Transfer Disk image and licensing issue?

[Jon12345]

I have a SSD drive that is only 128gb and I keep running out of space on it. I would like to upgrade to 256gb. Can I do a drive image or something and copy it all across to the larger drive? Will this affect my Windows license, if perhaps they link the license to a hard drive?

Thanks,

Jon

 

[Golden]

Yes, it's perfectly fine to do that - there won't be licence issues. I suggest using Macrium Reflect for the task : search our Tutorial section for a tutorial on Macrium Reflect imaging.

 

[Jon12345]

Ah, that is great news, thanks! Would using the free version of Macrium Reflect be ok? Would I need to re-enter my Windows licensing info? No idea where it is, so would save a lot of hunting if I don't have to bother.

 

[Golden]

The free version will work fine. I've done the same thing twice before (64GB to 128GB to 256GB SSD) and never needed to re - authenticate the installation.

 

[Jon12345]

Fabulous. Thanks for that. I am happy again!

 

[BJB]

You will have to decide whether to clone the drive or to image it. To clone it you need to have both drives connected and you will get an exact, sector by sector copy. Alternatively, if it's not possible to connect both drives, you can image the existing drive, storing the image file on an external drive. Then swap the SSDs and boot to the Macrium Reflect Rescue CD. You can then restore the image to the new drive. Both methods work, though imaging does not give you an exact copy as the imaging process discards some non-essential stuff.

 

[SIW2]

You could just copy it. A decent partition manager will do the copying. Paragon and Pwiz work fine for that.
I am not using the free versions, but they probably do the same.
Haven't tested aomei part assist to check if it updates bcd, but the previously mentioned two work fine.