Problem Migrating 500GB HDD to 240GB SSD (Macrium Reflect says Insufficient Space) but HDD is empty

Brian_Pamo

Hi all
Bit of a long winded post this and the mean reason I have gone into so much detail is so I can learn from you.  I know some may read this and tell me that the obvious answer is to go out and buy an SSD the same or greater size than the source HDD but I will not learn anything that way.  Also, I know that sometime previously that somehow (I've forgotten what I did) I have managed to migrate a larger size HDD to a smaller SSD. 
So, I am upgrading a core i5 PC that I just bought off ebay.  I've already done the RAM and now I move onto the HDD. 

The current HDD is as follows:
WD Blue WD5000AZLX (500GB)

I went out and bought a Sandisk SSD Plus 240GB
Please allow me to point out that I am aware that normally 500GB won't go into 240GB but I know I have somehow managed this before because the actual Data on the source HDD is much smaller than the capacity on the destination SSD.

So I open up Macrium Reflect (FREE EDITION) and the source HDD is specified as follows:
GPT Disk 1 (CA638093-F94B-42EB-B13A-FF5295DCA2A5) - WDC WD5000AZLX-22JKA0 01.01A01  <465.76 GB>
Underneath that label this HDD is split into 4 boxes (I presume are partitions)?

1 - NO NAME (None) FAT 32 (LBA) Primary   26.4MB    100.0MB (I'm guessing that this means that 26.4% of the partition is in use?)
Selecting this drive reveals EFI System Partition 
File System: FAT 32(LBA)
Free Space: 73.6MB
Total Size:100.0MB
Start Sector: 2,048
End Sector: 206,847

2 - (None) Unformatted Primary 16.0 MB    16.0MB (The Blue line is indicating that it is totally full)
Selecting this drive reveals Microsoft reserved partition
File System: Unformatted
Free Space: 0B
Total Size:16.0MB
Start Sector: 206,848
End Sector: 239,615


3 - HP (C:) NTFS Primary 31.36 GB    465.15GB (The Blue line is indicating that a tiny portion is in use)
Selecting this drive reveals HP (D413819B-63BE-4CB7-97E4-4DC8050C872D)
File System: NTFS
Free Space: 433.78 GB
Total Size:465.15 GB
Start Sector: 239,616
End Sector: 975,720,154


4 - (None) NTFS Primary 430.5MB    513.0MB (The Blue line is near the end indicating that the partition is nearly full)
Selecting this drive reveals (1E61EBBF-C30B-4D5D-9574-70972E96952E)
File System: NTFS
Free Space: 82.5 MB
Total Size:513.0 MB
Start Sector: 975,720,448
End Sector: 976,771,071

So, because this was a fresh PC I already know that the current installed 500GB HDD is virtually empty and only has the Win10 OS on it and Macrium etc...Indeed, this is proven when I go to My PC and click on the C: drive properties and the following is displayed:

HP (C:) Properties
Type: Local Disk
File System: NTFS
Used space: 33,676,713,984 bytes (31.3 GB)
Free space: 465,769,320,448 bytes (433GB)
Capacity: 499,446,034,432 bytes

So, here's where I somehow went wrong:
I simply dragged partition 3     3 - HP (C:) NTFS Primary 31.36 GB    465.15GB down from the Source and into the new destination SSD Drive.  Macrium set about copying and completed the copy.  However, when I then swapped the boot drives to boot up from the now SSD all I got was a Black Screen with a White flashing cursor.  Obviously, I've done something wrong.  (I didn't touch the Bios yet because I presume this wouldn't be required when changing from a bulky old SATA HDD to a new slim line SATA SSD)

So, I am looking for 2 things out of this thread. 
Firstly...Education.  I'm looking to learn from you.  Free knowledge etc.  After all, this is a money saving site.  So, please educate me...Why are there 4 partitions here and not just one partition? What exactly are these partitions? Why, would the computer not boot when I copied just the C: drive over because I 'assume' that C: contains all the necessary files etc ?

Secondly...I would like the resolution to the problem.  
Of course, if need be I will just go out and buy a larger SSD but I'd prefer to tinker and sort this myself based on your advice.  I'm guessing there may be a way to shrink partitions before/during copying to the SSD? 
Please take into account that I am using Macrium Reflect FREE version and I am only looking for a free resolution.  It's not that I don't want to spend the money because as I said, if I am forced to fork out for a larger SDD then so be it.
Hope you're all still awake (I wrote this on day 2 of lockdown so I assume you guys may have some spare time to assist).
Thanks in advance all.

Neil_Jones

This will usually be because you're cloning from a bigger drive to a smaller drive which for most cloning programs is a big no no.

You may have to manually specify the size of the main Windows partition, otherwise a direct clone is going to be too big.  I'm not familiar with that program but I'm sure there should be a way to do it.

There are four partitions because that's the way Windows sets it up even on a Windows 10 install disk.  You can't just copy the one partition because in a nutshell it's looking for partitions in a certain order in a specific location.  If you just copy the one that system breaks and Windows doesn't boot.

debitcardmayhem

aeomi backupper std (free) will do big to small clone (assuming you have enough space in your system disk(C)) https://www.aomeitech.com/aomei-backupper.html

Chino

Perhaps try looking/asking here?
Macrium Support Forum

(Knowing nothing, I would have copied partitions 1, 2 and 3 onto the new SSD. Doesn't partition 1 contain the MBR?)

See page 139 onwards of the user guide.

Neil_Jones

Chino said:

Knowing nothing, I would have copied partitions 1, 2 and 3 onto the new SSD. Doesn't partition 1 contain the MBR?)

No, the MBR lives at the start of the drive, the very start before any partitions or anything else.  If you clone an entire drive it will come across with it but it'll still be tied to the layout of the original drive, so unless its exactly the same size as the original drive, it'll need rebuilding.

The MBR is created when a hard drive is partitioned, but it's not located within a partition. This means non-partitioned storage mediums, like floppy disks, don't contain a master boot record.

debitcardmayhem

some cloning software can only do GPT-->GPT or MBR-->MBR

molerat

I used Mini Tool Partition Wizard to clone my 2 360s to 240s with no problems

Brian_Pamo

Chino said:

Perhaps try looking/asking here?
Macrium Support Forum

(Knowing nothing, I would have copied partitions 1, 2 and 3 onto the new SSD. Doesn't partition 1 contain the MBR?)

See page 139 onwards of the user guide.

I did consider that but it’s only available to ‘members’ who have paid. 

HereToday

Brian_Pamo said:

Hi all
Bit of a long winded post this and the mean reason I have gone into so much detail is so I can learn from you.  I know some may read this and tell me that the obvious answer is to go out and buy an SSD the same or greater size than the source HDD but I will not learn anything that way.  Also, I know that sometime previously that somehow (I've forgotten what I did) I have managed to migrate a larger size HDD to a smaller SSD. 
So, I am upgrading a core i5 PC that I just bought off ebay.  I've already done the RAM and now I move onto the HDD. 

The current HDD is as follows:
WD Blue WD5000AZLX (500GB)

I went out and bought a Sandisk SSD Plus 240GB
Please allow me to point out that I am aware that normally 500GB won't go into 240GB but I know I have somehow managed this before because the actual Data on the source HDD is much smaller than the capacity on the destination SSD.

So I open up Macrium Reflect (FREE EDITION) and the source HDD is specified as follows:
GPT Disk 1 (CA638093-F94B-42EB-B13A-FF5295DCA2A5) - WDC WD5000AZLX-22JKA0 01.01A01  <465.76 GB>
Underneath that label this HDD is split into 4 boxes (I presume are partitions)?

1 - NO NAME (None) FAT 32 (LBA) Primary   26.4MB    100.0MB (I'm guessing that this means that 26.4% of the partition is in use?)
Selecting this drive reveals EFI System Partition 
File System: FAT 32(LBA)
Free Space: 73.6MB
Total Size:100.0MB
Start Sector: 2,048
End Sector: 206,847

2 - (None) Unformatted Primary 16.0 MB    16.0MB (The Blue line is indicating that it is totally full)
Selecting this drive reveals Microsoft reserved partition
File System: Unformatted
Free Space: 0B
Total Size:16.0MB
Start Sector: 206,848
End Sector: 239,615


3 - HP (C:) NTFS Primary 31.36 GB    465.15GB (The Blue line is indicating that a tiny portion is in use)
Selecting this drive reveals HP (D413819B-63BE-4CB7-97E4-4DC8050C872D)
File System: NTFS
Free Space: 433.78 GB
Total Size:465.15 GB
Start Sector: 239,616
End Sector: 975,720,154


4 - (None) NTFS Primary 430.5MB    513.0MB (The Blue line is near the end indicating that the partition is nearly full)
Selecting this drive reveals (1E61EBBF-C30B-4D5D-9574-70972E96952E)
File System: NTFS
Free Space: 82.5 MB
Total Size:513.0 MB
Start Sector: 975,720,448
End Sector: 976,771,071

So, because this was a fresh PC I already know that the current installed 500GB HDD is virtually empty and only has the Win10 OS on it and Macrium etc...Indeed, this is proven when I go to My PC and click on the C: drive properties and the following is displayed:

HP (C:) Properties
Type: Local Disk
File System: NTFS
Used space: 33,676,713,984 bytes (31.3 GB)
Free space: 465,769,320,448 bytes (433GB)
Capacity: 499,446,034,432 bytes

So, here's where I somehow went wrong:
I simply dragged partition 3     3 - HP (C:) NTFS Primary 31.36 GB    465.15GB down from the Source and into the new destination SSD Drive.  Macrium set about copying and completed the copy.  However, when I then swapped the boot drives to boot up from the now SSD all I got was a Black Screen with a White flashing cursor.  Obviously, I've done something wrong.  (I didn't touch the Bios yet because I presume this wouldn't be required when changing from a bulky old SATA HDD to a new slim line SATA SSD)

So, I am looking for 2 things out of this thread. 
Firstly...Education.  I'm looking to learn from you.  Free knowledge etc.  After all, this is a money saving site.  So, please educate me...Why are there 4 partitions here and not just one partition? What exactly are these partitions? Why, would the computer not boot when I copied just the C: drive over because I 'assume' that C: contains all the necessary files etc ?

Secondly...I would like the resolution to the problem.  
Of course, if need be I will just go out and buy a larger SSD but I'd prefer to tinker and sort this myself based on your advice.  I'm guessing there may be a way to shrink partitions before/during copying to the SSD? 
Please take into account that I am using Macrium Reflect FREE version and I am only looking for a free resolution.  It's not that I don't want to spend the money because as I said, if I am forced to fork out for a larger SDD then so be it.
Hope you're all still awake (I wrote this on day 2 of lockdown so I assume you guys may have some spare time to assist).
Thanks in advance all.

You, of course, need to drag all of the partitions down. Starting from left to right. When you get to the main partition, you'll need to choose to resize that one, so that it fits on to the destination disk.
Haven't used Macrium, but guess that's what needs to be done.

Heedtheadvice

https://blog.macrium.com/how-to-migrate-your-old-pc-to-a-new-one-67af145e5a23 tells you how to do it with partition resizing.

I forget which at present but you need some of all those partitions. If I remember correctly any recovery partition is not required especially as you can use Macrium to set up and do recovery and from external disks. Again if memory serves me well the windows recovery partition only allows recovery to "factory" build not the latest installation (I stand to be corrected!!)

So my approach (until one of the experts can advise more on the essential partitions is to use the above guide and reduce the size of your main NTFS primary disk so that it will fit on your SSD. You can trim some of the size of the others a bit but not really worth the effort.

That clone should enable the SSD to be booted properly.

As anothef action you can then use your original HDD as a data disk or a backup disk, the latter being really essential when using an SSD as if it fails it can fail without warning so if you do use the old one for data get another for backups!

neilmcl

It's pretty straight forward if you follow the instructions above. You simply drag each partition in turn from the source to the destination drive. When you drag over the C: drive partition you then need to right click on it on the destination side and resize it by increasing the free space by at least the size that will accommodate the last partition you want to copy over.