good cloning software takes care of all of those issues.
there’s quite a few free ones, but i’ve always used Acronis True Image, and it’s never failed me. cloning is actually kind of complicated, so i prefer a professional piece of software to do it, rather than freebees.
generally, you’ll want to install Acronis True Image (https://www.acronis.com/en-us/personal/computer-backup/) and make a standalone bootable CD and then uninstall Acronis True Image, because ATI is a gigantic piece of bloatware if you leave it. You might be able to get away with the 30-day free version if it’ll let you make the bootable CD ...
you’ll also need a USB-SATA adapter cable: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01E4VHSYG/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1
you’ll first want to format the new drive using the adapter cable as an NTFS partition before you do anything else. use the Disk Manager’s defaults.
leave the formatted disk plugged in, insert the bootable ATI CD and boot your PC from the CD ... different models have different ways of doing that
once standalone ATI is running, go to utilities section and start the clone function ... whatever you do, DO not use the Automatic Cloning method: it will destroy your original drive ... instead, use only Manual cloning mode.
You SHOULD see two drives in the list when you do that: your original drive and the new USB one ... the new one will be empty and the original will have data in it ... select the original drive as the source drive ... then select the new drive as the destination drive ... be triply CERTAIN you get this part right or you’ll destroy your original drive!!!
next step is to select the cloning method. For a novice, it’s best to the select Proportional method, though this will waste a bit of the new drive by unnecessarily slightly expanding any of the other partitions (like the restore partition and the diagnostics partition) that might be on the original drive
at this point, you’re ready to start the clone operation. this can take quite a while ... make sure your PC is plugged into to a power source
when the clone is done, shutdown the PC and unplug the cloned drive
at this point, swap the cloned drive for the original one ... if you have a desktop, you’ll need to buy a mechanical adapter because desktops used 3.5” drives, and SSDs come only in the 2.5” laptop form factor ...
after swapping, your PC SHOULD boot up and all will be well ...
Thank you for the great detailed instructions. I know it’s an easy thing to completely screw up lol, and I could do just that. The details are great. Appreciate it!