MP 1,1-5,1 Cloning bootcamp / windows 10 install from internal HDD to SSD

[weezin]

I have Windows 10 installed via Bootcamp on an internal HDD in my 5,1 and it works great, other than being painfully slow. I have purchased an SSD that I have slotted into one of the drive bays, and I would like to clone my Windows install from the HDD to the SSD for the purposes of using the SSD to run Windows instead of the HDD. I would prefer not to start over with a fresh Bootcamp / windows install if possible.

How should I go about doing this? I was intending to just clone the drive using Acronis or another program in Windows, but I read that won't work.

 

[StuAff]

Winclone. https://twocanoes.com/products/mac/winclone/ (Older versions for older OSs still available).

 

[haralds]

I did this a while back. I used Carbon Copy Cloner for Mpojave and Winclone for Windows. Be prepared for a long wait.

Make sure Windows has a clean shutdown before you try or it will trundle to check and then refuse.

 

[weezin]

Winclone. https://twocanoes.com/products/mac/winclone/ (Older versions for older OSs still available).

Thank you, I've heard that recommended before. Would I use the volume to volume function to accomplish this? Or is there a better way?

I did this a while back. I used Carbon Copy Cloner for Mpojave and Winclone for Windows. Be prepared for a long wait.

Make sure Windows has a clean shutdown before you try or it will trundle to check and then refuse.

Thanks. I only need to do Windows, so it sounds like Winclone is the right way to do it.

What do you mean by a clean shutdown? Last I was running windows, I selected "restart" and then booted into High Sierra. Does that count as clean?

 

[StuAff]

Thank you, I've heard that recommended before. Would I use the volume to volume function to accomplish this? Or is there a better way?

Yes (that simple).

 

[weezin]

Interestingly, Two Canoes support just told me NOT to use volume to volume, and instead make an image. I'm not sure why though - their message didn't really make sense to me.

All of their material talks about migrating the bootcamp partition to a new mac or to an external drive. I want to migrate to a new INTERNAL drive, which their docs don't reference. I'm not sure if it matters or not, but I'm hesitating to buy the software before I know that what I want to do can be done with Winclone easily.

 

[crjackson2134]

I want to migrate to a new INTERNAL drive, which their docs don't reference.

Many new retail-boxed HDDs come with migration software for Windows that do exactly what you’re wanting to do. At least they used to. I haven’t bought any retail boxed drives in many years, so I can’t swear they still do this, but it wouldn’t hurt to investigate.

 

[weezin]

Many new retail-boxed HDDs come with migration software for Windows that do exactly what you’re wanting to do. At least they used to. I haven’t bought any retail boxed drives in many years, so I can’t swear they still do this, but it wouldn’t hurt to investigate.

Yeah, I have that, but my understanding was that with bootcamp there are special things you need to do to make the cloned drive bootable and recognized by bootcamp. That's what I don't really understand here.

 

[crjackson2134]

Yeah, I have that, but my understanding was that with bootcamp there are special things you need to do to make the cloned drive bootable and recognized by bootcamp. That's what I don't really understand here.

I don’t think it’s an issue if windows is installed on its own drive of standard format. I installed windows on its own SSD, then installed drivers included in the bootcamp package. I’ve never had a problem with restoring disk-images while testing different cloning tools. Test it out before wiping your working drive.

 

[Macschrauber]

You can simply block copy your disk with the built in standard DD tool.

Disk Cloning with DD

How to clone a hard disk or USB stick using dd (disk duplication) in the Mac OS X terminal.

pbxbook.com

As this clones a disk by blocks it will clone every OS.

The destination disk has to have the same size or bigger.

With all those Win actions take care to not boot uefi Windows directly, dont boot the USB stick nor UEFI Windows without OpenCore/RefindPlus protection.

Backup your bootrom before to be prepared, just in case. I made a tool to do it easily, plus a lot of health checks. Link in my signature.

 

[Rimmsi]

Hi, has anyone tried installing Windows 10 on an external drive using Winclone? I wonder if, after installing via Winclone, all the drivers are completely installed, as when installing Windows using BootCamp on the internal disk, or is it necessary to install the missing drivers manually? Thanks.