Oh, boy, I have a lot of people to thank! Great discussion!!
I’ll be shutting down momentarily to do the clone job, and, I’ll unplug that data drive when the power is off “just in case”. It’s backed up, but, who needs the hassle...
My new PCIe card to give me a couple rear USB 3.2 gen2 ports, and my 100/1000 Ethernet switch got here an hour ago too.
It’s a three’fer! :-)
Woo-hoo!!
The cloning process went well, and everything works fine, including my new switch & network organization: That was basically just putting the new 100/1000 switch ahead of my router, which has 10/100 Ethernet ports, so now all the “quick” stuff communicates to each other directly via the switch and is not limited by the router. The new USB 3.2 gen2 PCIe card seems to be working fine, and, my USB 3.2 gen2 hub* connected to it now finally working off a worthy port.
*Purchased a while back.
Negatives:
Because I’d disconnected the (E:) data drive, when I added it back in, it became the “G:” drive. So, I’ll have to be a little careful until I get used to that, about where I’m saving data. Windows seems to have “lost” a couple of the apps like Irfan View, due to the path change, I assume. (I can still run it, but I have to do so manually.) So, I need to correct that. “Downloads” (which I’d moved to the data drive also had to be retargeted.) (done)
I’m getting low on SATA power cables. The USB PCIe card needed SATA power too. All those “Y’s”are a bit messy. Maybe somebody has inexpensive. 3-way or 4-way “Y” SATA power cables. Time for a web search. :-)
The USB C port on the USB 3.2 gen 2 PCIe card is placed so close to the edge of the bracket, the computer case slightly interferes with the USB C plug from the hub. I had to cut away a bit of the soft plastic the metal part of the plug fits into.
The power supply for the fast Ethernet switch had under 2 ft. of cord! I had to dig up a 6’ extension cord (needing less than half that) to extend to the wal wart (supply). Later I’ll just splice in some 18-2 zip cord - I have almost 2000 ft. of the stuff. (eye roll!)
Too many cords! I spent a good half hour straightening them out & better organizing them, labelling some, re-labelling others... At my computer desk I have 3 desktop machines, 3 monitors, 2 printers, by the left side 2 more desktop machines, 2 sets of speakers, 3 keyboards (1 wireless), 2 Ethernet switches plus the router, a scanner, 2 speakers and a subwoofer, and in a separate cabinet on the right several battery chargers for rechargeable AA - D batteries are set up. Plus an old desk style “web office phone” from a former consulting job. I should just pull that out!
Those are mostly minor nits: All the potential serious trouble spots turned out to be nil. :-)