- Start your laptop and ensure it boots from the cloned SSD.
- Verify that all the files and applications on the smaller SSD are present and accessible on the larger SSD.