On 1/11/2026 4:39 AM, micky wrote:

In alt.comp.os.windows-10, on Sun, 4 Jan 2026 21:53:16 -0500, Steve <tlswilso@aol.com> wrote:

On 1/4/2026 7:58 PM, Jeff Barnett wrote:

On 1/4/2026 3:20 PM, Roger Mills wrote:

On 04/01/2026 21:47, Steve wrote:

The holidays are over and I should have time to continue the project >>>>> I was working on 2 weeks ago.

...

Have you installed the SATA SSD inside the computer alongside the
existing drive? If so, that could be the problem. I have a feeling
that Magician expects the SSD to be an external drive, mounted in a
suitable enclosure and connected by USB3. That's certainly what
happened when I replaced a rotating drive with an SSD in a laptop a
few years ago. That worked fine. That was the only option in my case
because the laptop couldn't accommodate more than one internal drive
at a time.

Maybe worth a try?

I think you are correct. The OP should consider buying a cheap SSD caddy >>> with SATA connections that will plug into a USB 3 port. I've used
Samsung software a few times to clone a live C disk to an SSD in a caddy >>> and its all went smoothly. (Live means that windows was running normally >>> while the clone was in progress.)

Thanks. I'll look into buying something if I don't find a way to do it,
where it is, real soon. This all makes sense and explains why Samsung
Magician can see the drive but still prompts me to connect the SSD.

You don't necessarily need an enclosure (or a caddy?). I would think a
dock or double dock would also work fine, and what I've been using is https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09J8HKMJP which takes up less space. The 12v power adapte is not needed for SSD's or 2" spinner drives, only for 5
1/4.

P&M

I had forgotten, but I already have 2 of those. Not that brand. They can connect to 3 different kind of drives including SATA. I had attached a
note to one saying the SATA part didn't seem to work. I tried the other
one. The computer can see the SSD when it's in the computer, but not
when it's plugged into the USB port.


--- PyGate Linux v1.5.2
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)

On Wed, 1/14/2026 8:39 PM, Steve wrote:

On 1/11/2026 4:39 AM, micky wrote:

In alt.comp.os.windows-10, on Sun, 4 Jan 2026 21:53:16 -0500, Steve
<tlswilso@aol.com> wrote:

On 1/4/2026 7:58 PM, Jeff Barnett wrote:

On 1/4/2026 3:20 PM, Roger Mills wrote:

On 04/01/2026 21:47, Steve wrote:

The holidays are over and I should have time to continue the project >>>>>> I was working on 2 weeks ago.

...

Have you installed the SATA SSD inside the computer alongside the
existing drive? If so, that could be the problem. I have a feeling
that Magician expects the SSD to be an external drive, mounted in a
suitable enclosure and connected by USB3. That's certainly what
happened when I replaced a rotating drive with an SSD in a laptop a
few years ago. That worked fine. That was the only option in my case >>>>> because the laptop couldn't accommodate more than one internal drive >>>>> at a time.

Maybe worth a try?

I think you are correct. The OP should consider buying a cheap SSD caddy >>>> with SATA connections that will plug into a USB 3 port. I've used
Samsung software a few times to clone a live C disk to an SSD in a caddy >>>> and its all went smoothly. (Live means that windows was running normally >>>> while the clone was in progress.)

Thanks. I'll look into buying something if I don't find a way to do it,
where it is, real soon. This all makes sense and explains why Samsung
Magician can see the drive but still prompts me to connect the SSD.

You don't necessarily need an enclosure (or a caddy?).ÿ I would think a
dock or double dock would also work fine, and what I've been using is
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09J8HKMJP which takes up less space.ÿ The 12v
power adapte is not needed for SSD's or 2" spinner drives, only for 5
1/4.

P&M

I had forgotten, but I already have 2 of those. Not that brand. They can connect to 3 different kind of drives including SATA. I had attached a note to one saying the SATA part didn't seem to work. I tried the other one. The computer can see the SSD when it's in the computer, but not when it's plugged into the USB port.

You could check Device Manager while this thing is assembled.

There is also USBTreeView. Scroll to the bottom for the download section.
This is like UVCView from Microsoft, but it still gets support.

https://www.uwe-sieber.de/usbtreeview_e.html

All the ingredients must be ready for that style of device to work.
You can plug in the drive to the raw adapter. Since it is a 2.5" SATA SSD,
you can try it on bus power. The LED should still not come on when you plug
SSD to adapter and then adapter to USB. It is when the OS probes the port,
that the LED comes on. On hard drives, the hard drive would be in the
spin-down state, until the OS probe activates the adapter. Then it attempts
to spin up. Then, if the adapter is able to send the ID command to
the storage device, the LED should come on. The LED will modulate as the
OS checks the partition table, file system header and so on.

The UASP driver, the USB hub driver, the Win10 OS should be able to
fetch these and make the device work, after which any issue in
Device Manager should be solved for it.

Paul






--- PyGate Linux v1.5.2
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)

On 1/4/2026 4:47 PM, Steve wrote:

The holidays are over and I should have time to continue the project I
was working on 2 weeks ago.

I'm trying to switch to my new Samsung 870 EVO SATA 2.5 inch drive. The paper in the box said to use Samsung Magician to clone the data. I'm starting to believe that it doesn't work with a SATA drive!

People suggested I use a different cloning tool. I dismissed that idea because, certainly, Samsung Magician would work after I got my computer
to recognize the new drive. Well I did that. It's now showing on File Explorer as drive (J:) and I have formatted it. I tested it by copying a file with several pictures inside to (J:). It went right in and the
pictures opened just fine. I formatted again to empty it.

I looked at you tube videos about using Samsung Magician. They all
showed a ssd that did not look like my SATA drive.ÿ Samsung Magician
seems to have 2 ways to get to "Data Migration". One way pops up a
message that the drive isn't compatible. I originally feared that it was warning me that the new drive wasn't compatible with my computer. Going
in the other way, it shows my C: drive as the source drive but it
prompts me to connect the Samsung SSD. It doesn't see it even though it
IS there and it works.

What cloning software is going to work with my SATA SSD?

I really thought maybe tonight I would be able to report success.
With the SSD inside the computer, Samsung Magician didn't recognize it
at all. Macrium could find it, but when I transferred C: to the SSD, the
SSD couldn't boot up.
I found I had a cable to send the SSD through a USB port. Someone had
said I needed a UBS 3 port. I don't think my computer has a 3. One port
is labeled as USB 2.0. The others have no label.
The drive didn't show in Windows Explorer, but the cable was working
because the new drive did show up in Device Manager.
I decided to go back to Samsung Magician and, I'll be darned, it
recognized the new Samsung drive for the first time. I clicked to start
the transfer and it actually started. It took 3 hours. 20%... 50%...
80%... From across the room it looked done. When I finally got up to
look, it had stopped at 99%.
I'll leave it over night and see if it finishes. If not, I'll start it
again tomorrow. So close!
If I get it to finish, it may fail to boot the computer as happened when
I used Macrium. At least it did something new today.

--- PyGate Linux v1.5.2
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)

On Sat, 1/17/2026 8:53 PM, Steve wrote:

On 1/4/2026 4:47 PM, Steve wrote:

The holidays are over and I should have time to continue the project I was working on 2 weeks ago.

I'm trying to switch to my new Samsung 870 EVO SATA 2.5 inch drive. The paper in the box said to use Samsung Magician to clone the data. I'm starting to believe that it doesn't work with a SATA drive!

People suggested I use a different cloning tool. I dismissed that idea because, certainly, Samsung Magician would work after I got my computer to recognize the new drive. Well I did that. It's now showing on File Explorer as drive (J:) and I have formatted it. I tested it by copying a file with several pictures inside to (J:). It went right in and the pictures opened just fine. I formatted again to empty it.

I looked at you tube videos about using Samsung Magician. They all showed a ssd that did not look like my SATA drive.ÿ Samsung Magician seems to have 2 ways to get to "Data Migration". One way pops up a message that the drive isn't compatible. I originally feared that it was warning me that the new drive wasn't compatible with my computer. Going in the other way, it shows my C: drive as the source drive but it prompts me to connect the Samsung SSD. It doesn't see it even though it IS there and it works.

What cloning software is going to work with my SATA SSD?

I really thought maybe tonight I would be able to report success.
With the SSD inside the computer, Samsung Magician didn't recognize it at all.

You needed to click the "menu" on the upper left side, which
is the "selector". The "selector" is too stupid to select the
Samsung drive by accident. The "selector" is for selecting the Source drive.

But, you can (temporarily) use the selector to select *any* drive connected to the computer, including the Samsung drive.

The selector is intended to select the source drive.

In the item on the left, further down, intended for cloning, when
the software "agrees" to support cloning, the one and only Samsung
drive appears in the "target selector" also on the left hand side.

You really really should be placing this drive inside the computer, so
that it has guaranteed-adequate power. Plug in the fifteen contact power
cable first (if wires are coloured, the yellow wire is on the outside
nearest edge of casing and the keying ensures it only inserts one way).
The seven contact data cable goes next to it.

Macrium could find it, but when I transferred C: to the SSD, the SSD couldn't boot up.
I found I had a cable to send the SSD through a USB port. Someone had said I needed
a USB 3 port. I don't think my computer has a 3. One port is labeled as USB 2.0.
The others have no label.

The drive didn't show in Windows Explorer, but the cable was working because the new drive
did show up in Device Manager.

I decided to go back to Samsung Magician and, I'll be darned, it recognized the new Samsung
drive for the first time. I clicked to start the transfer and it actually started.
It took 3 hours. 20%... 50%... 80%... From across the room it looked done. When I finally got up to look, it had stopped at 99%.

I'll leave it over night and see if it finishes. If not, I'll start it again tomorrow. So close!
If I get it to finish, it may fail to boot the computer as happened when I used Macrium.
At least it did something new today.

The Samsung Magician, by observation, is using the WBAdmin.exe algo (this is the Windows 7 Backup
that comes in the Windows 10 control panels). That algorithm, is to select all partitions
identified as "critical". Drives come in two partitioning schemes, MSDOS partitioning
and GPT partitioning. On GPT partitioning, the "GPT attribute" on a partition, if it is 0x000000000000001
that indicates a critical partition and it should be copied.

The Samsung interface is hiding what it is doing. It "pretends to select C: by default",
but really, the WBadmin method always backs up C: and you have no choice in the matter.
This is how I deduce what kind of software this is. Samsung didn't write it. The
Samsung software is calling some library routine. The Samsung software *only* copies
a boot drive, because it *must* put its grimy little fingers on at least one OS partition.
That is why it pretends to be offering arbitrary partition copying, when
such is not the case. It copies C: and you have no choice. It copies
the critical partitions associated with C: . And the logic was all written
by Microsoft. Samsung is just harnessing some library routine to do the same thing.

Macrium on the other hand, you can use the Backup : Backup Windows function (without
actually completing a backup of the C: source drive) and the tick box pattern will identify the critical partitions. Then, when you switch to Cloning mode instead,
you tick the same set of partitions identified by the other (partial) operation.
The partitions copied would be a minimal set for successful booting.

Copying absolutely the whole drive with Macrium, should also result in a bootable drive.
This assumes there were not four hard drives in the computer this whole time, with some obscure convoluted structure for booting :-) People do that, and then they don't happen to mention it as a complicating factor.

But the drive sizes and other details we cannot see, could complicate things.

Paul

--- PyGate Linux v1.5.2
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)

On 1/17/2026 10:41 PM, Paul wrote:

On Sat, 1/17/2026 8:53 PM, Steve wrote:

On 1/4/2026 4:47 PM, Steve wrote:

The holidays are over and I should have time to continue the project I was working on 2 weeks ago.

I'm trying to switch to my new Samsung 870 EVO SATA 2.5 inch drive. The paper in the box said to use Samsung Magician to clone the data. I'm starting to believe that it doesn't work with a SATA drive!

People suggested I use a different cloning tool. I dismissed that idea because, certainly, Samsung Magician would work after I got my computer to recognize the new drive. Well I did that. It's now showing on File Explorer as drive (J:) and I have formatted it. I tested it by copying a file with several pictures inside to (J:). It went right in and the pictures opened just fine. I formatted again to empty it.

I looked at you tube videos about using Samsung Magician. They all showed a ssd that did not look like my SATA drive.ÿ Samsung Magician seems to have 2 ways to get to "Data Migration". One way pops up a message that the drive isn't compatible. I originally feared that it was warning me that the new drive wasn't compatible with my computer. Going in the other way, it shows my C: drive as the source drive but it prompts me to connect the Samsung SSD. It doesn't see it even though it IS there and it works.

What cloning software is going to work with my SATA SSD?

I really thought maybe tonight I would be able to report success.
With the SSD inside the computer, Samsung Magician didn't recognize it at all.

You needed to click the "menu" on the upper left side, which
is the "selector". The "selector" is too stupid to select the
Samsung drive by accident. The "selector" is for selecting the Source drive.

But, you can (temporarily) use the selector to select *any* drive connected to
the computer, including the Samsung drive.

The selector is intended to select the source drive.

In the item on the left, further down, intended for cloning, when
the software "agrees" to support cloning, the one and only Samsung
drive appears in the "target selector" also on the left hand side.

You really really should be placing this drive inside the computer, so
that it has guaranteed-adequate power. Plug in the fifteen contact power cable first (if wires are coloured, the yellow wire is on the outside
nearest edge of casing and the keying ensures it only inserts one way).
The seven contact data cable goes next to it.

Yeah, I was using that menu. The only hard drive in the machine was the Western Digital and it showed that as the source drive right away. Then
it wanted me to select the target drive. It would prompt me to plug in
the Samsung drive. It WAS plugged into the mother board with the SATA
cable (and power from the fifteen contact power cable).
Samsung Magician absolutely refused to "see" the Samsung drive until I
plugged it into the USB (2.0) port. I did keep the SSD inside the box
hooked up to power. I ran the SATA cable out to the USB adapter and the
to a USB port on the front of the box. Then the Samsung drive showed up
right away and it let me start the migration.

Macrium could find it, but when I transferred C: to the SSD, the SSD couldn't boot up.
I found I had a cable to send the SSD through a USB port. Someone had said I needed
a USB 3 port. I don't think my computer has a 3. One port is labeled as USB 2.0.
The others have no label.

The drive didn't show in Windows Explorer, but the cable was working because the new drive
did show up in Device Manager.

I decided to go back to Samsung Magician and, I'll be darned, it recognized the new Samsung
drive for the first time. I clicked to start the transfer and it actually started.
It took 3 hours. 20%... 50%... 80%... From across the room it looked done. >> When I finally got up to look, it had stopped at 99%.

I'll leave it over night and see if it finishes. If not, I'll start it again tomorrow. So close!
If I get it to finish, it may fail to boot the computer as happened when I used Macrium.
At least it did something new today.

The Samsung Magician, by observation, is using the WBAdmin.exe algo (this is the Windows 7 Backup
that comes in the Windows 10 control panels). That algorithm, is to select all partitions
identified as "critical". Drives come in two partitioning schemes, MSDOS partitioning
and GPT partitioning. On GPT partitioning, the "GPT attribute" on a partition, if it is 0x000000000000001
that indicates a critical partition and it should be copied.

The Samsung interface is hiding what it is doing. It "pretends to select C: by default",
but really, the WBadmin method always backs up C: and you have no choice in the matter.
This is how I deduce what kind of software this is. Samsung didn't write it. The
Samsung software is calling some library routine. The Samsung software *only* copies
a boot drive, because it *must* put its grimy little fingers on at least one OS partition.
That is why it pretends to be offering arbitrary partition copying, when
such is not the case. It copies C: and you have no choice. It copies
the critical partitions associated with C: . And the logic was all written
by Microsoft. Samsung is just harnessing some library routine to do the same thing.

Macrium on the other hand, you can use the Backup : Backup Windows function (without
actually completing a backup of the C: source drive) and the tick box pattern will identify the critical partitions. Then, when you switch to Cloning mode instead,
you tick the same set of partitions identified by the other (partial) operation.
The partitions copied would be a minimal set for successful booting.

Copying absolutely the whole drive with Macrium, should also result in a bootable drive.
This assumes there were not four hard drives in the computer this whole time, with some obscure convoluted structure for booting :-) People do that, and then
they don't happen to mention it as a complicating factor.

But the drive sizes and other details we cannot see, could complicate things.

Paul

Thanks for all of this help Paul. I'm now using the computer with only
the new SSD installed. I finally got it done.

Steve




--- PyGate Linux v1.5.2
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)