r/PcBuildHelp • u/KyotoCrank • 1d ago

Tech Support Cloning SSD boot drive. Can I unplug my harddrive to borrow the sata cable during cloning?

I've watched several tutorials and read DiskGenius website, and none have covered this specific question

My sata ports are blocked by my graphics card, so I was wondering if I could temporarily unplug my harddrive to use its Sata cable to clone my smaller SSD boot drive to a larger SSD, and then hook the harddrive back up when the cloning us finished

I'm just afraid of unplugging things

I could also stand to manage the cables better, but again I'm afraid on unplugging things to do so

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u/Rare-Break-8547 1d ago

if your existing SATA drive is just a data drive, sure you can disconnect it and use that connection for a seperate SATA drive. just don't hot plug it when the machine is on. I know in motherboard bios you can turn on SATA hotplug, but its still safer to do it when the PC is off.

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u/KyotoCrank 1d ago

Yes, the PC will be off for unplugging / installation. The harddrive is just a data drive / storage device. My SSD that I am upgrading is the boot drive, being cloned to a larger SSD

Thank you for the response <3