How to expand C drive on Windows 11 PC. Copy SSD to enlarge and reassign partition / How to use Macrium Reflect Home
If your computer's C drive is running out of space, copy it to a large-capacity SSD and replace it. You can easily copy an entire hard disk or SSD to another disk using Macrium Reflect Home, a software that can back up and clone disks. You can also rearrange and resize each partition.How to expand drive capacity / Clone (copy) and replace
If your hard disk or SSD is running low on capacity, you can clone (copy) it to a larger capacity disk and replace it. You can even expand the capacity of your C drive, which is the Windows startup drive, by cloning and replacing it. Once the cloning is complete, you can continue using Windows as before by simply replacing the SSD.Time it takes to clone (copy)
The time it takes to clone (copy) depends on the amount of data to be copied and the access speeds of the source and destination disks. In my tests, it took about two hours to copy a 2TB SSD (about 1.5TB of data) to a 3TB hard disk, and about five hours to copy it to a 4TB SSD.
SSDs in particular take a long time to write to, and writing large amounts of data can cause degradation due to heat generation. To avoid mistakes and rework, and to verify the procedure, we recommend testing the procedure on a blank hard disk before making the actual copy.
What is Macrium Reflect Home?
Macrium Reflect Home is a software developed by Macrium Software that can back up and restore disks on Windows computers. It is a highly functional software that can automatically take backups according to a schedule and restore in the event of a crash.One of the many features it has is the ability to clone (copy) a disk. You can even copy the entire Windows boot drive. Even if you have created multiple partitions (drives) on a single hard disk or SSD, you can rearrange the layout of each partition or make detailed changes to their capacity before copying them.
Macrium Reflect Home is a paid software that costs USD 49.99 per year or USD 79.99 for a one-time payment, but a 30-day free trial is available. I think the free trial is sufficient for many users. It's an excellent software, so it's worth purchasing, but it's a bit expensive for just cloning a disk. It would be nice if they offered a cheaper software that focuses on the cloning function...
Preparing the New SSD Drive
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You will also need to prepare a USB-connected SSD enclosure (case) to house the destination SSD during copying. The speed specifications of the USB you connect are important. If your computer has a USB 4.0 port, you will be able to copy faster if you use an SSD enclosure that is also compatible with USB 4.0.
The disk prepared this time is a Samsung 990 PRO 4TB (Amazon.com) with 2280/single-sided/M Key/NVMe, and the SSD enclosure is the UGREEN M.2 SSD Case 15976-40GB (Amazon.com) which is compatible with USB 4.0.
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Samsung 990 PRO 4TB PCIe Gen 4.0 x4 NVMe M.2 (2280) SSD MZ-V9P4T0B-IT
Samsung 2023-10-31 USD299.99
Consider this a cheat code; Our Samsung 990 PRO Gen4 SSD helps you reach near max performance* with lightning-fast speeds; Whether you’re a hardcore gamer or a tech guru, you’ll get power efficiency built for the final boss
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UGREEN 40Gbps M.2 NVMe Enclosure with Cooling Fan
Ugreen Group Limited USD129.99
This NVME Enclosure features UGREEN Exclusive Triple Heat Dissipation Mechanism. The pure aluminum alloy casing provides excellent heat conductivity, while the silicone thermal pad absorbs and disperses the heat generated by the hard drive. The high-speed cooling fan accelerates the heat dissipation process, effectively reducing the hard drive temperature and improving its stability and reliability
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Macrium Software Registration and Downloads
To use Macrium Reflect Home, even for the free trial, you will need to register as a user. All you need to register is your name, email address, and password.![PC](gif/lazy_dummy.gif)
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Please enter a password that satisfies the conditions written below the input area. In other words, it must be at least seven characters long and contain at least one uppercase letter, lowercase letter, symbol, and number.
Turning on "Account Security - 2FA" will enable two-factor authentication. When logging in, you will need to enter a verification code sent to you by email. If you are only using the free trial, you can leave it off.
If you select "Yes" in the radio button below, you will receive Macrium Software newsletters. Choose whichever you prefer.
Once you have finished entering the information, click the "Register" button.
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Installing Macrium Reflect Home
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Clone C drive SSD
This section explains the procedure for cloning an SSD that includes a C drive with Windows installed. In this example, the source disk is a 2TB SSD. Only 300GB is allocated to the C drive, with approximately 1.5TB of the remaining capacity going to the D drive, and the rest being the system area, recovery area, etc. To copy this to a new SSD, I will expand the C drive to approximately 1TB and add the remainder to the D drive.![PC](gif/lazy_dummy.gif)
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Analysis of the disks connected to your computer will begin, and after a while you will see the screen shown on the right. A list of the disks connected to your computer is displayed.
By default, the top disk in the list is selected. Beneath the selected disk is a menu that reads "Clone this disk."
The disk we will be cloning this time is the second disk which contains the C drive, so click on that icon.
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Move the No.5:Recovery partition, which is at the far right (back), to the very back of the disk. Click on the Recovery partition, then click "Float Right" from the icons at the top.
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Next, we will expand the space of the D drive (No. 4). Click on the No. 4 partition and then click "Layout" from the icons at the top.
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Finally, Enlarge the No.3:C drive partition. Click the C drive partition to select it and click "Fill Space" from the icon above.
"Fill Space" will expand the selected partition to fill the entire free space.
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This message appears even if the source disk does not contain a partition encrypted with BitLocker.
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Since we will not set a schedule, click "Next" at the bottom right of the screen.
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This message will appear even if the destination disk contains empty partitions. It will not appear if the destination disk is a brand new, unallocated disk.
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The disc will become very hot during copying. To prevent deterioration of the disc, use a small fan or similar to cool your computer and the destination disc.
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Copying is now complete. Turn off the computer and replace the source disk with the destination disk.
Switching the display language
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Useful related pages for Macrium Reflect Home
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