Safely Clone Dell XPS SSD to Larger SSD | 2 Simple Ways

Updated on Jun 12, 2024 | by Oaklynn

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The Case: Dell XPS 15 SSD Upgrade
Why Perform Dell XPS SSD Upgrade?
Dell XPS Compatible SSD
Best Dell Hard Drive Cloning Software
Dell XPS Clone SSD to Larger SSD without Reinstalling
Dell XPS 13/15 SSD Upgrade with Disk Clone
Clone Dell XPS SSD With Backup and Restore
Boot from the Cloned SSD
Brief Summary

The Case: Dell XPS 15 SSD Upgrade

“Hi, Have just bought a Dell XPS 7590, i9 32GB with 1TB NVME SSD. Can I remove the installed 1TB SSD and clone it to a 2TB Nvme PCIe 4.0 M.2 2280 Internal SSD? Will it be OK ? How to do Dell XPS 15 SSD upgrade? Please help, any advice would be appreciated.”

It’s a common question when Dell XPS clone SSD to SSD with a larger one.

Why Perform Dell XPS SSD Upgrade?

At present, Dell XPS series contain Dell XPS 13 (9360, 9370, 9380, 7390, etc.), Dell XPS 15 (7590, 9570, 9560, etc.), Dell XPS 12, etc. And some of the Dell XPS computers come with a 128GB or 256GB SSD inside. Here listed some reasons you may clone SSD to SSD for Dell XPS computers:

Better Performance: With time going, the Dell XPS computer may get a very slow response due to the low disk space in system drive. It’s necessary to let Dell XPS replace SSD with a larger one to get better performance.
Replace the failing Dell XPS SSD with a new one: You may receive a message from Microsoft Windows stating "Windows detected a hard drive problem. Backup your files immediately to prevent information loss". Then you should backup or clone Dell XPS SSD to larger SSD.

Dell XPS Compatible SSD

Dell XPS 13 and 15 adapt the M.2 PCIe NVMe Solid State Drive, which means M.2 2280 (22mm by 80mm) form factor and uses PCIe standard. So the compatible SSD includes:

Dell XPS 13 compatible SSD	Dell XPS 15 compatible SSD
Samsung 970 EVO, Crucial MX500 M.2 Type 2280 Internal SSD, etc.	Samsung 970 EVO, Samsung 970 PRO, etc.

Or consult your computer manufacturer for the compatible SSD.

Best Dell Hard Drive Cloning Software

How to perform Dell XPS clone SSD to SSD with a larger one? Before that, ensure you have prepared a larger SSD drive which should be M.2 type 2280 SSD, or use the above compatible SSD.

As a matter of fact, many SSD drives configured exclusive hard drive cloning software to clone HDD to SSD drive, for example:

Samsung Data Migration Software for Samsung SSD drive.
Transcend SSD Scope for Transcend SSD drive.
Intel® Data Migration Software to clone data to Intel SSD.

Nevertheless, Dell does not provide you with the exclusive Dell SSD cloning software. The third party powerful Windows data migration software - Qiling Disk Master Professional could be your best choice.

Qiling Disk Master

Easy Dell Hard Drive Cloning Software

It is friendly and flexible to use.
It allows you to safely clone SSD to SSD drive without reinstalling everything. You can also clone only OS to SSD.
It is feature-rich. It also supports system backup, disk backup, partition backup, and file sync, etc.
It’s fully compatible with Windows XP, Vista, 7, 8, 8.1, 10, 11.

Free Download
Windows 11/10/8/7, 100% Secure

Dell XPS Clone SSD to Larger SSD without Reinstalling

First, connect the M.2 SSD with your computer, and ensure it can be detected. As a matter of fact, there are two ways to clone Dell XPS SSD to SSD using Qiling Disk Master:

Disk Clone.
Disk Backup and restore.

Let me explain to you with details.

Dell XPS 13/15 SSD Upgrade with Disk Clone

If you are using Dell XPS desktop, and there is more than one hard drive slot, you could try Disk Clone feature to clone SSD to larger SSD for Dell XPS:

1. Execute the Qiling Disk Master. Select Clone -> Disk Clone on the main window.

2. Select the Dell XPS M.2 SSD as source disk to clone, and hit Next>>.

3. Pick the larger M.2 SSD as destination disk to save everything from Dell XPS 13/15.

▶Tip: The larger M.2 SSD will be overwritten or deleted after the cloning process. Please backup files first before cloning if there are something important to you.

4. Tick SSD Alignment to optimize the writing and reading speed for the larger M.2 SSD drive automatically.

5. Click Proceed >> button to perform Dell XPS clone SSD to SSD safely.

▶Tips:
✍Edit Partitions: Check this option to adjust partitions while cloning Dell XPS 13/15 SSD to larger SSD to fully use the storage space on the larger M.2 SSD.
✍Sector by Sector Clone: Check this option will clone all the sectors on the Dell XPS 13 or 15 SSD drive whether it’s in used or not, and it will take much longer time to clone as well.
✍This software also support cloning Windows 10 to new hard drive, clone HDD to Samsung SSD, clone hard drive to WD SSD, copy data from one SSD to another, etc.

The clone time depends on the data capacity of the source disk. Take some coffee and have a rest. You will generate unallocated space after cloning smaller SSD to larger SSD if you don't make use of the Edit Partitions option. You could create a new partition or merge unallocated space to C drive or other existing partitions.

Clone Dell XPS SSD With Backup and Restore

Considering some laptops have only one hard drive bay, the best way to do Dell XPS SSD upgrade is to backup the Dell XPS 13 or 15 SSD to external hard disk or a USB drive, and then restore data to the larger M.2 SSD drive.

Backup Dell XPS Original SSD

1. Install and run Qiling Disk Master. In the main window, click Backup -> Disk Backup.

2. Click Disk to choose Dell XPS SSD as source disk to backup. Input a Task Name if needed.

3. Select an external hard drive as destination to save the SSD backup image file. You can also backup Dell XPS SSD to a USB drive, network share, NAS device, and so on.

4. Then hit Proceed to backup Dell XPS SSD.

Restore Backup Image to Larger SSD

In order to restore to the larger SSD, you have to create a bootable media with Qiling Disk Master. Unplug your original small SSD disk and plug the larger SSD drive into your computer, connect the bootable media with your Dell XPS, and boot the computer from it. Then connect the external hard drive with the image file into your computer’s USB port. The Qiling Disk Master will automatically run in WinPE environment. Following are the details about how to restore a disk image to M.2 SSD drive:

1. On the main console, click Restore -> Select Task or Select Image File to find the Disk Backup image.

2. Select a backup time point to restore. Then hit Next>>.

3. In the Image Information window, select Restore this entire disk for Dell XPS SSD, and then choose Next>>.

▶Tip: You can also restore the specialized partition by clicking Restore a partition in this disk.

4. In the Disk Restore interface, select the larger M.2 SSD drive as destination disk to save the data from disk image file. Then hit Next. In next window, click Yes to go on.

5. On the Operation Summary window, preview the operation of restoring, tick SSD Alignment, and then hit Proceed>>.

With the help of Qiling Disk Master, the Dell XPS SSD replacement has been achieved.

Boot from the Cloned SSD

When all is done, change the boot order to boot from the cloned SSD, Qiling Disk Master ensures the cloned SSD is bootable. If you have problems with cloned SSD won’t boot or get Winload.efi missing after clone, find the solutions via the link.

Brief Summary

It’s highly recommended to perform Dell XPS clone SSD to SSD with disk clone feature. It’s kind of complex for newbies to clone Dell XPS SSD with backup and restore. Besides, if you just want to migrate Windows 10 operating system to SSD, please try System Clone to clone safely and easily.

For those who are running Windows Server 2003, 2008, 2012, 2016, 2019 (including R2), etc., please try Qiling Disk Master Server. Besides the features used in this article, you can enjoy many other practical features, like command line utility, restore to dissimilar hardware computer, create differential backup with scheduled task, delete old backup images automatically when exceeds the number to maintain, and more.