New
#880
I don't why people insist on going about this the hard way. Cloning, using Macrium Reflect Free, is a simple, one step process that has never failed me when transferring an HDD with the OS installed on it to an SSD. It also works just fine when transferring from an HDD to another HDD. This the way I do it.
1. Put the new drive (SSD or HDD) into a USB dock and connect it to the computer (if there is room for it, you can temporarily install the new drive inside the computer although there is a bit more work to that).
2. Run Macrium Reflect, setting it to clone the original drive to the one in the dock. You can continue to use the computer during the process or just walk away until the clone is finished.
3. Swap out the original drive with the newly cloned drive and boot up.
4. Correct any partition letters as needed.
5. Use MiniTool Partition Wizard (the free verison works just fine for this) to extend any partitions as needed, if needed.
This way is faster with fewer steps and no intermediary drive is needed to store an image
Although I don't believe it is necessary, it wouldn't hurt to disconnect any other drives until the process is finished. Better safe than sorry.