From Newsgroup: alt.comp.os.windows-10

The holidays are over and I should have time to continue the project I
was working on 2 weeks ago.

I'm trying to switch to my new Samsung 870 EVO SATA 2.5 inch drive. The
paper in the box said to use Samsung Magician to clone the data. I'm
starting to believe that it doesn't work with a SATA drive!

People suggested I use a different cloning tool. I dismissed that idea because, certainly, Samsung Magician would work after I got my computer
to recognize the new drive. Well I did that. It's now showing on File
Explorer as drive (J:) and I have formatted it. I tested it by copying a
file with several pictures inside to (J:). It went right in and the
pictures opened just fine. I formatted again to empty it.

I looked at you tube videos about using Samsung Magician. They all
showed a ssd that did not look like my SATA drive. Samsung Magician
seems to have 2 ways to get to "Data Migration". One way pops up a
message that the drive isn't compatible. I originally feared that it was warning me that the new drive wasn't compatible with my computer. Going
in the other way, it shows my C: drive as the source drive but it
prompts me to connect the Samsung SSD. It doesn't see it even though it
IS there and it works.

What cloning software is going to work with my SATA SSD?
--- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: alt.comp.os.windows-10

On 04/01/2026 21:47, Steve wrote:

The holidays are over and I should have time to continue the project I
was working on 2 weeks ago.

I'm trying to switch to my new Samsung 870 EVO SATA 2.5 inch drive. The paper in the box said to use Samsung Magician to clone the data. I'm starting to believe that it doesn't work with a SATA drive!

People suggested I use a different cloning tool. I dismissed that idea because, certainly, Samsung Magician would work after I got my computer
to recognize the new drive. Well I did that. It's now showing on File Explorer as drive (J:) and I have formatted it. I tested it by copying a file with several pictures inside to (J:). It went right in and the
pictures opened just fine. I formatted again to empty it.

I looked at you tube videos about using Samsung Magician. They all
showed a ssd that did not look like my SATA drive.-a Samsung Magician
seems to have 2 ways to get to "Data Migration". One way pops up a
message that the drive isn't compatible. I originally feared that it was warning me that the new drive wasn't compatible with my computer. Going
in the other way, it shows my C: drive as the source drive but it
prompts me to connect the Samsung SSD. It doesn't see it even though it
IS there and it works.

What cloning software is going to work with my SATA SSD?

Have you installed the SATA SSD inside the computer alongside the
existing drive? If so, that could be the problem. I have a feeling that Magician expects the SSD to be an external drive, mounted in a suitable enclosure and connected by USB3. That's certainly what happened when I replaced a rotating drive with an SSD in a laptop a few years ago. That
worked fine. That was the only option in my case because the laptop
couldn't accommodate more than one internal drive at a time.

Maybe worth a try?
--
Cheers,
Roger
--- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: alt.comp.os.windows-10

Steve wrote on 1/4/2026 3:47 PM:

The holidays are over and I should have time to continue the project I
was working on 2 weeks ago.

I'm trying to switch to my new Samsung 870 EVO SATA 2.5 inch drive. The paper in the box said to use Samsung Magician to clone the data. I'm starting to believe that it doesn't work with a SATA drive!

People suggested I use a different cloning tool. I dismissed that idea because, certainly, Samsung Magician would work after I got my computer
to recognize the new drive. Well I did that. It's now showing on File Explorer as drive (J:) and I have formatted it. I tested it by copying a file with several pictures inside to (J:). It went right in and the
pictures opened just fine. I formatted again to empty it.

I looked at you tube videos about using Samsung Magician. They all
showed a ssd that did not look like my SATA drive.a Samsung Magician
seems to have 2 ways to get to "Data Migration". One way pops up a
message that the drive isn't compatible. I originally feared that it was warning me that the new drive wasn't compatible with my computer. Going
in the other way, it shows my C: drive as the source drive but it
prompts me to connect the Samsung SSD. It doesn't see it even though it
IS there and it works.

What cloning software is going to work with my SATA SSD?

Why ask that? ... You seem bound and determined to use Samsong magician.

--- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: alt.comp.os.windows-10

On 1/4/2026 3:20 PM, Roger Mills wrote:

On 04/01/2026 21:47, Steve wrote:

The holidays are over and I should have time to continue the project I
was working on 2 weeks ago.

I'm trying to switch to my new Samsung 870 EVO SATA 2.5 inch drive.
The paper in the box said to use Samsung Magician to clone the data.
I'm starting to believe that it doesn't work with a SATA drive!

People suggested I use a different cloning tool. I dismissed that idea
because, certainly, Samsung Magician would work after I got my
computer to recognize the new drive. Well I did that. It's now showing
on File Explorer as drive (J:) and I have formatted it. I tested it by
copying a file with several pictures inside to (J:). It went right in
and the pictures opened just fine. I formatted again to empty it.

I looked at you tube videos about using Samsung Magician. They all
showed a ssd that did not look like my SATA drive.-a Samsung Magician
seems to have 2 ways to get to "Data Migration". One way pops up a
message that the drive isn't compatible. I originally feared that it
was warning me that the new drive wasn't compatible with my computer.
Going in the other way, it shows my C: drive as the source drive but
it prompts me to connect the Samsung SSD. It doesn't see it even
though it IS there and it works.

What cloning software is going to work with my SATA SSD?

Have you installed the SATA SSD inside the computer alongside the
existing drive? If so, that could be the problem. I have a feeling that Magician expects the SSD to be an external drive, mounted in a suitable enclosure and connected by USB3. That's certainly what happened when I replaced a rotating drive with an SSD in a laptop a few years ago. That worked fine. That was the only option in my case because the laptop
couldn't accommodate more than one internal drive at a time.

Maybe worth a try?

I think you are correct. The OP should consider buying a cheap SSD caddy
with SATA connections that will plug into a USB 3 port. I've used
Samsung software a few times to clone a live C disk to an SSD in a caddy
and its all went smoothly. (Live means that windows was running normally
while the clone was in progress.)
--
Jeff Barnett

--- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: alt.comp.os.windows-10

On 1/4/26 4:47 PM, Steve wrote:

The holidays are over and I should have time to continue the project I
was working on 2 weeks ago.

I'm trying to switch to my new Samsung 870 EVO SATA 2.5 inch drive. The
paper in the box said to use Samsung Magician to clone the data. I'm
starting to believe that it doesn't work with a SATA drive!

People suggested I use a different cloning tool. I dismissed that idea because, certainly, Samsung Magician would work after I got my computer
to recognize the new drive. Well I did that. It's now showing on File Explorer as drive (J:) and I have formatted it. I tested it by copying a
file with several pictures inside to (J:). It went right in and the
pictures opened just fine. I formatted again to empty it.

I looked at you tube videos about using Samsung Magician. They all
showed a ssd that did not look like my SATA drive. Samsung Magician
seems to have 2 ways to get to "Data Migration". One way pops up a
message that the drive isn't compatible. I originally feared that it was warning me that the new drive wasn't compatible with my computer. Going
in the other way, it shows my C: drive as the source drive but it
prompts me to connect the Samsung SSD. It doesn't see it even though it
IS there and it works.

What cloning software is going to work with my SATA SSD?

Will macrium work to clone.
Worse comes to worse, make an image of C: then re-image J: with that image.
--
Linux Mint 22.2, Mozilla Thunderbird 140.6.0esr, Mozilla Firefox 146.0.1
Alan K.
--- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: alt.comp.os.windows-10

On 1/4/2026 6:38 PM, Alan K. wrote:

On 1/4/26 4:47 PM, Steve wrote:

The holidays are over and I should have time to continue the project I
was working on 2 weeks ago.

I'm trying to switch to my new Samsung 870 EVO SATA 2.5 inch drive. The
paper in the box said to use Samsung Magician to clone the data. I'm
starting to believe that it doesn't work with a SATA drive!

People suggested I use a different cloning tool. I dismissed that idea
because, certainly, Samsung Magician would work after I got my computer
to recognize the new drive. Well I did that. It's now showing on File
Explorer as drive (J:) and I have formatted it. I tested it by copying a
file with several pictures inside to (J:). It went right in and the
pictures opened just fine. I formatted again to empty it.

I looked at you tube videos about using Samsung Magician. They all
showed a ssd that did not look like my SATA drive.-a Samsung Magician
seems to have 2 ways to get to "Data Migration". One way pops up a
message that the drive isn't compatible. I originally feared that it was
warning me that the new drive wasn't compatible with my computer. Going
in the other way, it shows my C: drive as the source drive but it
prompts me to connect the Samsung SSD. It doesn't see it even though it
IS there and it works.

What cloning software is going to work with my SATA SSD?

Will macrium work to clone.
Worse comes to worse, make an image of C:-a then re-image J: with that image.

SSD have more sever alignment issues than do HD. If you are using, ask
them whether your version of there product will do what you want. I
think they have forums. I'm a paid user and find them to always give me intelligent feedback when I contact them.
--
Jeff Barnett

--- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: alt.comp.os.windows-10

On 1/4/2026 5:29 PM, Hank Rogers wrote:

Steve wrote on 1/4/2026 3:47 PM:

The holidays are over and I should have time to continue the project I
was working on 2 weeks ago.

I'm trying to switch to my new Samsung 870 EVO SATA 2.5 inch drive.
The paper in the box said to use Samsung Magician to clone the data.
I'm starting to believe that it doesn't work with a SATA drive!

People suggested I use a different cloning tool. I dismissed that idea
because, certainly, Samsung Magician would work after I got my
computer to recognize the new drive. Well I did that. It's now showing
on File Explorer as drive (J:) and I have formatted it. I tested it by
copying a file with several pictures inside to (J:). It went right in
and the pictures opened just fine. I formatted again to empty it.

I looked at you tube videos about using Samsung Magician. They all
showed a ssd that did not look like my SATA drive.-a Samsung Magician
seems to have 2 ways to get to "Data Migration". One way pops up a
message that the drive isn't compatible. I originally feared that it
was warning me that the new drive wasn't compatible with my computer.
Going in the other way, it shows my C: drive as the source drive but
it prompts me to connect the Samsung SSD. It doesn't see it even
though it IS there and it works.

What cloning software is going to work with my SATA SSD?

Why ask that?-a ... You seem bound and determined to use Samsong magician.

Not true, now that it still doesn't work.
--- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: alt.comp.os.windows-10

On 1/4/2026 5:20 PM, Roger Mills wrote:

On 04/01/2026 21:47, Steve wrote:

The holidays are over and I should have time to continue the project I
was working on 2 weeks ago.

I'm trying to switch to my new Samsung 870 EVO SATA 2.5 inch drive.
The paper in the box said to use Samsung Magician to clone the data.
I'm starting to believe that it doesn't work with a SATA drive!

People suggested I use a different cloning tool. I dismissed that idea
because, certainly, Samsung Magician would work after I got my
computer to recognize the new drive. Well I did that. It's now showing
on File Explorer as drive (J:) and I have formatted it. I tested it by
copying a file with several pictures inside to (J:). It went right in
and the pictures opened just fine. I formatted again to empty it.

I looked at you tube videos about using Samsung Magician. They all
showed a ssd that did not look like my SATA drive.-a Samsung Magician
seems to have 2 ways to get to "Data Migration". One way pops up a
message that the drive isn't compatible. I originally feared that it
was warning me that the new drive wasn't compatible with my computer.
Going in the other way, it shows my C: drive as the source drive but
it prompts me to connect the Samsung SSD. It doesn't see it even
though it IS there and it works.

What cloning software is going to work with my SATA SSD?

Have you installed the SATA SSD inside the computer alongside the
existing drive? If so, that could be the problem. I have a feeling that Magician expects the SSD to be an external drive, mounted in a suitable enclosure and connected by USB3. That's certainly what happened when I replaced a rotating drive with an SSD in a laptop a few years ago. That worked fine. That was the only option in my case because the laptop
couldn't accommodate more than one internal drive at a time.

Maybe worth a try?

Yeah, it's installed inside the desktop with the old drive. I was
actually trying to connect it by USB but I don't seem to own anything
that can do that. I assumed hooking it up inside would work at least as
well. Maybe not!
--- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: alt.comp.os.windows-10

On 1/4/2026 7:58 PM, Jeff Barnett wrote:

On 1/4/2026 3:20 PM, Roger Mills wrote:

On 04/01/2026 21:47, Steve wrote:

The holidays are over and I should have time to continue the project
I was working on 2 weeks ago.

I'm trying to switch to my new Samsung 870 EVO SATA 2.5 inch drive.
The paper in the box said to use Samsung Magician to clone the data.
I'm starting to believe that it doesn't work with a SATA drive!

People suggested I use a different cloning tool. I dismissed that
idea because, certainly, Samsung Magician would work after I got my
computer to recognize the new drive. Well I did that. It's now
showing on File Explorer as drive (J:) and I have formatted it. I
tested it by copying a file with several pictures inside to (J:). It
went right in and the pictures opened just fine. I formatted again to
empty it.

I looked at you tube videos about using Samsung Magician. They all
showed a ssd that did not look like my SATA drive.-a Samsung Magician
seems to have 2 ways to get to "Data Migration". One way pops up a
message that the drive isn't compatible. I originally feared that it
was warning me that the new drive wasn't compatible with my computer.
Going in the other way, it shows my C: drive as the source drive but
it prompts me to connect the Samsung SSD. It doesn't see it even
though it IS there and it works.

What cloning software is going to work with my SATA SSD?

Have you installed the SATA SSD inside the computer alongside the
existing drive? If so, that could be the problem. I have a feeling
that Magician expects the SSD to be an external drive, mounted in a
suitable enclosure and connected by USB3. That's certainly what
happened when I replaced a rotating drive with an SSD in a laptop a
few years ago. That worked fine. That was the only option in my case
because the laptop couldn't accommodate more than one internal drive
at a time.

Maybe worth a try?

I think you are correct. The OP should consider buying a cheap SSD caddy with SATA connections that will plug into a USB 3 port. I've used
Samsung software a few times to clone a live C disk to an SSD in a caddy
and its all went smoothly. (Live means that windows was running normally while the clone was in progress.)

Thanks. I'll look into buying something if I don't find a way to do it,
where it is, real soon. This all makes sense and explains why Samsung
Magician can see the drive but still prompts me to connect the SSD.
--- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: alt.comp.os.windows-10

Steve wrote on 1/4/2026 8:35 PM:

On 1/4/2026 5:29 PM, Hank Rogers wrote:

Steve wrote on 1/4/2026 3:47 PM:

The holidays are over and I should have time to continue the project
I was working on 2 weeks ago.

I'm trying to switch to my new Samsung 870 EVO SATA 2.5 inch drive.
The paper in the box said to use Samsung Magician to clone the data.
I'm starting to believe that it doesn't work with a SATA drive!

People suggested I use a different cloning tool. I dismissed that
idea because, certainly, Samsung Magician would work after I got my
computer to recognize the new drive. Well I did that. It's now
showing on File Explorer as drive (J:) and I have formatted it. I
tested it by copying a file with several pictures inside to (J:). It
went right in and the pictures opened just fine. I formatted again to
empty it.

I looked at you tube videos about using Samsung Magician. They all
showed a ssd that did not look like my SATA drive.-a Samsung Magician
seems to have 2 ways to get to "Data Migration". One way pops up a
message that the drive isn't compatible. I originally feared that it
was warning me that the new drive wasn't compatible with my computer.
Going in the other way, it shows my C: drive as the source drive but
it prompts me to connect the Samsung SSD. It doesn't see it even
though it IS there and it works.

What cloning software is going to work with my SATA SSD?

Why ask that?-a ... You seem bound and determined to use Samsong
magician.

Not true, now that it still doesn't work.

Then quit posting about samsung magician or other crap that doesn't work
for you, and just pick one of the many backup/imaging programs that have
been suggested to you since you started this thread. You'll have to be willing to learn how to use it of course. It wont jump out of your
screen and work all by itself.

--- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: alt.comp.os.windows-10

On Sun, 1/4/2026 8:53 PM, Jeff Barnett wrote:

On 1/4/2026 6:38 PM, Alan K. wrote:

On 1/4/26 4:47 PM, Steve wrote:

The holidays are over and I should have time to continue the project I
was working on 2 weeks ago.

I'm trying to switch to my new Samsung 870 EVO SATA 2.5 inch drive. The
paper in the box said to use Samsung Magician to clone the data. I'm
starting to believe that it doesn't work with a SATA drive!

People suggested I use a different cloning tool. I dismissed that idea
because, certainly, Samsung Magician would work after I got my computer
to recognize the new drive. Well I did that. It's now showing on File
Explorer as drive (J:) and I have formatted it. I tested it by copying a >>> file with several pictures inside to (J:). It went right in and the
pictures opened just fine. I formatted again to empty it.

I looked at you tube videos about using Samsung Magician. They all
showed a ssd that did not look like my SATA drive.-a Samsung Magician
seems to have 2 ways to get to "Data Migration". One way pops up a
message that the drive isn't compatible. I originally feared that it was >>> warning me that the new drive wasn't compatible with my computer. Going
in the other way, it shows my C: drive as the source drive but it
prompts me to connect the Samsung SSD. It doesn't see it even though it
IS there and it works.

What cloning software is going to work with my SATA SSD?

Will macrium work to clone.
Worse comes to worse, make an image of C:-a then re-image J: with that image.

SSD have more sever alignment issues than do HD. If you are using, ask them whether your version of there product will do what you want. I think they have
forums. I'm a paid user and find them to always give me intelligent feedback when I contact them.

Partitions have been 1MB (1048576 byte) aligned starting with Vista.

WinXP was MSDOS CHS aligned, so the numbers were divisible by 63, which is
a bad choice for an SSD (or for that matter, for 512e drives with internal 4K sectors).

Macrium does the right thing. Macrium, if you click the back button, you can use the partition properties, and it actually has an alignment option. Notice how it is showing Vista right now. Vista = Vista/W7/W8/W8.1/W10/W11 alignment.

https://knowledgebase.macrium.com/download/attachments/4194325/image2015-2-15%2021%3A53%3A9.png?version=1&modificationDate=1526569207180&api=v2&effects=drop-shadow

Paul

--- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: alt.comp.os.windows-10

On Sun, 1/4/2026 4:47 PM, Steve wrote:

The holidays are over and I should have time to continue the project I was working on 2 weeks ago.

I'm trying to switch to my new Samsung 870 EVO SATA 2.5 inch drive. The paper in the box said to use Samsung Magician to clone the data. I'm starting to believe that it doesn't work with a SATA drive!

People suggested I use a different cloning tool. I dismissed that idea because, certainly, Samsung Magician would work after I got my computer to recognize the new drive. Well I did that. It's now showing on File Explorer as drive (J:) and I have formatted it. I tested it by copying a file with several pictures inside to (J:). It went right in and the pictures opened just fine. I formatted again to empty it.

I looked at you tube videos about using Samsung Magician. They all showed a ssd that did not look like my SATA drive.-a Samsung Magician seems to have 2 ways to get to "Data Migration". One way pops up a message that the drive isn't compatible. I originally feared that it was warning me that the new drive wasn't compatible with my computer. Going in the other way, it shows my C: drive as the source drive but it prompts me to connect the Samsung SSD. It doesn't see it even though it IS there and it works.

What cloning software is going to work with my SATA SSD?

For the following test, I placed three storage devices inside the Test Machine. The three storage devices were connected to three SATA ports.

My assumption when doing that, was the source and dest drives would be unconstrained.
But I was wrong. It only really wants to copy the boot drive. So at most you use two drives in a PC, not three. It will copy the currently booted drive to the New Samsung Drive.

*******

The breakthru for me, was a post someone added to a Reddit.

"Only the Source Drive on which the operating system is installed can be replicated."

https://www.reddit.com/r/techsupport/comments/16spki0/trying_to_migrate_os_to_a_samsung_ssd_but_samsung/

"Samsung magician assumes that the drive selected at the very top toolbar
is the drive you want to copy from. In order to use the data migration tool,
you must FIRST select the drive that CURRENTLY contains your OS, and THEN
select Data Migration. This will then allow you to select your SSD as the
target drive and complete the transfer."

*******

The next issue is, Samsung Magician is not Macrium. Macrium treats every partition
equally. It shows them. It copies them over. It copies hidden partitions, visible partitions, MSDOS partitioned disks or GPT partitioned disks.

Whereas the Samsung Magician has this crazy notion that only certain
partitions (partitions with letters) can be copied. And it cannot
even be trusted to copy them in order. When I assigned a letter to the 100MB FAT32 ESP,
it would not allow me to copy it first. It always puts C: left-most.

Here is the summary photo:

[Picture] On PostImage, use Download Original to get the picture

https://imgur.com/a/NLMjl54

https://i.postimg.cc/XqdkSJ69/Samsung-Magician-Ouch.gif

With Macrium, I can copy exactly as much as I want, and without me
having to remove any drive from the Test Machine.

[Picture]

https://imgur.com/a/CQqwCqg

https://i.postimg.cc/05X03TgJ/Macrium-Clone.gif

Paul
--- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: alt.comp.os.windows-10

On Sun, 1/4/2026 9:44 PM, Steve wrote:

On 1/4/2026 5:20 PM, Roger Mills wrote:

On 04/01/2026 21:47, Steve wrote:

The holidays are over and I should have time to continue the project I was working on 2 weeks ago.

I'm trying to switch to my new Samsung 870 EVO SATA 2.5 inch drive. The paper in the box said to use Samsung Magician to clone the data. I'm starting to believe that it doesn't work with a SATA drive!

People suggested I use a different cloning tool. I dismissed that idea because, certainly, Samsung Magician would work after I got my computer to recognize the new drive. Well I did that. It's now showing on File Explorer as drive (J:) and I have formatted it. I tested it by copying a file with several pictures inside to (J:). It went right in and the pictures opened just fine. I formatted again to empty it.

I looked at you tube videos about using Samsung Magician. They all showed a ssd that did not look like my SATA drive.-a Samsung Magician seems to have 2 ways to get to "Data Migration". One way pops up a message that the drive isn't compatible. I originally feared that it was warning me that the new drive wasn't compatible with my computer. Going in the other way, it shows my C: drive as the source drive but it prompts me to connect the Samsung SSD. It doesn't see it even though it IS there and it works.

What cloning software is going to work with my SATA SSD?

Have you installed the SATA SSD inside the computer alongside the existing drive? If so, that could be the problem. I have a feeling that Magician expects the SSD to be an external drive, mounted in a suitable enclosure and connected by USB3. That's certainly what happened when I replaced a rotating drive with an SSD in a laptop a few years ago. That worked fine. That was the only option in my case because the laptop couldn't accommodate more than one internal drive at a time.

Maybe worth a try?

Yeah, it's installed inside the desktop with the old drive. I was actually trying
to connect it by USB but I don't seem to own anything that can do that. I assumed
hooking it up inside would work at least as well. Maybe not!

It will be fine, once you decide what software you will be using.

Paul
--- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: alt.comp.os.windows-10

Steve wrote:

What cloning software is going to work with my SATA SSD?

Macrium Reflect. I use it often on several machines and drives.
I tried Samsung and a few others once and prefer Macrium.

Allow your software to set trim on your SSD if you have not already done so.




--- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: alt.comp.os.windows-10

On Mon, 1/5/2026 12:15 AM, Paul in Houston TX wrote:

Steve wrote:

What cloning software is going to work with my SATA SSD?

Macrium Reflect.-a I use it often on several machines and drives.
I tried Samsung and a few others once and prefer Macrium.

Allow your software to set trim on your SSD if you have not already done so.

Macrium issues a TRIM, before the clone starts.

Check the log area on the screen as it runs, to see what functions
were carried out for you.

Windows issues a TRIM, via the Optimize function, and that
may be scheduled to run weekly, already.

Paul


--- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: alt.comp.os.windows-10

On 04/01/2026 21:47, Steve wrote:

The holidays are over and I should have time to continue the project I
was working on 2 weeks ago.

I'm trying to switch to my new Samsung 870 EVO SATA 2.5 inch drive. The paper in the box said to use Samsung Magician to clone the data. I'm starting to believe that it doesn't work with a SATA drive!

People suggested I use a different cloning tool. I dismissed that idea because, certainly, Samsung Magician would work after I got my computer
to recognize the new drive. Well I did that. It's now showing on File Explorer as drive (J:) and I have formatted it. I tested it by copying a file with several pictures inside to (J:). It went right in and the
pictures opened just fine. I formatted again to empty it.

I looked at you tube videos about using Samsung Magician. They all
showed a ssd that did not look like my SATA drive.-a Samsung Magician
seems to have 2 ways to get to "Data Migration". One way pops up a
message that the drive isn't compatible. I originally feared that it was warning me that the new drive wasn't compatible with my computer. Going
in the other way, it shows my C: drive as the source drive but it
prompts me to connect the Samsung SSD. It doesn't see it even though it
IS there and it works.

What cloning software is going to work with my SATA SSD?

I've used all these to clone drives.

Clonezilla - http://clonezilla.org
DiskGenius - https://www.diskgenius.com/free.php
Hasleo Disk Clone - https://www.easyuefi.com/disk-clone/disk-clone-home.html Macrium Reflect Free - https://www.majorgeeks.com/files/details/macrium_reflect_free_edition.html

Some of the popular free programmes will only image a partition, not a complete drive, whilst other have size limits.

Acronis True Image, Paragon Drive Copy need the non freeware versions.
--
Regards
wasbit
--- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: alt.comp.os.windows-10

On 5/1/2026 5:47 am, Steve wrote:

The holidays are over and I should have time to continue the project I
was working on 2 weeks ago.

I'm trying to switch to my new Samsung 870 EVO SATA 2.5 inch drive. The
paper in the box said to use Samsung Magician to clone the data. I'm
starting to believe that it doesn't work with a SATA drive!
....
What cloning software is going to work with my SATA SSD?

Take the chance to clean install Windows instead of cloning an old one.
--
@~@ Simplicity is Beauty! Remain silent! Drink, Blink, Stretch!
/ v \ May the Force and farces be with you! Live long and prosper!!
/( _ )\ https://sites.google.com/site/changmw/
^ ^ https://github.com/changmw/changmw
--- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: alt.comp.os.windows-10

Roger Mills <mills37.fslife@gmail.com> wrote:

On 04/01/2026 21:47, Steve wrote:

The holidays are over and I should have time to continue the project I
was working on 2 weeks ago.

I'm trying to switch to my new Samsung 870 EVO SATA 2.5 inch drive. The paper in the box said to use Samsung Magician to clone the data. I'm starting to believe that it doesn't work with a SATA drive!

People suggested I use a different cloning tool. I dismissed that idea because, certainly, Samsung Magician would work after I got my computer
to recognize the new drive. Well I did that. It's now showing on File Explorer as drive (J:) and I have formatted it. I tested it by copying a file with several pictures inside to (J:). It went right in and the pictures opened just fine. I formatted again to empty it.

I looked at you tube videos about using Samsung Magician. They all
showed a ssd that did not look like my SATA drive.a Samsung Magician
seems to have 2 ways to get to "Data Migration". One way pops up a
message that the drive isn't compatible. I originally feared that it was warning me that the new drive wasn't compatible with my computer. Going
in the other way, it shows my C: drive as the source drive but it
prompts me to connect the Samsung SSD. It doesn't see it even though it
IS there and it works.

What cloning software is going to work with my SATA SSD?

Have you installed the SATA SSD inside the computer alongside the
existing drive? If so, that could be the problem. I have a feeling that Magician expects the SSD to be an external drive, mounted in a suitable enclosure and connected by USB3. That's certainly what happened when I replaced a rotating drive with an SSD in a laptop a few years ago. That worked fine. That was the only option in my case because the laptop
couldn't accommodate more than one internal drive at a time.

Maybe worth a try?

I indeed think that an *internal* drive which is *formatted* - i.e.
has a drive letter -, is a no-no for Samsung Magician.

IIRC, initially the SSD was not visible in Disk Management, causing
Samsung Magician not to see it. Now the SSD *is* visible in Disk
Management, but because it has a drive letter and is formatted, Samsung Magician probably considers it as a no-go area and rightfully so.

So Steve may want to remove the (J:) partition and see if Samsung
Magician now recognizes the SSD.

OTOH, as others have also suggested, it's better to use Macrium
Reflect (Free) to do the cloning or imaging, because for Macrium you
don't have to guess what is doing what (and there's a lot of Macrium experience/expertise in these groups).
--- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: alt.comp.os.windows-10

On 5/1/2026 7:51 pm, Mr. Man-wai Chang wrote:

On 5/1/2026 5:47 am, Steve wrote:

The holidays are over and I should have time to continue the project I
was working on 2 weeks ago.

I'm trying to switch to my new Samsung 870 EVO SATA 2.5 inch drive. The
paper in the box said to use Samsung Magician to clone the data. I'm
starting to believe that it doesn't work with a SATA drive!
....
What cloning software is going to work with my SATA SSD?

Take the chance to clean install Windows instead of cloning an old one.

Say no to the old, filthy, dirty one. :)
--
@~@ Simplicity is Beauty! Remain silent! Drink, Blink, Stretch!
/ v \ May the Force and farces be with you! Live long and prosper!!
/( _ )\ https://sites.google.com/site/changmw/
^ ^ https://github.com/changmw/changmw
--- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: alt.comp.os.windows-10

On Mon, 1/5/2026 4:17 AM, wasbit wrote:

On 04/01/2026 21:47, Steve wrote:

The holidays are over and I should have time to continue the project I was working on 2 weeks ago.

I'm trying to switch to my new Samsung 870 EVO SATA 2.5 inch drive. The paper in the box said to use Samsung Magician to clone the data. I'm starting to believe that it doesn't work with a SATA drive!

People suggested I use a different cloning tool. I dismissed that idea because, certainly, Samsung Magician would work after I got my computer to recognize the new drive. Well I did that. It's now showing on File Explorer as drive (J:) and I have formatted it. I tested it by copying a file with several pictures inside to (J:). It went right in and the pictures opened just fine. I formatted again to empty it.

I looked at you tube videos about using Samsung Magician. They all showed a ssd that did not look like my SATA drive.-a Samsung Magician seems to have 2 ways to get to "Data Migration". One way pops up a message that the drive isn't compatible. I originally feared that it was warning me that the new drive wasn't compatible with my computer. Going in the other way, it shows my C: drive as the source drive but it prompts me to connect the Samsung SSD. It doesn't see it even though it IS there and it works.

What cloning software is going to work with my SATA SSD?

I've used all these to clone drives.

Clonezilla - http://clonezilla.org
DiskGenius - https://www.diskgenius.com/free.php
Hasleo Disk Clone - https://www.easyuefi.com/disk-clone/disk-clone-home.html Macrium Reflect Free - https://www.majorgeeks.com/files/details/macrium_reflect_free_edition.html

Some of the popular free programmes will only image a partition, not a complete drive, whilst other have size limits.

Acronis True Image, Paragon Drive Copy need the non freeware versions.

I've not noticed any size limits on Macrium.

I could clone a 24TB HDD with 20 partitions on it, with Macrium.

ATI Home is available for free from Seagate and Western Digital,
and is coded to require a branded disk drive for the purpose.
It could do a clone onto a Seagate or WD drive (installing
an application in each case, to do it). So ATI is available
in a way, while it wears a paper bag over its head to hide
its identity.

I could use "dd.exe" to clone a drive, as the function it
delivers is very very simple. Too simple in fact, but for a
"clone then erase-source-drive" mission, it would work. You'd
want the disk dimensions to meet certain criterion, for a best
result (both storage devices, exactly the same size). But
that's the approach I would use, if absolutely nothing else was available.

Samsung Magician cloning seems worse than "dd.exe", in that
it is very difficult to get the output to look like the input,
due to "that interface of theirs". It will copy the partitions
out of order, nothing can be placed to the left of C: with
the Samsung Magician. It seems best used as a Data drive cloner,
yet the program insists that it is an OS drive cloner.
The amount of work and data movement I would have to do to clean up
afterwards after Samsung, that would make cloning seem a tiny
part of a whole day of effort.

*******

Let's make a strawman boot drive. Making it GPT partitioned, is all part
of modern setups and their automation.

In Disk Management, 1,3,4 are shown and numbered properly,
but 2 (which has no file system) is not shown. When on a cloning mission,
we need to drop to the command line for help.

1 3 4
+------+---------------------+------------+------------------+------------+--------------+---+-----------------------+
| MBR | (primary GPT table) | EFI System | 16MB MS Reserved | C: Primary | 1GB Recovery |...| (secondary GPT table) |
+------+---------------------+------------+------------------+------------+--------------+---+-----------------------+
Microsoft WinRE.wim [ near-end-of-disk ]
folder... emergencyOS
In an Admin Window, I can do

diskpart

DISKPART> list disk

Disk ### Status Size Free Dyn Gpt
-------- ------------- ------- ------- --- ---
Disk 0 Online 3726 GB 1024 KB *

DISKPART> select disk 0

Disk 0 is now the selected disk.

DISKPART> list partition

Partition ### Type Size Offset
------------- ---------------- ------- -------
Partition 1 System 100 MB 1024 KB
Partition 2 Reserved 16 MB 101 MB <=== diskpart.exe shows everything and the 16MB
Partition 3 Primary 118 GB 117 MB thing is visible here.
Partition 4 Recovery 1024 MB 118 GB Diskpart can be used to compare two things.

In Linux GParted, it also shows 1,2,3,4, but 2 "cannot be touched", as things without a file system are not "enjoyed" by disk management utilities. Windows solves the problem of the indigestible gristle by simply hiding it (2) and telling a lie.

Macrium chooses to handle "foreign" file systems, by worst-case, using a dd.exe approach to cloning them. It just copies all the bytes and moves on. Cloning "2" for Macrium, is a 16MB stream of bytes to the other disk.

Summary: When you clone things, have a look later at what "goods" you got from the deal.
The two disks should at least have a vague similarity to one another :-)
It's a "clone" after all :-)

Notice how the Samsung Magician makes no reference to that diagram, leaving
a user to wonder "whether any other things" are being copied for them. The fact
it claims your new C: partition will be 931GB, suggests the answer is "No".
By default it copies and makes a ginormous 931GB C: out of your 106.57GB source partition.

At least Macrium has tick boxes for 1,2,3,4.

Paul
--- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: alt.comp.os.windows-10

On Mon, 1/5/2026 8:18 AM, Frank Slootweg wrote:

Roger Mills <mills37.fslife@gmail.com> wrote:

On 04/01/2026 21:47, Steve wrote:

The holidays are over and I should have time to continue the project I
was working on 2 weeks ago.

I'm trying to switch to my new Samsung 870 EVO SATA 2.5 inch drive. The >>> paper in the box said to use Samsung Magician to clone the data. I'm
starting to believe that it doesn't work with a SATA drive!

People suggested I use a different cloning tool. I dismissed that idea
because, certainly, Samsung Magician would work after I got my computer >>> to recognize the new drive. Well I did that. It's now showing on File
Explorer as drive (J:) and I have formatted it. I tested it by copying a >>> file with several pictures inside to (J:). It went right in and the
pictures opened just fine. I formatted again to empty it.

I looked at you tube videos about using Samsung Magician. They all
showed a ssd that did not look like my SATA drive.-a Samsung Magician
seems to have 2 ways to get to "Data Migration". One way pops up a
message that the drive isn't compatible. I originally feared that it was >>> warning me that the new drive wasn't compatible with my computer. Going >>> in the other way, it shows my C: drive as the source drive but it
prompts me to connect the Samsung SSD. It doesn't see it even though it >>> IS there and it works.

What cloning software is going to work with my SATA SSD?

Have you installed the SATA SSD inside the computer alongside the
existing drive? If so, that could be the problem. I have a feeling that
Magician expects the SSD to be an external drive, mounted in a suitable
enclosure and connected by USB3. That's certainly what happened when I
replaced a rotating drive with an SSD in a laptop a few years ago. That
worked fine. That was the only option in my case because the laptop
couldn't accommodate more than one internal drive at a time.

Maybe worth a try?

I indeed think that an *internal* drive which is *formatted* - i.e.
has a drive letter -, is a no-no for Samsung Magician.

IIRC, initially the SSD was not visible in Disk Management, causing
Samsung Magician not to see it. Now the SSD *is* visible in Disk
Management, but because it has a drive letter and is formatted, Samsung Magician probably considers it as a no-go area and rightfully so.

So Steve may want to remove the (J:) partition and see if Samsung
Magician now recognizes the SSD.

OTOH, as others have also suggested, it's better to use Macrium
Reflect (Free) to do the cloning or imaging, because for Macrium you
don't have to guess what is doing what (and there's a lot of Macrium experience/expertise in these groups).

I reproduced Steves symptoms here.

The problem has nothing to do with the particular target drive.
It was the *source drive choice* that broke it.

Even though the software only agrees to "copy the drive that has
the C: partition on it", there is a menu button on the upper left
where you *must* select the only drive possible, while in the Dashboard.
The program is too dumb to autoselect the drive with C: on it! From
a programming perspective, you likely have some idea how tortured
such a determination is on Windows, and a Junior Programmer wants
no part of such code.

Samsung has not heard of "Story Boarding" for programs, and it
took a single post on Reddit, to inform me of what I was
supposed to be doing as a user!

The dashboard rewards you with a summary with a lot of zeros in it.
It does not "parse" source foreign drives well, in the Dashboard. The
C: drive you're copying from, might be a WD hard drive or a
Team Group SSD, and in both cases the parsing in Dashboard will be lame.

Then, in the Data Migration (now that we've selected the only
drive that can function as a source), we are offered an opportunity
to select one of our N Samsung drives as the target for cloning.
The application warns you that the content will be erased.
The source partition menu in Data Migration, only allows the selection of three partition with "letters". It could be C: D: E: for example,
off the source drive to the dest drive. Presumably this behavior
is an avoidance-of-complexity issue with handling an MSDOS partitioned
source drive :-) They don't want to convert Primary partitions
to Extended/Logical ones and create a no boot problem on a multi-boot
disk.

Now, maybe it copies your 100MB ESP partition, your 16MB Microsoft Reserved, the 1GB Recovery partition, but there is no evidence on the screen at all,
of what it is really doing down there. You'd have to click the button,
"wait 24 minutes", then go in with diskpart and fish around for the details.

A scary thought, is it is using Robocopy to copy C: :-) File-by-file is
a less efficient way to copy for SSDs, and cluster-by-cluster has occasional efficiencies where one NAND page gets updated with four clusters in one go.

This program is "junior programmer material". There is no visible evidence,
no evidence at all, that it will make a guaranteed-bootable drive for you.
Does it make a VSS shadow copy of C: (as it should) ? Does it copy Windows.edb or pagefile.sys ? What other things don't they know, or don't want to
write code for ?

Paul
--- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: alt.comp.os.windows-10

On 1/5/2026 8:18 AM, Frank Slootweg wrote:

Roger Mills <mills37.fslife@gmail.com> wrote:

On 04/01/2026 21:47, Steve wrote:

The holidays are over and I should have time to continue the project I
was working on 2 weeks ago.

I'm trying to switch to my new Samsung 870 EVO SATA 2.5 inch drive. The
paper in the box said to use Samsung Magician to clone the data. I'm
starting to believe that it doesn't work with a SATA drive!

People suggested I use a different cloning tool. I dismissed that idea
because, certainly, Samsung Magician would work after I got my computer
to recognize the new drive. Well I did that. It's now showing on File
Explorer as drive (J:) and I have formatted it. I tested it by copying a >>> file with several pictures inside to (J:). It went right in and the
pictures opened just fine. I formatted again to empty it.

I looked at you tube videos about using Samsung Magician. They all
showed a ssd that did not look like my SATA drive.-a Samsung Magician
seems to have 2 ways to get to "Data Migration". One way pops up a
message that the drive isn't compatible. I originally feared that it was >>> warning me that the new drive wasn't compatible with my computer. Going
in the other way, it shows my C: drive as the source drive but it
prompts me to connect the Samsung SSD. It doesn't see it even though it
IS there and it works.

What cloning software is going to work with my SATA SSD?

Have you installed the SATA SSD inside the computer alongside the
existing drive? If so, that could be the problem. I have a feeling that
Magician expects the SSD to be an external drive, mounted in a suitable
enclosure and connected by USB3. That's certainly what happened when I
replaced a rotating drive with an SSD in a laptop a few years ago. That
worked fine. That was the only option in my case because the laptop
couldn't accommodate more than one internal drive at a time.

Maybe worth a try?

I indeed think that an *internal* drive which is *formatted* - i.e.
has a drive letter -, is a no-no for Samsung Magician.

IIRC, initially the SSD was not visible in Disk Management, causing Samsung Magician not to see it. Now the SSD *is* visible in Disk
Management, but because it has a drive letter and is formatted, Samsung Magician probably considers it as a no-go area and rightfully so.

So Steve may want to remove the (J:) partition and see if Samsung
Magician now recognizes the SSD.

OTOH, as others have also suggested, it's better to use Macrium
Reflect (Free) to do the cloning or imaging, because for Macrium you
don't have to guess what is doing what (and there's a lot of Macrium experience/expertise in these groups).

Thanks Frank.
--- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: alt.comp.os.windows-10

On 1/5/2026 10:00 AM, Mr. Man-wai Chang wrote:

On 5/1/2026 7:51 pm, Mr. Man-wai Chang wrote:

On 5/1/2026 5:47 am, Steve wrote:

The holidays are over and I should have time to continue the project I
was working on 2 weeks ago.

I'm trying to switch to my new Samsung 870 EVO SATA 2.5 inch drive. The
paper in the box said to use Samsung Magician to clone the data. I'm
starting to believe that it doesn't work with a SATA drive!
....
What cloning software is going to work with my SATA SSD?

Take the chance to clean install Windows instead of cloning an old one.

Say no to the old, filthy, dirty one. :)

Thanks. That makes sense.
--- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: alt.comp.os.windows-10

On Mon, 1/5/2026 2:26 PM, Steve wrote:

On 1/5/2026 8:18 AM, Frank Slootweg wrote:

Roger Mills <mills37.fslife@gmail.com> wrote:

On 04/01/2026 21:47, Steve wrote:

The holidays are over and I should have time to continue the project I >>>> was working on 2 weeks ago.

I'm trying to switch to my new Samsung 870 EVO SATA 2.5 inch drive. The >>>> paper in the box said to use Samsung Magician to clone the data. I'm
starting to believe that it doesn't work with a SATA drive!

People suggested I use a different cloning tool. I dismissed that idea >>>> because, certainly, Samsung Magician would work after I got my computer >>>> to recognize the new drive. Well I did that. It's now showing on File
Explorer as drive (J:) and I have formatted it. I tested it by copying a >>>> file with several pictures inside to (J:). It went right in and the
pictures opened just fine. I formatted again to empty it.

I looked at you tube videos about using Samsung Magician. They all
showed a ssd that did not look like my SATA drive.-a Samsung Magician
seems to have 2 ways to get to "Data Migration". One way pops up a
message that the drive isn't compatible. I originally feared that it was >>>> warning me that the new drive wasn't compatible with my computer. Going >>>> in the other way, it shows my C: drive as the source drive but it
prompts me to connect the Samsung SSD. It doesn't see it even though it >>>> IS there and it works.

What cloning software is going to work with my SATA SSD?

Have you installed the SATA SSD inside the computer alongside the
existing drive? If so, that could be the problem. I have a feeling that
Magician expects the SSD to be an external drive, mounted in a suitable
enclosure and connected by USB3. That's certainly what happened when I
replaced a rotating drive with an SSD in a laptop a few years ago. That
worked fine. That was the only option in my case because the laptop
couldn't accommodate more than one internal drive at a time.

Maybe worth a try?

-a-a I indeed think that an *internal* drive which is *formatted* - i.e.
has a drive letter -, is a no-no for Samsung Magician.

-a-a IIRC, initially the SSD was not visible in Disk Management, causing
Samsung Magician not to see it. Now the SSD *is* visible in Disk
Management, but because it has a drive letter and is formatted, Samsung
Magician probably considers it as a no-go area and rightfully so.

-a-a So Steve may want to remove the (J:) partition and see if Samsung
Magician now recognizes the SSD.

-a-a OTOH, as others have also suggested, it's better to use Macrium
Reflect (Free) to do the cloning or imaging, because for Macrium you
don't have to guess what is doing what (and there's a lot of Macrium
experience/expertise in these groups).

Thanks Frank.

I finally pushed the button and tested it.

Samsung Magician does copy hidden partitions. Since it does not admit to doing this, it's hard to say how many hidden partitions it is willing to copy.

[Picture] Download original if the picture is not clear...

https://imgur.com/a/XG8zuGq

https://i.postimg.cc/qvX5TCK7/Samsung-Magician-Copies-C-W10.gif

Now, we check for dis-ambiguation. Macrium changes the BLKID so
both devices boot independently of one another. Now, we check Samsung
to see if they do boot repair by editing the BCD file as well as
generating new IDs.

sda = Samsung 870EVO 1TB clone device [ sdb PARTUUID should not change ]

$ sudo blkid
/dev/sda1: LABEL="Recovery" BLOCK_SIZE="512" UUID="8C18EFC418EFAC00" TYPE="ntfs" PARTLABEL="Basic data partition" PARTUUID="2760a238-ea8e-11f0-a9dd-40167ea8940e"
/dev/sdb1: LABEL="Recovery" BLOCK_SIZE="512" UUID="8C18EFC418EFAC00" TYPE="ntfs" PARTLABEL="Basic data partition" PARTUUID="faf38ecc-55ec-4f5c-8f49-ed4fb01a5e28"

/dev/sda2: UUID="A8EF-E75A" BLOCK_SIZE="512" TYPE="vfat" PARTLABEL="EFI system partition" PARTUUID="2760a239-ea8e-11f0-a9dd-40167ea8940e"
/dev/sdb2: UUID="A8EF-E75A" BLOCK_SIZE="512" TYPE="vfat" PARTLABEL="EFI system partition" PARTUUID="cf778fb9-8847-415c-ba7b-282d3e7c4ab6"

/dev/sda3: PARTLABEL="Microsoft reserved partition" PARTUUID="2760a23a-ea8e-11f0-a9dd-40167ea8940e"
/dev/sdb3: PARTLABEL="Microsoft reserved partition" PARTUUID="f45537a1-e080-45ff-b34f-51e55a98c771"

/dev/sda4: LABEL="W14393" BLOCK_SIZE="512" UUID="1846F27446F251CC" TYPE="ntfs" PARTLABEL="Basic data partition" PARTUUID="2760a23b-ea8e-11f0-a9dd-40167ea8940e"
/dev/sdb4: LABEL="W14393" BLOCK_SIZE="512" UUID="1846F27446F251CC" TYPE="ntfs" PARTLABEL="Basic data partition" PARTUUID="1d3e1de4-2290-44eb-ab01-bd1be638b02a"

mint@mint:~$

This is a Macrium clone done right afterwards.

$ blkid
/dev/sda1: LABEL="Recovery" BLOCK_SIZE="512" UUID="8C18EFC418EFAC00" TYPE="ntfs" PARTLABEL="Basic data partition" PARTUUID="65a2373c-d506-46ab-8995-435cf261db6f"
/dev/sdb1: LABEL="Recovery" BLOCK_SIZE="512" UUID="8C18EFC418EFAC00" TYPE="ntfs" PARTLABEL="Basic data partition" PARTUUID="faf38ecc-55ec-4f5c-8f49-ed4fb01a5e28"

/dev/sda2: UUID="A8EF-E75A" BLOCK_SIZE="512" TYPE="vfat" PARTLABEL="EFI system partition" PARTUUID="775e88e8-6f8f-4c66-9ecb-8e38fab01494"
/dev/sdb2: UUID="A8EF-E75A" BLOCK_SIZE="512" TYPE="vfat" PARTLABEL="EFI system partition" PARTUUID="cf778fb9-8847-415c-ba7b-282d3e7c4ab6"

/dev/sda4: LABEL="W14393" BLOCK_SIZE="512" UUID="1846F27446F251CC" TYPE="ntfs" PARTLABEL="Basic data partition" PARTUUID="936e516e-61d1-4cf2-ac45-b12af89b6da5"
/dev/sdb4: LABEL="W14393" BLOCK_SIZE="512" UUID="1846F27446F251CC" TYPE="ntfs" PARTLABEL="Basic data partition" PARTUUID="1d3e1de4-2290-44eb-ab01-bd1be638b02a"

mint@mint:~$

Summary: The graphic interface may suck on Samsung Magician, but the engine is good, and
seems to be a somewhat quality clone function.

It's hard to guess from the behavior, how it would handle the hidden
partitions on my triple boot HDD.

Paul
--- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: alt.comp.os.windows-10

On 05/01/2026 16:40, Paul wrote:

On Mon, 1/5/2026 4:17 AM, wasbit wrote:

On 04/01/2026 21:47, Steve wrote:

The holidays are over and I should have time to continue the project I was working on 2 weeks ago.

I'm trying to switch to my new Samsung 870 EVO SATA 2.5 inch drive. The paper in the box said to use Samsung Magician to clone the data. I'm starting to believe that it doesn't work with a SATA drive!

People suggested I use a different cloning tool. I dismissed that idea because, certainly, Samsung Magician would work after I got my computer to recognize the new drive. Well I did that. It's now showing on File Explorer as drive (J:) and I have formatted it. I tested it by copying a file with several pictures inside to (J:). It went right in and the pictures opened just fine. I formatted again to empty it.

I looked at you tube videos about using Samsung Magician. They all showed a ssd that did not look like my SATA drive.-a Samsung Magician seems to have 2 ways to get to "Data Migration". One way pops up a message that the drive isn't compatible. I originally feared that it was warning me that the new drive wasn't compatible with my computer. Going in the other way, it shows my C: drive as the source drive but it prompts me to connect the Samsung SSD. It doesn't see it even though it IS there and it works.

What cloning software is going to work with my SATA SSD?

I've used all these to clone drives.

Clonezilla - http://clonezilla.org
DiskGenius - https://www.diskgenius.com/free.php
Hasleo Disk Clone - https://www.easyuefi.com/disk-clone/disk-clone-home.html >> Macrium Reflect Free - https://www.majorgeeks.com/files/details/macrium_reflect_free_edition.html

Some of the popular free programmes will only image a partition, not a complete drive, whilst other have size limits.

Acronis True Image, Paragon Drive Copy need the non freeware versions.

I've not noticed any size limits on Macrium.

I could clone a 24TB HDD with 20 partitions on it, with Macrium.

ATI Home is available for free from Seagate and Western Digital,
and is coded to require a branded disk drive for the purpose.
It could do a clone onto a Seagate or WD drive (installing
an application in each case, to do it). So ATI is available
in a way, while it wears a paper bag over its head to hide
its identity.

I could use "dd.exe" to clone a drive, as the function it
delivers is very very simple. Too simple in fact, but for a
"clone then erase-source-drive" mission, it would work. You'd
want the disk dimensions to meet certain criterion, for a best
result (both storage devices, exactly the same size). But
that's the approach I would use, if absolutely nothing else was available.

Samsung Magician cloning seems worse than "dd.exe", in that
it is very difficult to get the output to look like the input,
due to "that interface of theirs". It will copy the partitions
out of order, nothing can be placed to the left of C: with
the Samsung Magician. It seems best used as a Data drive cloner,
yet the program insists that it is an OS drive cloner.
The amount of work and data movement I would have to do to clean up afterwards after Samsung, that would make cloning seem a tiny
part of a whole day of effort.

*******

Let's make a strawman boot drive. Making it GPT partitioned, is all part
of modern setups and their automation.

In Disk Management, 1,3,4 are shown and numbered properly,
but 2 (which has no file system) is not shown. When on a cloning mission,
we need to drop to the command line for help.

1 3 4
+------+---------------------+------------+------------------+------------+--------------+---+-----------------------+
| MBR | (primary GPT table) | EFI System | 16MB MS Reserved | C: Primary | 1GB Recovery |...| (secondary GPT table) |
+------+---------------------+------------+------------------+------------+--------------+---+-----------------------+
Microsoft WinRE.wim [ near-end-of-disk ]
folder... emergencyOS
In an Admin Window, I can do

diskpart

DISKPART> list disk

Disk ### Status Size Free Dyn Gpt
-------- ------------- ------- ------- --- ---
Disk 0 Online 3726 GB 1024 KB *

DISKPART> select disk 0

Disk 0 is now the selected disk.

DISKPART> list partition

Partition ### Type Size Offset
------------- ---------------- ------- -------
Partition 1 System 100 MB 1024 KB
Partition 2 Reserved 16 MB 101 MB <=== diskpart.exe shows everything and the 16MB
Partition 3 Primary 118 GB 117 MB thing is visible here.
Partition 4 Recovery 1024 MB 118 GB Diskpart can be used to compare two things.

In Linux GParted, it also shows 1,2,3,4, but 2 "cannot be touched", as things without a file system are not "enjoyed" by disk management utilities. Windows solves the problem of the indigestible gristle by simply hiding it (2) and telling a lie.

Macrium chooses to handle "foreign" file systems, by worst-case, using a dd.exe
approach to cloning them. It just copies all the bytes and moves on. Cloning "2" for Macrium, is a 16MB stream of bytes to the other disk.

Summary: When you clone things, have a look later at what "goods" you got from the deal.
The two disks should at least have a vague similarity to one another :-)
It's a "clone" after all :-)

Notice how the Samsung Magician makes no reference to that diagram, leaving
a user to wonder "whether any other things" are being copied for them. The fact
it claims your new C: partition will be 931GB, suggests the answer is "No".
By default it copies and makes a ginormous 931GB C: out of your 106.57GB source partition.

At least Macrium has tick boxes for 1,2,3,4.

I haven't checked but I believe there are no size limits on Macrium.
Hopefully my post didn't read that way.
--
Regards
wasbit
--- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: alt.comp.os.windows-10

On 05/01/2026 11:51, Mr. Man-wai Chang wrote:

On 5/1/2026 5:47 am, Steve wrote:

The holidays are over and I should have time to continue the project I
was working on 2 weeks ago.

I'm trying to switch to my new Samsung 870 EVO SATA 2.5 inch drive. The
paper in the box said to use Samsung Magician to clone the data. I'm
starting to believe that it doesn't work with a SATA drive!
....
What cloning software is going to work with my SATA SSD?

Take the chance to clean install Windows instead of cloning an old one.

Often, those cloning drives do so because they want the installed
programmes to work without having to reinstall them.
--
Regards
wasbit
--- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: alt.comp.os.windows-10

On Sun, 4 Jan 2026 23:15:14 -0600, Paul in Houston TX wrote:

Macrium Reflect. I use it often on several machines and drives.
I tried Samsung and a few others once and prefer Macrium.

+1 on Macrium. (I've never used Samsung.)

Up until v8.0.7783 Macrium Reflect is free to use.
--
s|b
--- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: alt.comp.os.windows-10

On Mon, 1/5/2026 5:47 PM, Paul wrote:

On Mon, 1/5/2026 2:26 PM, Steve wrote:

On 1/5/2026 8:18 AM, Frank Slootweg wrote:

Roger Mills <mills37.fslife@gmail.com> wrote:

On 04/01/2026 21:47, Steve wrote:

The holidays are over and I should have time to continue the project I >>>>> was working on 2 weeks ago.

I'm trying to switch to my new Samsung 870 EVO SATA 2.5 inch drive. The >>>>> paper in the box said to use Samsung Magician to clone the data. I'm >>>>> starting to believe that it doesn't work with a SATA drive!

People suggested I use a different cloning tool. I dismissed that idea >>>>> because, certainly, Samsung Magician would work after I got my computer >>>>> to recognize the new drive. Well I did that. It's now showing on File >>>>> Explorer as drive (J:) and I have formatted it. I tested it by copying a >>>>> file with several pictures inside to (J:). It went right in and the
pictures opened just fine. I formatted again to empty it.

I looked at you tube videos about using Samsung Magician. They all
showed a ssd that did not look like my SATA drive.-a Samsung Magician >>>>> seems to have 2 ways to get to "Data Migration". One way pops up a
message that the drive isn't compatible. I originally feared that it was >>>>> warning me that the new drive wasn't compatible with my computer. Going >>>>> in the other way, it shows my C: drive as the source drive but it
prompts me to connect the Samsung SSD. It doesn't see it even though it >>>>> IS there and it works.

What cloning software is going to work with my SATA SSD?

Have you installed the SATA SSD inside the computer alongside the
existing drive? If so, that could be the problem. I have a feeling that >>>> Magician expects the SSD to be an external drive, mounted in a suitable >>>> enclosure and connected by USB3. That's certainly what happened when I >>>> replaced a rotating drive with an SSD in a laptop a few years ago. That >>>> worked fine. That was the only option in my case because the laptop
couldn't accommodate more than one internal drive at a time.

Maybe worth a try?

-a-a I indeed think that an *internal* drive which is *formatted* - i.e. >>> has a drive letter -, is a no-no for Samsung Magician.

-a-a IIRC, initially the SSD was not visible in Disk Management, causing >>> Samsung Magician not to see it. Now the SSD *is* visible in Disk
Management, but because it has a drive letter and is formatted, Samsung
Magician probably considers it as a no-go area and rightfully so.

-a-a So Steve may want to remove the (J:) partition and see if Samsung
Magician now recognizes the SSD.

-a-a OTOH, as others have also suggested, it's better to use Macrium
Reflect (Free) to do the cloning or imaging, because for Macrium you
don't have to guess what is doing what (and there's a lot of Macrium
experience/expertise in these groups).

Thanks Frank.

I finally pushed the button and tested it.

Samsung Magician does copy hidden partitions. Since it does not admit to doing
this, it's hard to say how many hidden partitions it is willing to copy.

One further point, after looking at the Process Monitor trace for the Samsung Magician run on Windows 10.

I was on Windows 10, and Samsung Magician is using Storage Migration Service, with executable "migrationservice.exe". This is provided by Microsoft. The code moving the disk then, for Win10 only, is not written by Samsung. It calls a service available from the OS. On Windows 8.1, an older version of Magician must
use something else to do it (because Samsung wants you to use an older version on that OS).

As a result, my guess is, this is roughly the equivalent of a "System Image" from the Microsoft backup software (with so-called "critical partitions" included and
copying C: is mandatory). So now we see where the insistence on "copying your C: "
comes from. This code is not just some generic partition copying software
with a weird fetish for C: , it's the System Image service being abused to
copy the boot disk. The graphical interface then, is offering to copy additional data partitions,
in the same way that wbadmin parameters are used. In this example, D: and F: are two additional partitions the user wants.

wbAdmin start backup -backupTarget:E: -include:D:,F: -allCritical -quiet # "AllCritical" is C: and hidden_friends

If we ignore the backupTarget for a moment, and imagine this program being
used to clone instead of imaging, the C: and hidden_friends would always
be copied, then the graphical interface in Magician would allow me to add D: and F:
for copying. It's like the Samsung GUI, is driving parameters to a command shaped
like that.

Now that we understand this part, we can make a prediction. The product will not copy a multiboot Win7+Win10 disk, because only one of the OSes is "critical"
and support for the other might easily be ignored. However, for a single Windows
on a disk, at a guess this will (mostly) work out for you, the user. So that's the "hidden partition" algo, it's the critical partitions for C: and not the critical partitions necessarily for any other OS on the disk. I have a trick for overcoming this on wdAdmin, but since the Samsung GUI does not expose anything we can use as leverage here, I can't do that and make Samsung Magician copy absolutely everything.

The Samsung Magician is not listed as working with Windows 11. And on Windows 11
there is no sign of the Migration Service (yet wbadmin.exe is still there!).

A discussion on Reddit, had the best practice advice offered "to use Robocopy" rather than the MigrationService, which is surely the high comedy moment of the day.
It will likely take us some time, to discover what defect they fear... Robocopy started as a hobby project at Microsoft, and Microsoft deemed it to be worthwhile enough,
it includes a copy in every OS and supports it. On WinXP, you had to download the first release manually (XP_026?).

The rest of the trace details, I don't understand what it is doing.
Some would ask "why do you care?". Well, I care if the way the file system
is being written out to the clone is "not standard". You would not want surprises
later, if it turned out the FS had been containerized. While I see mention
of "WOF" (Windows Overlay Filesystem) in the trace, I don't understand what useful transformation that would achieve while cloning. Only the bad idea,
of storing the users source disk, as a WOF on the destination disk comes to mind,
but surely they don't do that... Hmmm. I wonder which Windows OSes understand what a WOF is. This was originally proposed as a mechanism for tablets, where the OS install image could be stored as a 4GB "blob" on the eMMC, and every time
a Windows Update came in, any "deltas" created by a patch, would be stored outside
the WOF. Which still burned up a lot of space on the eMMC, after a few years of updates.

Paul
--- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: alt.comp.os.windows-10

On 2026/1/6 9:23:18, wasbit wrote:

On 05/01/2026 11:51, Mr. Man-wai Chang wrote:

On 5/1/2026 5:47 am, Steve wrote:

The holidays are over and I should have time to continue the project I
was working on 2 weeks ago.

I'm trying to switch to my new Samsung 870 EVO SATA 2.5 inch drive. The
paper in the box said to use Samsung Magician to clone the data. I'm
starting to believe that it doesn't work with a SATA drive!
....
What cloning software is going to work with my SATA SSD?

Take the chance to clean install Windows instead of cloning an old one.

Often, those cloning drives do so because they want the installed
programmes to work without having to reinstall them.

Installed programmes, hardware drivers, ... if you're just replacing a
drive in an existing system (bigger, faster [SSD], or the old one is
getting slow due to error-correction), the only reason to do a clean
install is because you enjoy installing Windows. Unless it was _very_
dirty - which for most people it isn't.
--
J. P. Gilliver. UMRA: 1960/<1985 MB++G()ALIS-Ch++(p)Ar++T+H+Sh0!:`)DNAf

What good is a smart phone with a dumb user?
--- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: alt.comp.os.windows-10

On 1/4/2026 4:47 PM, Steve wrote:

The holidays are over and I should have time to continue the project I
was working on 2 weeks ago.

I'm trying to switch to my new Samsung 870 EVO SATA 2.5 inch drive. The paper in the box said to use Samsung Magician to clone the data. I'm starting to believe that it doesn't work with a SATA drive!

People suggested I use a different cloning tool. I dismissed that idea because, certainly, Samsung Magician would work after I got my computer
to recognize the new drive. Well I did that. It's now showing on File Explorer as drive (J:) and I have formatted it. I tested it by copying a file with several pictures inside to (J:). It went right in and the
pictures opened just fine. I formatted again to empty it.

I looked at you tube videos about using Samsung Magician. They all
showed a ssd that did not look like my SATA drive.-a Samsung Magician
seems to have 2 ways to get to "Data Migration". One way pops up a
message that the drive isn't compatible. I originally feared that it was warning me that the new drive wasn't compatible with my computer. Going
in the other way, it shows my C: drive as the source drive but it
prompts me to connect the Samsung SSD. It doesn't see it even though it
IS there and it works.

What cloning software is going to work with my SATA SSD?

OK, here's my update:
I downloaded Macrium Reflect and used that, because several people
recommended Macrium. I have now cloned all of my Drive C: onto the
Samsung SSD.
Back when I was still trying to get Samsung Magician to work, something
I read said just shut down and swap drives and Windows should boot right
up from the new drive.
Both drives are already in the computer so, while it was shut down, I
unhooked the old hard drive and started it up. I didn't really expect it
to be that easy and of course it wasn't. As it tried to start up, it
listed my DVD drive (E:), followed by the SSD (J:). Then it moved on to
a screen that was blank except for a dash line in the upper left corner.
I plugged the old drive back in and waited for it to slowly start up so
I could get back here again.
I notice in File Explorer the drives listed are...
(C:)
Factory image (D:) (Which is probably a copy of Windows 7) (I did not
clone (D:) onto the new SSD.) It's on the old drive as a partition.
DVD RW E:
System (J:) (J:) I had labeled as SSD (J:) before something changed it.
"This folder is empty" comes up when I click it.
(K:) It shows the same list of files as when I click (C:). Why is that?



--- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: alt.comp.os.windows-10

Steve wrote on 1/6/2026 7:23 PM:

On 1/4/2026 4:47 PM, Steve wrote:

The holidays are over and I should have time to continue the project I
was working on 2 weeks ago.

I'm trying to switch to my new Samsung 870 EVO SATA 2.5 inch drive.
The paper in the box said to use Samsung Magician to clone the data.
I'm starting to believe that it doesn't work with a SATA drive!

People suggested I use a different cloning tool. I dismissed that idea
because, certainly, Samsung Magician would work after I got my
computer to recognize the new drive. Well I did that. It's now showing
on File Explorer as drive (J:) and I have formatted it. I tested it by
copying a file with several pictures inside to (J:). It went right in
and the pictures opened just fine. I formatted again to empty it.

I looked at you tube videos about using Samsung Magician. They all
showed a ssd that did not look like my SATA drive.-a Samsung Magician
seems to have 2 ways to get to "Data Migration". One way pops up a
message that the drive isn't compatible. I originally feared that it
was warning me that the new drive wasn't compatible with my computer.
Going in the other way, it shows my C: drive as the source drive but
it prompts me to connect the Samsung SSD. It doesn't see it even
though it IS there and it works.

What cloning software is going to work with my SATA SSD?

OK, here's my update:
I downloaded Macrium Reflect and used that, because several people recommended Macrium. I have now cloned all of my Drive C: onto the
Samsung SSD.
Back when I was still trying to get Samsung Magician to work, something
I read said just shut down and swap drives and Windows should boot right
up from the new drive.
Both drives are already in the computer so, while it was shut down, I unhooked the old hard drive and started it up. I didn't really expect it
to be that easy and of course it wasn't. As it tried to start up, it
listed my DVD drive (E:), followed by the SSD (J:). Then it moved on to
a screen that was blank except for a dash line in the upper left corner.
I plugged the old drive back in and waited for it to slowly start up so
I could get back here again.
I notice in File Explorer the drives listed are...
(C:)
Factory image (D:) (Which is probably a copy of Windows 7) (I did not
clone (D:) onto the new SSD.) It's on the old drive as a partition.
DVD RW E:
System (J:)a (J:) I had labeled as SSD (J:) before something changed it. "This folder is empty" comes up when I click it.
(K:) It shows the same list of files as when I click (C:). Why is that?

You'll never get this working. Cut your losses and throw the damn thing
away and buy yourself a computer from amazon or somewhere.

Get one that comes with all software loaded and working. That's your
best solution.



--- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: alt.comp.os.windows-10

On Tue, 1/6/2026 8:23 PM, Steve wrote:

On 1/4/2026 4:47 PM, Steve wrote:

The holidays are over and I should have time to continue the project I was working on 2 weeks ago.

I'm trying to switch to my new Samsung 870 EVO SATA 2.5 inch drive. The paper in the box said to use Samsung Magician to clone the data. I'm starting to believe that it doesn't work with a SATA drive!

People suggested I use a different cloning tool. I dismissed that idea because, certainly, Samsung Magician would work after I got my computer to recognize the new drive. Well I did that. It's now showing on File Explorer as drive (J:) and I have formatted it. I tested it by copying a file with several pictures inside to (J:). It went right in and the pictures opened just fine. I formatted again to empty it.

I looked at you tube videos about using Samsung Magician. They all showed a ssd that did not look like my SATA drive.-a Samsung Magician seems to have 2 ways to get to "Data Migration". One way pops up a message that the drive isn't compatible. I originally feared that it was warning me that the new drive wasn't compatible with my computer. Going in the other way, it shows my C: drive as the source drive but it prompts me to connect the Samsung SSD. It doesn't see it even though it IS there and it works.

What cloning software is going to work with my SATA SSD?

OK, here's my update:
I downloaded Macrium Reflect and used that, because several people recommended Macrium. I have now cloned all of my Drive C: onto the Samsung SSD.
Back when I was still trying to get Samsung Magician to work, something I read said just shut down and swap drives and Windows should boot right up from the new drive.
Both drives are already in the computer so, while it was shut down, I unhooked the old hard drive and started it up. I didn't really expect it to be that easy and of course it wasn't. As it tried to start up, it listed my DVD drive (E:), followed by the SSD (J:). Then it moved on to a screen that was blank except for a dash line in the upper left corner.
I plugged the old drive back in and waited for it to slowly start up so I could get back here again.
I notice in File Explorer the drives listed are...
(C:)
Factory image (D:) (Which is probably a copy of Windows 7) (I did not clone (D:) onto the new SSD.) It's on the old drive as a partition.
DVD RW E:
System (J:)-a (J:) I had labeled as SSD (J:) before something changed it. "This folder is empty" comes up when I click it.
(K:) It shows the same list of files as when I click (C:). Why is that?

If you have the original disk handy, try this by itself.

Start Macrium, select

Backup : Backup Windows

at the top. I believe what this utilizes, is it starts with the letter C:
and it analyzes the critical items which are partners of C: at the moment.

On mine, doing this displays the following, where the fifth item certainly
has the GPT Attribute marking the partition as Critical, but if the program is not going to be offering to backup Win10AMD, then there is no point in doing the SystemReserved to the right of it.

A tag team of partitions A tag team of partitions
/------------------------\ /------------------------\
ESP MicrosoftReserved W11Home SystemReserved Win10AMD SystemReserved DATA1 DATA2
100MB 16MB 116.36GB ~1GB or less NOT TICKED ~1GB or less NOT TICKED NOT TICKED

TICK TICK TICK TICK TICK

This tells me, that it did a good job on the four on the left, and lassoing the fifth one is
"conservative" and not really hurting anything particularly. Commands such as this one,
the identifying of "critical items to help C: " does not extend to multiboot disks and ensuring they
get copied. It is assumed by the various makers of these softwares, that "multiboot users know
the importance of ticking the boxes for themselves" :-) The second tag team is not essential
to my project, but in fact, it might be if I expected both OSes to work. You proceed by analogy
when seeing the pattern above, and add ticks (like Win10AMD) as you feel appropriate.

With the original hard drive in place, and booted off it, and using the
Macrium installed on that hard drive, you can carry out this test, and
see which tick boxes got ticked.

OK, having recorded your observations for later (snippingtool.exe can help you),
when you go to use the Clone option instead, you can elect to tick the
critical partitions you discovered, while using that feature.

It is my suspicion, that your unnamed partitioning method (GPT or MBR),
it needed one more partition to be complete, and the X:\boot folder
(where X: is the drive letter I don't know at the moment) was critical
and you missed it. If the original boot drive was able to boot by itself,
then the critical materials must all be on that disk.

My suspicion is, your disk is MSDOS partitioned, and you missed the Active partition
(boot flag set 0x80 like the old days). That's about the easiest explanation I can
think of. With GPT you can miss a lot of stuff and it still boots, but it might not
be entirely happy. You would not have got to the "underscore" in the upper left corner,
if the ESP had been missing from the clone. It's unlikely this is a GPT.

If you are not telling us about the other five hard drives in the
computer, then that is naughty. People like to install Windows while
five hard drives are in the computer, and critical materials can end up spanning more than one disk drive (ESP on drive 5, C: on drive 1). This causes untold misery later.
This is why the cardinal rule of OS installation is:

Only have the single hard drive present, intended for the installation.

That is how we hope to keep all our critical stuff, on the one rotating spindle.

I'm not saying at this point, that this is the mistake made. There are
a ton of guesses I could make.

Just try the experiment:

Original drive only inserted.
Boot from original drive.
If it boots, run Macrium, do Backup : Backup Windows.
Read out the tick boxes. Unnecessary Data partitions won't be ticked (they're not marked Critical).
Now, look at your clone and see if the tick box partitions are all present.

It's possible you need a Boot Repair, but that's an entirely separate post.
You cannot Boot Repair something that is "missing critical stuff". That's
out of push button country and into the command line.

Paul
--- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: alt.comp.os.windows-10

On Tue, 1/6/2026 8:37 PM, Hank Rogers wrote:

Steve wrote on 1/6/2026 7:23 PM:

On 1/4/2026 4:47 PM, Steve wrote:

The holidays are over and I should have time to continue the project I was working on 2 weeks ago.

I'm trying to switch to my new Samsung 870 EVO SATA 2.5 inch drive. The paper in the box said to use Samsung Magician to clone the data. I'm starting to believe that it doesn't work with a SATA drive!

People suggested I use a different cloning tool. I dismissed that idea because, certainly, Samsung Magician would work after I got my computer to recognize the new drive. Well I did that. It's now showing on File Explorer as drive (J:) and I have formatted it. I tested it by copying a file with several pictures inside to (J:). It went right in and the pictures opened just fine. I formatted again to empty it.

I looked at you tube videos about using Samsung Magician. They all showed a ssd that did not look like my SATA drive.-a Samsung Magician seems to have 2 ways to get to "Data Migration". One way pops up a message that the drive isn't compatible. I originally feared that it was warning me that the new drive wasn't compatible with my computer. Going in the other way, it shows my C: drive as the source drive but it prompts me to connect the Samsung SSD. It doesn't see it even though it IS there and it works.

What cloning software is going to work with my SATA SSD?

OK, here's my update:
I downloaded Macrium Reflect and used that, because several people recommended Macrium. I have now cloned all of my Drive C: onto the Samsung SSD.
Back when I was still trying to get Samsung Magician to work, something I read said just shut down and swap drives and Windows should boot right up from the new drive.
Both drives are already in the computer so, while it was shut down, I unhooked the old hard drive and started it up. I didn't really expect it to be that easy and of course it wasn't. As it tried to start up, it listed my DVD drive (E:), followed by the SSD (J:). Then it moved on to a screen that was blank except for a dash line in the upper left corner.
I plugged the old drive back in and waited for it to slowly start up so I could get back here again.
I notice in File Explorer the drives listed are...
(C:)
Factory image (D:) (Which is probably a copy of Windows 7) (I did not clone (D:) onto the new SSD.) It's on the old drive as a partition.
DVD RW E:
System (J:)a (J:) I had labeled as SSD (J:) before something changed it. "This folder is empty" comes up when I click it.
(K:) It shows the same list of files as when I click (C:). Why is that?

You'll never get this working.a Cut your losses and throw the damn thing away and buy yourself a computer from amazon or somewhere.

Get one that comes with all software loaded and working.a That's your best solution.

I like this group, for the level of encouragement it provides.

It can be done.

[Picture]

https://imgur.com/a/XG8zuGq

https://i.postimg.cc/qvX5TCK7/Samsung-Magician-Copies-C-W10.gif

Macrium can do that much, too.

Paul


--- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: alt.comp.os.windows-10

On 05/01/2026 05:26, Paul wrote:

Macrium issues a TRIM, before the clone starts.

Just one?
One would hope it TRIMs the whole area it's going to use.
--
Brian Gregory (in England).
--- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: alt.comp.os.windows-10

On 6/1/2026 5:23 pm, wasbit wrote:

On 05/01/2026 11:51, Mr. Man-wai Chang wrote:

Take the chance to clean install Windows instead of cloning an old one.

Often, those cloning drives do so because they want the installed
programmes to work without having to reinstall them.

I understood the convinence, but what if the Windows or its hardware
crashed? So you don't know how to re-setup and re-install everything?

That smells like the Ark of Covenant... some lost artifacts! :)
--
@~@ Simplicity is Beauty! Remain silent! Drink, Blink, Stretch!
/ v \ May the Force and farces be with you! Live long and prosper!!
/( _ )\ https://sites.google.com/site/changmw/
^ ^ https://github.com/changmw/changmw
--- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: alt.comp.os.windows-10

On 07/01/2026 01:23, Steve wrote:

On 1/4/2026 4:47 PM, Steve wrote:

The holidays are over and I should have time to continue the project I
was working on 2 weeks ago.

I'm trying to switch to my new Samsung 870 EVO SATA 2.5 inch drive.
The paper in the box said to use Samsung Magician to clone the data.
I'm starting to believe that it doesn't work with a SATA drive!

People suggested I use a different cloning tool. I dismissed that idea
because, certainly, Samsung Magician would work after I got my
computer to recognize the new drive. Well I did that. It's now showing
on File Explorer as drive (J:) and I have formatted it. I tested it by
copying a file with several pictures inside to (J:). It went right in
and the pictures opened just fine. I formatted again to empty it.

I looked at you tube videos about using Samsung Magician. They all
showed a ssd that did not look like my SATA drive.-a Samsung Magician
seems to have 2 ways to get to "Data Migration". One way pops up a
message that the drive isn't compatible. I originally feared that it
was warning me that the new drive wasn't compatible with my computer.
Going in the other way, it shows my C: drive as the source drive but
it prompts me to connect the Samsung SSD. It doesn't see it even
though it IS there and it works.

What cloning software is going to work with my SATA SSD?

OK, here's my update:
I downloaded Macrium Reflect and used that, because several people recommended Macrium. I have now cloned all of my Drive C: onto the
Samsung SSD.
Back when I was still trying to get Samsung Magician to work, something
I read said just shut down and swap drives and Windows should boot right
up from the new drive.
Both drives are already in the computer so, while it was shut down, I unhooked the old hard drive and started it up. I didn't really expect it
to be that easy and of course it wasn't. As it tried to start up, it
listed my DVD drive (E:), followed by the SSD (J:). Then it moved on to
a screen that was blank except for a dash line in the upper left corner.
I plugged the old drive back in and waited for it to slowly start up so
I could get back here again.
I notice in File Explorer the drives listed are...
(C:)
Factory image (D:) (Which is probably a copy of Windows 7) (I did not
clone (D:) onto the new SSD.) It's on the old drive as a partition.
DVD RW E:
System (J:)-a (J:) I had labeled as SSD (J:) before something changed it. "This folder is empty" comes up when I click it.
(K:) It shows the same list of files as when I click (C:). Why is that?

How did it get the J: letter?

It should not have any partitions on it before cloning therefore it
should not have had any drive letters.
--
Brian Gregory (in England).
--- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: alt.comp.os.windows-10

Steve wrote:

On 1/4/2026 4:47 PM, Steve wrote:

The holidays are over and I should have time to continue the project I
was working on 2 weeks ago.

I'm trying to switch to my new Samsung 870 EVO SATA 2.5 inch drive.
The paper in the box said to use Samsung Magician to clone the data.
I'm starting to believe that it doesn't work with a SATA drive!

People suggested I use a different cloning tool. I dismissed that idea
because, certainly, Samsung Magician would work after I got my
computer to recognize the new drive. Well I did that. It's now showing
on File Explorer as drive (J:) and I have formatted it. I tested it by
copying a file with several pictures inside to (J:). It went right in
and the pictures opened just fine. I formatted again to empty it.

I looked at you tube videos about using Samsung Magician. They all
showed a ssd that did not look like my SATA drive.-a Samsung Magician
seems to have 2 ways to get to "Data Migration". One way pops up a
message that the drive isn't compatible. I originally feared that it
was warning me that the new drive wasn't compatible with my computer.
Going in the other way, it shows my C: drive as the source drive but
it prompts me to connect the Samsung SSD. It doesn't see it even
though it IS there and it works.

What cloning software is going to work with my SATA SSD?

OK, here's my update:
I downloaded Macrium Reflect and used that, because several people recommended Macrium. I have now cloned all of my Drive C: onto the
Samsung SSD.
Back when I was still trying to get Samsung Magician to work, something
I read said just shut down and swap drives and Windows should boot right
up from the new drive.
Both drives are already in the computer so, while it was shut down, I unhooked the old hard drive and started it up. I didn't really expect it
to be that easy and of course it wasn't. As it tried to start up, it
listed my DVD drive (E:), followed by the SSD (J:). Then it moved on to
a screen that was blank except for a dash line in the upper left corner.
I plugged the old drive back in and waited for it to slowly start up so
I could get back here again.
I notice in File Explorer the drives listed are...
(C:)
Factory image (D:) (Which is probably a copy of Windows 7) (I did not
clone (D:) onto the new SSD.) It's on the old drive as a partition.
DVD RW E:
System (J:)-a (J:) I had labeled as SSD (J:) before something changed it. "This folder is empty" comes up when I click it.
(K:) It shows the same list of files as when I click (C:). Why is that?

My main windows machine two drives are cloned monthly.
There are 3 essential partitions that MUST be cloned:
1) Unformatted Primary, (no name) (none), 128.0 MB.
2) FAT32 (LBA) Primary, NO NAME (none), 100.0 MB.
3) 980 (C:) NTFS Primary, 465.54 GB.

The clone's first two partition names are the same as above.
The 3rd partition is named 980 (D:) NTFS Primary, 465.54 GB since it is
not the active drive. If I booted from that drive then it would be
named C:.
The other machines are similar.
--- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: alt.comp.os.windows-10

On Tue, 1/6/2026 10:23 PM, Brian Gregory wrote:

On 05/01/2026 05:26, Paul wrote:

Macrium issues a TRIM, before the clone starts.

Just one?
One would hope it TRIMs the whole area it's going to use.

Check the log window, as it prints little comments
while it is doing stuff. For example, at the end,
you can check and see if it modified the BCD or not.

Paul
--- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: alt.comp.os.windows-10

On Tue, 1/6/2026 10:30 PM, Brian Gregory wrote:

On 07/01/2026 01:23, Steve wrote:

On 1/4/2026 4:47 PM, Steve wrote:

The holidays are over and I should have time to continue the project I was working on 2 weeks ago.

I'm trying to switch to my new Samsung 870 EVO SATA 2.5 inch drive. The paper in the box said to use Samsung Magician to clone the data. I'm starting to believe that it doesn't work with a SATA drive!

People suggested I use a different cloning tool. I dismissed that idea because, certainly, Samsung Magician would work after I got my computer to recognize the new drive. Well I did that. It's now showing on File Explorer as drive (J:) and I have formatted it. I tested it by copying a file with several pictures inside to (J:). It went right in and the pictures opened just fine. I formatted again to empty it.

I looked at you tube videos about using Samsung Magician. They all showed a ssd that did not look like my SATA drive.-a Samsung Magician seems to have 2 ways to get to "Data Migration". One way pops up a message that the drive isn't compatible. I originally feared that it was warning me that the new drive wasn't compatible with my computer. Going in the other way, it shows my C: drive as the source drive but it prompts me to connect the Samsung SSD. It doesn't see it even though it IS there and it works.

What cloning software is going to work with my SATA SSD?

OK, here's my update:
I downloaded Macrium Reflect and used that, because several people recommended Macrium. I have now cloned all of my Drive C: onto the Samsung SSD.
Back when I was still trying to get Samsung Magician to work, something I read said just shut down and swap drives and Windows should boot right up from the new drive.
Both drives are already in the computer so, while it was shut down, I unhooked the old hard drive and started it up. I didn't really expect it to be that easy and of course it wasn't. As it tried to start up, it listed my DVD drive (E:), followed by the SSD (J:). Then it moved on to a screen that was blank except for a dash line in the upper left corner.
I plugged the old drive back in and waited for it to slowly start up so I could get back here again.
I notice in File Explorer the drives listed are...
(C:)
Factory image (D:) (Which is probably a copy of Windows 7) (I did not clone (D:) onto the new SSD.) It's on the old drive as a partition.
DVD RW E:
System (J:)-a (J:) I had labeled as SSD (J:) before something changed it. "This folder is empty" comes up when I click it.
(K:) It shows the same list of files as when I click (C:). Why is that?

How did it get the J: letter?

It should not have any partitions on it before cloning therefore it should not have had any drive letters.

You can do drag and drop cloning if you want.

You pretend to be doing a "destructive" clone,
then instead of clicking Next, you take the mouse
and lower a partition onto the destination
(next to a partition you want to keep).

P Q R S <=== Source

E <=== Destination

becomes (via drag and drop clone)

P Q R S <=== Source

E P Q R S <=== what Dest looks like after D&D Clone

If you Drag and Drop clone, no BCD modifications
are done, and you need the Macrium Rescue CD Boot Repair option
(assuming the disk has something that will be booting.

When you Drag and Drop clone, you can change the size
of each partition. The whole process becomes a lot
closer to being "Partition Management".

Any time you do something to change the Partition Number,
that breaks all sorts of stuff with regard to the
system partitions (if present). If the clone in this case
involved just Data partitions, then it's quite safe to
toss them like that.

Paul
--- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: alt.comp.os.windows-10

Paul in Houston TX wrote on 1/6/2026 8:55 PM:

My main windows machine two drives are cloned monthly.
There are 3 essential partitions that MUST be cloned:
1)-a Unformatted Primary, (no name) (none), 128.0 MB.
2)-a FAT32 (LBA) Primary, NO NAME (none), 100.0 MB.
3)-a 980 (C:) NTFS Primary, 465.54 GB.

The clone's first two partition names are the same as above.
The 3rd partition is named 980 (D:) NTFS Primary, 465.54 GB since it is
not the active drive.-a If I booted from that drive then it would be named C:.
The other machines are similar.

#1, the Unformatted primary(128 MB) is the MSR partition
#2, the FAT32 LBA primary(100 MB) is the System(EFI)
#3 Windows


The usual setup for a GPT disk partition order is:
#1 System/EFI (100 MB)
#2 MSR (16 MB, 128 MB for large disks)
#3 Windows
#4 Windows Recovery

Was this an:
OEM device setup?
-(OEM deployments often use a diskpart script file to place MSR as the
first partition rather than the GPT recommended guideline/location after
the System/EFI partition)
or
User Clean Install(using Media Creation Tool media or iso)?
- There have been reports of the MCT or MCT ISO placing the MSR as the
first partition.

Note: Variation exists in the OEM deployments where the MSR partition is located in the GPT guideline/location(i.e. after the System/EFI and
before Windows)
--
...w-i|#-o-#-n|#
--- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: alt.comp.os.windows-10

...w-i|#-o-#-n|# wrote:

Paul in Houston TX wrote on 1/6/2026 8:55 PM:

My main windows machine two drives are cloned monthly.
There are 3 essential partitions that MUST be cloned:
1)-a Unformatted Primary, (no name) (none), 128.0 MB.
2)-a FAT32 (LBA) Primary, NO NAME (none), 100.0 MB.
3)-a 980 (C:) NTFS Primary, 465.54 GB.

The clone's first two partition names are the same as above.
The 3rd partition is named 980 (D:) NTFS Primary, 465.54 GB since it
is not the active drive.-a If I booted from that drive then it would be
named C:.
The other machines are similar.

#1, the Unformatted primary(128 MB) is the MSR partition
#2, the FAT32 LBA primary(100 MB) is the System(EFI)
#3-a Windows

-aThe usual setup for a GPT disk partition order is:
#1 System/EFI (100 MB)
#2 MSR (16 MB, 128 MB for large disks)
#3 Windows
#4 Windows Recovery

Was this an:
OEM device setup?
-a-(OEM deployments often use a diskpart script file to place MSR as the first partition rather than the GPT recommended guideline/location after
the System/EFI partition)
or
User Clean Install(using Media Creation Tool media or iso)?
-a- There have been reports of the MCT or MCT ISO placing the MSR as the first partition.

Note: Variation exists in the OEM deployments where the MSR partition is located in the GPT guideline/location(i.e. after the System/EFI and
before Windows)

I'm not sure what the OP actually did but have the feeling that he
cloned only the C (windows) part and not the others. Hard to figure out
from what he wrote.
--- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: alt.comp.os.windows-10

Paul in Houston TX wrote on 1/8/2026 6:03 PM:

...w-i|#-o-#-n|#a wrote:

Paul in Houston TX wrote on 1/6/2026 8:55 PM:

My main windows machine two drives are cloned monthly.
There are 3 essential partitions that MUST be cloned:
1)-a Unformatted Primary, (no name) (none), 128.0 MB.
2)-a FAT32 (LBA) Primary, NO NAME (none), 100.0 MB.
3)-a 980 (C:) NTFS Primary, 465.54 GB.

The clone's first two partition names are the same as above.
The 3rd partition is named 980 (D:) NTFS Primary, 465.54 GB since it
is not the active drive.-a If I booted from that drive then it would
be named C:.
The other machines are similar.

#1, the Unformatted primary(128 MB) is the MSR partition
#2, the FAT32 LBA primary(100 MB) is the System(EFI)
#3-a Windows


a-aThe usual setup for a GPT disk partition order is:
#1 System/EFI (100 MB)
#2 MSR (16 MB, 128 MB for large disks)
#3 Windows
#4 Windows Recovery

Was this an:
OEM device setup?
a-a-(OEM deployments often use a diskpart script file to place MSR as
the first partition rather than the GPT recommended guideline/location
after the System/EFI partition)
or
User Clean Install(using Media Creation Tool media or iso)?
a-a- There have been reports of the MCT or MCT ISO placing the MSR as
the first partition.

Note: Variation exists in the OEM deployments where the MSR partition
is located in the GPT guideline/location(i.e. after the System/EFI and
before Windows)

I'm not sure what the OP actually did but have the feeling that he
cloned only the C (windows) part and not the others.a Hard to figure out from what he wrote.

?
I thought he used samsung magician (several times), rejecting any other solution.

Probably not worth wasting any more of your time.




--- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: alt.comp.os.windows-10

On Thu, 1/8/2026 9:58 PM, Hank Rogers wrote:

Paul in Houston TX wrote on 1/8/2026 6:03 PM:

...w-i|#-o-#-n|#a wrote:

Paul in Houston TX wrote on 1/6/2026 8:55 PM:

My main windows machine two drives are cloned monthly.
There are 3 essential partitions that MUST be cloned:
1)-a Unformatted Primary, (no name) (none), 128.0 MB.
2)-a FAT32 (LBA) Primary, NO NAME (none), 100.0 MB.
3)-a 980 (C:) NTFS Primary, 465.54 GB.

The clone's first two partition names are the same as above.
The 3rd partition is named 980 (D:) NTFS Primary, 465.54 GB since it is not the active drive.-a If I booted from that drive then it would be named C:.
The other machines are similar.

#1, the Unformatted primary(128 MB) is the MSR partition
#2, the FAT32 LBA primary(100 MB) is the System(EFI)
#3-a Windows


a-aThe usual setup for a GPT disk partition order is:
#1 System/EFI (100 MB)
#2 MSR (16 MB, 128 MB for large disks)
#3 Windows
#4 Windows Recovery

Was this an:
OEM device setup?
a-a-(OEM deployments often use a diskpart script file to place MSR as the first partition rather than the GPT recommended guideline/location after the System/EFI partition)
or
User Clean Install(using Media Creation Tool media or iso)?
a-a- There have been reports of the MCT or MCT ISO placing the MSR as the first partition.

Note: Variation exists in the OEM deployments where the MSR partition is located in the GPT guideline/location(i.e. after the System/EFI and before Windows)

I'm not sure what the OP actually did but have the feeling that he cloned only the C (windows) part and not the others.a Hard to figure out from what he wrote.

?
I thought he used samsung magician (several times), rejecting any other solution.

Probably not worth wasting any more of your time.

He'll figure it out.

Disk Management is in the Right-Click of Start, for a look.

And he can ask questions, via presenting a drawing.

ESP MicrosoftReserved W10Home SystemReserved
100MB 16MB 116.36GB ~1GB or less

TICK TICK TICK TICK

or perhaps

W10Home SystemReserved
116.36GB ~1GB or less

TICK TICK

Paul
--- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: alt.comp.os.windows-10

Paul wrote on 1/9/2026 4:59 AM:

On Thu, 1/8/2026 9:58 PM, Hank Rogers wrote:

Paul in Houston TX wrote on 1/8/2026 6:03 PM:

...w-i|#-o-#-n|#a wrote:

Paul in Houston TX wrote on 1/6/2026 8:55 PM:

My main windows machine two drives are cloned monthly.
There are 3 essential partitions that MUST be cloned:
1)-a Unformatted Primary, (no name) (none), 128.0 MB.
2)-a FAT32 (LBA) Primary, NO NAME (none), 100.0 MB.
3)-a 980 (C:) NTFS Primary, 465.54 GB.

The clone's first two partition names are the same as above.
The 3rd partition is named 980 (D:) NTFS Primary, 465.54 GB since it is not the active drive.-a If I booted from that drive then it would be named C:.
The other machines are similar.

#1, the Unformatted primary(128 MB) is the MSR partition
#2, the FAT32 LBA primary(100 MB) is the System(EFI)
#3-a Windows


a-aThe usual setup for a GPT disk partition order is:
#1 System/EFI (100 MB)
#2 MSR (16 MB, 128 MB for large disks)
#3 Windows
#4 Windows Recovery

Was this an:
OEM device setup?
a-a-(OEM deployments often use a diskpart script file to place MSR as the first partition rather than the GPT recommended guideline/location after the System/EFI partition)
or
User Clean Install(using Media Creation Tool media or iso)?
a-a- There have been reports of the MCT or MCT ISO placing the MSR as the first partition.

Note: Variation exists in the OEM deployments where the MSR partition is located in the GPT guideline/location(i.e. after the System/EFI and before Windows)

I'm not sure what the OP actually did but have the feeling that he cloned only the C (windows) part and not the others.a Hard to figure out from what he wrote.

?
I thought he used samsung magician (several times), rejecting any other solution.

Probably not worth wasting any more of your time.

He'll figure it out.

Paul

I doubt it. He will probably stay focused on samsung magician the rest
of his days on earth.

I gave up.



--- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: alt.comp.os.windows-10

On 1/6/2026 10:30 PM, Brian Gregory wrote:

OK, here's my update:
I downloaded Macrium Reflect and used that, because several people
recommended Macrium. I have now cloned all of my Drive C: onto the
Samsung SSD.
Back when I was still trying to get Samsung Magician to work,
something I read said just shut down and swap drives and Windows
should boot right up from the new drive.
Both drives are already in the computer so, while it was shut down, I
unhooked the old hard drive and started it up. I didn't really expect
it to be that easy and of course it wasn't. As it tried to start up,
it listed my DVD drive (E:), followed by the SSD (J:). Then it moved
on to a screen that was blank except for a dash line in the upper left
corner.
I plugged the old drive back in and waited for it to slowly start up
so I could get back here again.
I notice in File Explorer the drives listed are...
(C:)
Factory image (D:) (Which is probably a copy of Windows 7) (I did not
clone (D:) onto the new SSD.) It's on the old drive as a partition.
DVD RW E:
System (J:)-a (J:) I had labeled as SSD (J:) before something changed
it. "This folder is empty" comes up when I click it.
(K:) It shows the same list of files as when I click (C:). Why is that?

How did it get the J: letter?

It should not have any partitions on it before cloning therefore it
should not have had any drive letters.

Back when I was still trying to use Samsung Magician, people suggested I probably needed to format the new drive and assign a drive letter. When
I did that, I didn't choose J:, it just showed up that way.
--- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: alt.comp.os.windows-10

On 1/8/2026 7:03 PM, Paul in Houston TX wrote:

...w-i|#-o-#-n|#-a wrote:

Paul in Houston TX wrote on 1/6/2026 8:55 PM:

My main windows machine two drives are cloned monthly.
There are 3 essential partitions that MUST be cloned:
1)-a Unformatted Primary, (no name) (none), 128.0 MB.
2)-a FAT32 (LBA) Primary, NO NAME (none), 100.0 MB.
3)-a 980 (C:) NTFS Primary, 465.54 GB.

The clone's first two partition names are the same as above.
The 3rd partition is named 980 (D:) NTFS Primary, 465.54 GB since it
is not the active drive.-a If I booted from that drive then it would
be named C:.
The other machines are similar.

#1, the Unformatted primary(128 MB) is the MSR partition
#2, the FAT32 LBA primary(100 MB) is the System(EFI)
#3-a Windows


-a-aThe usual setup for a GPT disk partition order is:
#1 System/EFI (100 MB)
#2 MSR (16 MB, 128 MB for large disks)
#3 Windows
#4 Windows Recovery

Was this an:
OEM device setup?
-a-a-(OEM deployments often use a diskpart script file to place MSR as
the first partition rather than the GPT recommended guideline/location
after the System/EFI partition)
or
User Clean Install(using Media Creation Tool media or iso)?
-a-a- There have been reports of the MCT or MCT ISO placing the MSR as
the first partition.

Note: Variation exists in the OEM deployments where the MSR partition
is located in the GPT guideline/location(i.e. after the System/EFI and
before Windows)

I'm not sure what the OP actually did but have the feeling that he
cloned only the C (windows) part and not the others.-a Hard to figure out from what he wrote.

I used the drag and drop method and moved everything Macrium showed in
the original hard drive.
--- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: alt.comp.os.windows-10

On 1/8/2026 9:58 PM, Hank Rogers wrote:

Paul in Houston TX wrote on 1/8/2026 6:03 PM:

...w|e-i|a-#|e-o|e-#|e-n|a-#-a wrote:

Paul in Houston TX wrote on 1/6/2026 8:55 PM:

My main windows machine two drives are cloned monthly.
There are 3 essential partitions that MUST be cloned:
1)|e-a Unformatted Primary, (no name) (none), 128.0 MB.
2)|e-a FAT32 (LBA) Primary, NO NAME (none), 100.0 MB.
3)|e-a 980 (C:) NTFS Primary, 465.54 GB.

The clone's first two partition names are the same as above.
The 3rd partition is named 980 (D:) NTFS Primary, 465.54 GB since it
is not the active drive.|e-a If I booted from that drive then it would >>>> be named C:.
The other machines are similar.

#1, the Unformatted primary(128 MB) is the MSR partition
#2, the FAT32 LBA primary(100 MB) is the System(EFI)
#3|e-a Windows


-a|e-aThe usual setup for a GPT disk partition order is:
#1 System/EFI (100 MB)
#2 MSR (16 MB, 128 MB for large disks)
#3 Windows
#4 Windows Recovery

Was this an:
OEM device setup?
-a|e-a-(OEM deployments often use a diskpart script file to place MSR as >>> the first partition rather than the GPT recommended guideline/
location after the System/EFI partition)
or
User Clean Install(using Media Creation Tool media or iso)?
-a|e-a- There have been reports of the MCT or MCT ISO placing the MSR as >>> the first partition.

Note: Variation exists in the OEM deployments where the MSR partition
is located in the GPT guideline/location(i.e. after the System/EFI
and before Windows)

I'm not sure what the OP actually did but have the feeling that he
cloned only the C (windows) part and not the others.-a Hard to figure
out from what he wrote.

?
I thought he used samsung magician (several times), rejecting any other solution.

Probably not worth wasting any more of your time.

Not true.
--- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: alt.comp.os.windows-10

On 1/6/2026 8:23 PM, Steve wrote:

On 1/4/2026 4:47 PM, Steve wrote:

The holidays are over and I should have time to continue the project I
was working on 2 weeks ago.

I'm trying to switch to my new Samsung 870 EVO SATA 2.5 inch drive.
The paper in the box said to use Samsung Magician to clone the data.
I'm starting to believe that it doesn't work with a SATA drive!

People suggested I use a different cloning tool. I dismissed that idea
because, certainly, Samsung Magician would work after I got my
computer to recognize the new drive. Well I did that. It's now showing
on File Explorer as drive (J:) and I have formatted it. I tested it by
copying a file with several pictures inside to (J:). It went right in
and the pictures opened just fine. I formatted again to empty it.

I looked at you tube videos about using Samsung Magician. They all
showed a ssd that did not look like my SATA drive.-a Samsung Magician
seems to have 2 ways to get to "Data Migration". One way pops up a
message that the drive isn't compatible. I originally feared that it
was warning me that the new drive wasn't compatible with my computer.
Going in the other way, it shows my C: drive as the source drive but
it prompts me to connect the Samsung SSD. It doesn't see it even
though it IS there and it works.

What cloning software is going to work with my SATA SSD?

OK, here's my update:
I downloaded Macrium Reflect and used that, because several people recommended Macrium. I have now cloned all of my Drive C: onto the
Samsung SSD.
Back when I was still trying to get Samsung Magician to work, something
I read said just shut down and swap drives and Windows should boot right
up from the new drive.
Both drives are already in the computer so, while it was shut down, I unhooked the old hard drive and started it up. I didn't really expect it
to be that easy and of course it wasn't. As it tried to start up, it
listed my DVD drive (E:), followed by the SSD (J:). Then it moved on to
a screen that was blank except for a dash line in the upper left corner.
I plugged the old drive back in and waited for it to slowly start up so
I could get back here again.
I notice in File Explorer the drives listed are...
(C:)
Factory image (D:) (Which is probably a copy of Windows 7) (I did not
clone (D:) onto the new SSD.) It's on the old drive as a partition.
DVD RW E:
System (J:)-a (J:) I had labeled as SSD (J:) before something changed it. "This folder is empty" comes up when I click it.
(K:) It shows the same list of files as when I click (C:). Why is that?

I needed to take a few days off. I found myself (just one day) waking up
at 4 AM thinking about this and then not being able to get back to
sleep. I just started to reply to a few of your comments this morning.
Here's the thing... when this computer was still pretty new, the
original hard drive started making some different noises. I feared it
might fail and got advice on what was a very dependable new hard drive.
I settled on the Western Digital drive that I have been using for maybe
12 years now.
I bought that drive and transferred everything over and took out the
original drive. After all this time, I don't remember how I did it but
it was super easy.
I fully expected that switching over to the new SSD would also be super
easy. Obviously that has not been the case.
I'm not giving up. There are still more things I can try.

--- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: alt.comp.os.windows-10

On Sat, 1/10/2026 9:19 AM, Steve wrote:

On 1/6/2026 10:30 PM, Brian Gregory wrote:

OK, here's my update:
I downloaded Macrium Reflect and used that, because several people recommended Macrium. I have now cloned all of my Drive C: onto the Samsung SSD.
Back when I was still trying to get Samsung Magician to work, something I read said just shut down and swap drives and Windows should boot right up from the new drive.
Both drives are already in the computer so, while it was shut down, I unhooked the old hard drive and started it up. I didn't really expect it to be that easy and of course it wasn't. As it tried to start up, it listed my DVD drive (E:), followed by the SSD (J:). Then it moved on to a screen that was blank except for a dash line in the upper left corner.
I plugged the old drive back in and waited for it to slowly start up so I could get back here again.
I notice in File Explorer the drives listed are...
(C:)
Factory image (D:) (Which is probably a copy of Windows 7) (I did not clone (D:) onto the new SSD.) It's on the old drive as a partition.
DVD RW E:
System (J:)-a (J:) I had labeled as SSD (J:) before something changed it. "This folder is empty" comes up when I click it.
(K:) It shows the same list of files as when I click (C:). Why is that?

How did it get the J: letter?

It should not have any partitions on it before cloning therefore it should not have had any drive letters.

Back when I was still trying to use Samsung Magician, people suggested
I probably needed to format the new drive and assign a drive letter.
When I did that, I didn't choose J:, it just showed up that way.

Via automation, letters are automatically assigned for storage devices.
Once the partition is recognized, usually a letter like J: will appear on
its own.

But, this does not always happen. Sometimes, perfectly good looking partitions, no partitions on a drive receive letters in Disk Management, and then in
File Explorer there is no way to access any partitions on the new disk.

+-----+ +--------+--------+--------+
| Box | | A: | B: | C: | The "Box" is the whole-device-level control box.
+-----+ +--------+--------+--------+
+-----+ +--------+--------+--------+
| Box | | (Nope) | (Nope) | (Nope) | <=== can't see in File Explorer as letters
+-----+ +--------+--------+--------+

With USB devices and a declaration in the config space that they are
a "removable device", Windows choose to only mount the first Windows partition it finds and it can ignore the rest. There was a claim this was fixed in W10/W11,
but again, I'm not sure that is always the case. USB boot sticks intended for Linux,
maybe the ESP mounts and all other partitions are ignored. I even had a USB stick, that only had an ESP show up as a partition, and the partition with
the boot materials was completely invisible! That was a new one on me, as when the partition table has valid entries, Windows always draws boxes in Disk Management, even if the partition cannot be mounted. Notice how in the above drawing, Windows is refusing to complete the automation steps, but it STILL drew the boxes around the stuff it refuses to touch.

The summary of this is:

1) When you plug in media you did not prepare yourself, items of
substantial mystery-meat state, you *always* check in Disk Management first.
Examine the device to see what corner-case it is triggering...

2) Assign drive letters if the stupid thing refuses to work.
The Nopes above can be turned into drive letters.
If a partition is Linux EXT4 and no IFS driver software is present,
no letter or attempt to mount, is possible for that partition.

3) The left-most box in the Disk Management row, contains an "Offline"/"Online"
control. If you set a disk to "Offline" state, all the partitions are
unmounted. A user may do this for safety reasons (to stop the next program
they run, from reading or writing that disk drive). And the feature is
persistent. A drive set "Offline" in one session, is "Offline" on the
next boot, and you open Disk Management and put it "Online" again.

diskmgmt.msc (Disk Management) is your friend.

The command line equivalent of Disk Management is "diskpart.exe".

File explorer ("explorer.exe) is then the convenience station
once all your hardware is "settled" and any questions about
mystery-meat have been answered by Disk Management.

*******

If you have been given an unelevated account at work, this
can put a crimp in your style with regard to disks. A number of
work situations do not allow USB sticks, not at all, and then
the issue of needing an elevated account to do stuff... is
solved for you.

When you set up Windows at home, the first account is elevated,
and that's what gives the permissions to "do everything". DO NOT
delete the account with the elevation, or you will be very sorry :-)
There used to be hacks to let you back in, but a number of those
were closed by Microsoft in recent years. You need to keep at
least ONE elevated account in an operational state, in order
to be able to do what is needed.

While the computer has an actual Administrator account, it is
not enabled by default, and instead the first-account-user
is a "member of the Administrator group" which achieves the
same result. That's the situation for home users. That's why you
can do things to disk drives. When you are at work, the machine
is joined to a Domain, and IT rules your life and you can't do anything.

One of the guys at my work got promoted to entry level manager.
And he was a "nothing gets in MY way" kind of guy :-) So one
evening, he is miffed that a workstation move with IT is
taking so long (it's scheduled). We try to explain to him
how everything in the building has shackles on it, but he
doesn't believe it. So we take a trolley, put the computer
on it, and walk to another area to attempt to plug it in.
And of course nothing works, there are MAC filters on the
router box and so on. Computer goes back on cart and back
to origin. Even when you're a "nothing gets in MY way" guy,
yes, IT will get in your way. We even tested this. And yes,
the experiments prove IT are in control. This is roughly
the equivalent of launching a steam powered rocket with you
inside it, in an attempt to prove the Earth is flat. One
of the reasons we hung out with the guy, was to watch
an unstoppable force, meet an immovable object.

Paul
--- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: alt.comp.os.windows-10

On Sat, 1/10/2026 9:50 AM, Steve wrote:

I needed to take a few days off. I found myself (just one day) waking up at 4 AM
thinking about this and then not being able to get back to sleep. I just started to
reply to a few of your comments this morning.

Here's the thing... when this computer was still pretty new, the original hard drive
started making some different noises. I feared it might fail and got advice on what
was a very dependable new hard drive. I settled on the Western Digital drive that
I have been using for maybe 12 years now.

I bought that drive and transferred everything over and took out the original drive.

After all this time, I don't remember how I did it but it was super easy.
I fully expected that switching over to the new SSD would also be super easy.

Obviously that has not been the case.
I'm not giving up. There are still more things I can try.

Early on in the life of your PC, you used a Factory Restore
of some sort, to unpack a fresh OS onto the disk. Perhaps
you were clever, and even used the "three DVD set" they make
you burn, which does the Factory Restore on anything. It is
my guess, that's how you did the "easy put-something-on-disk",
but you still needed to move your files across. That does not
count as cloning. But it does give a working OS.

I used the drag and drop method and moved everything Macrium showed in the original hard drive.

You picked the hard way. Good as a learning exercise.
Not good for sleeping at 4AM.

*******

Samsung Magician: Carry out the steps, tell it to copy C: (which is already in the menu and
cannot be prevented from being copied). I tested it. It is actually doing
the WBAdmin.exe algo for "copying ALL critical things". The GUI lies about
what it is copying. It copies everything needed to make bootable media.
I tested my clone (cloned a 256GB SSD to a 1TB SSD) and the target disk booted.

Macrium Reflect Clone: Drag and Drop style.
[HARDEST METHOD] This typically results in boot failure, and can be fixed with the
Macrium Reflect Rescue CD (prepared inside the tool you installed on C: ).

Macrium Reflect Clone: The "dont-interfere-with-the-tool" method.
The Macrium Reflect "Backup: Backup Windows" option, shows you the
tick boxes for a Critical Items operation. You can cancel out of there
and tick the *same* partitions while doing the "hands off clone".

You picked the hardest method.

Paul
--- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: alt.comp.os.windows-10

In alt.comp.os.windows-10, on Sun, 4 Jan 2026 21:53:16 -0500, Steve <tlswilso@aol.com> wrote:

On 1/4/2026 7:58 PM, Jeff Barnett wrote:

On 1/4/2026 3:20 PM, Roger Mills wrote:

On 04/01/2026 21:47, Steve wrote:

The holidays are over and I should have time to continue the project
I was working on 2 weeks ago.

...

Have you installed the SATA SSD inside the computer alongside the
existing drive? If so, that could be the problem. I have a feeling
that Magician expects the SSD to be an external drive, mounted in a
suitable enclosure and connected by USB3. That's certainly what
happened when I replaced a rotating drive with an SSD in a laptop a
few years ago. That worked fine. That was the only option in my case
because the laptop couldn't accommodate more than one internal drive
at a time.

Maybe worth a try?

I think you are correct. The OP should consider buying a cheap SSD caddy
with SATA connections that will plug into a USB 3 port. I've used
Samsung software a few times to clone a live C disk to an SSD in a caddy
and its all went smoothly. (Live means that windows was running normally
while the clone was in progress.)

Thanks. I'll look into buying something if I don't find a way to do it, >where it is, real soon. This all makes sense and explains why Samsung >Magician can see the drive but still prompts me to connect the SSD.

You don't necessarily need an enclosure (or a caddy?). I would think a
dock or double dock would also work fine, and what I've been using is https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09J8HKMJP which takes up less space. The 12v
power adapte is not needed for SSD's or 2" spinner drives, only for 5
1/4.

P&M
--- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2