Move an internal Windows 10 bootcamp SSD to external USB enclosure?

Winclone
1

Hi- I currently have a second SSD in my 2010 iMac. I’m preparing to move to a 2012 iMac and will be running both my current SSDs in an external USB enclosure- the 2012 had a 750gb Nvme SSD I’ll be booting off of.

Will this cause any issue with Windows 10? Will I have to prep the drive in any way to get Windows 10 to continue booting off of this drive once it’s connected via USB 3 rather than Sata II?

I’ll make a Winclone backup first of course. Thanks in advance.

2

I forgot to mention I’m running Windows 10 enterprise- which is generally more forgiving when changing drives or configurations.

3

It should work. Here is the testing we do:

All procedures outlined have been tested on Windows 10 1803 (October Update).

The following Mac models were tested with the procedure:

  • MacBook Pro (2018)
  • MacBook Air (13-inch, Mid 2011), 10.13.5, MacBook Air 4,2
  • Mac Mini (Mid 2014)
  • iMac (27-inch, Late 2012), 10.14, iMac 13,2
  • Mac Mini (Mid 2011), 10.13.4, Mac Mini 5,1 (legacy)
  • MacBook (12-inch, Early 2015)
  • MacBook Air (13-inch, Mid 2011), 10.13.5 (legacy)
  • iMac (Retina 5k, 27”, Late 2015), 10.13.6, iMac 17,1

The following external USB-C hard drives where used:

Both external SSD were connected via a USB-C to USB-C cable, or USB-C to USB-A depending on ports available on the Mac.

4

Hi, this article is about migrating windows 10 to an external drive. I want to migrate my windows 10 partition from its existing internal windows drive to another internal windows drive. (I received a critical alert that my windows c: drive is failing.) Will WinClone work for this application? Thank you

6

I suppose I should clarify a few things.

  • The Mac is a Mac Pro which I purchased in 2010.
  • Bootcamp was set up using a separate internal disk drive for the Windows (10) partition.
  • That separate drive is the one that is failing and I need to replace.
  • There is an unused HDD slot in the computer, which is where I plan to put the replacement drive during WinClone. That is, both the old Windows partition drive and the new Windows Partition drive will be inside the box during WinClone.
  • If that won’t work, I also have an IDE-USB bridge that I could use. If Winclone won’t work to copy the Windows 10 partition from one internal drive to another Internal drive, I could attach my new drive to a USB port instead for the copy. But if I do that, can I later move the drive into the internal slot after Winclone completes the copy? Will Bootcamp still recognize it as the Windows Partition, even though it is no longer on a USB port?

Thank you