NVMe Guide

NVMe Cloning Software for M.2 SSDs

Clone and image NVMe M.2 SSDs with proper 4K alignment, PCIe optimization, and TRIM support. Upgrade to faster NVMe storage without reinstalling Windows.

Download Free HDD to SSD Guide

What Is NVMe and Why Does It Matter?

NVMe (Non-Volatile Memory Express) is a storage protocol designed specifically for solid-state drives connected via the PCIe (Peripheral Component Interconnect Express) bus. Unlike the older AHCI (Advanced Host Controller Interface) protocol used by SATA SSDs, NVMe was built from the ground up to exploit the parallelism and low latency of NAND flash memory.

The performance difference is dramatic. SATA III SSDs are limited to approximately 550 MB/s by the SATA interface itself — regardless of how fast the NAND flash inside the drive can operate. NVMe removes this bottleneck by connecting directly to the CPU via PCIe lanes. A PCIe Gen 3 x4 NVMe drive delivers up to 3,500 MB/s, a Gen 4 x4 drive reaches 7,000 MB/s, and the newest Gen 5 x4 drives exceed 12,000 MB/s.

When cloning or imaging an NVMe drive, the cloning software must handle NVMe-specific considerations: proper 4K sector alignment to prevent write amplification, TRIM command passthrough to maintain drive health, thermal throttling awareness during sustained writes, and GPT partition table handling (NVMe drives are always GPT, never MBR, because they require UEFI boot). Macrium Reflect handles all of these automatically.

NVMe Performance Advantages

Up to 7,000 MB/s Read Speeds

PCIe Gen 4 NVMe drives deliver sequential read speeds up to 7,000 MB/s — roughly 14 times faster than a SATA SSD and 70 times faster than a mechanical hard drive. PCIe Gen 5 pushes this to 12,000+ MB/s.

500,000+ IOPS Random Performance

NVMe drives achieve 500,000 to 1,000,000 input/output operations per second for random 4K reads, compared to 75,000-100,000 IOPS for SATA SSDs. This is the metric that matters for application responsiveness.

Sub-Microsecond Latency

The NVMe protocol was designed from the ground up for flash storage with 64K command queues (vs. 1 for AHCI/SATA), eliminating the command bottleneck that limits SATA SSD performance.

Direct PCIe Connection

NVMe drives connect directly to the CPU via PCIe lanes, bypassing the SATA controller entirely. This eliminates the 600 MB/s ceiling of the SATA III interface and reduces CPU overhead.

NVMe Form Factors and Compatibility

NVMe SSDs come in several physical form factors. Macrium Reflect supports all of them.

M.2 2280

The most common NVMe form factor. 22mm wide and 80mm long. Plugs directly into an M.2 slot on the motherboard. Used in laptops, desktops, and ultrabooks. Supports both SATA and NVMe protocols — check the key notch (M-key for NVMe, B+M key for SATA).

Fully supported by Macrium Reflect for imaging and cloning.

M.2 2230

Compact form factor: 22mm wide, 30mm long. Used in ultrabooks, tablets, Steam Deck, Microsoft Surface, and small-form-factor PCs. Same NVMe protocol as 2280 but physically smaller. Requires an adapter to fit a standard 2280 M.2 slot.

Fully supported. Same NVMe driver stack as 2280 drives.

M.2 2242

Mid-length form factor: 22mm wide, 42mm long. Less common than 2280 but found in some ultrabooks and embedded systems. Check your motherboard specifications to confirm which M.2 lengths are supported.

Fully supported. Macrium Reflect detects the drive regardless of physical length.

U.2 (SFF-8639)

Enterprise form factor using a 2.5-inch drive bay with a U.2 connector. Provides NVMe speeds in a hot-swappable, tool-less design common in servers and workstations. Requires a U.2 port on the motherboard or a PCIe adapter card.

Supported in Macrium Reflect Workstation and Server editions.

PCIe Add-In Card (AIC)

NVMe SSD mounted on a PCIe expansion card that plugs into a standard PCIe x4 or x16 slot. Ideal for desktops and servers without M.2 slots, or for adding additional NVMe storage beyond the available M.2 slots.

Fully supported. Appears as a standard NVMe device to Macrium Reflect.

Step-by-Step

How to Clone an NVMe SSD

Install the Destination NVMe Drive

Physically install the new NVMe SSD into an available M.2 slot on your motherboard, or connect it via a USB-to-NVMe enclosure. If your system only has one M.2 slot and the source drive is also NVMe, you will need a USB-to-NVMe enclosure for one of the drives. Windows should detect the new drive automatically. There is no need to format or initialize the drive — Macrium Reflect handles this during cloning.

Launch Macrium Reflect and Select the Source Drive

Open Macrium Reflect and locate your source drive in the disk list. Click on the source NVMe drive (or SATA SSD/HDD if upgrading from an older drive type) to select it. Click 'Clone this disk' to begin the clone wizard. Macrium Reflect displays all partitions on the source drive, including the EFI System Partition, Microsoft Reserved Partition, and the primary Windows partition.

Select the Destination NVMe Drive

In the clone wizard, click 'Select a disk to clone to' and choose the new NVMe SSD. If the destination drive has existing partitions, Macrium Reflect will warn you that all data will be overwritten. Confirm that you have selected the correct destination drive — cloning is a destructive operation on the target disk.

Configure Partition Alignment and Resizing

Macrium Reflect automatically applies 4K sector alignment during NVMe cloning. This is critical for NVMe performance — misaligned partitions can degrade write performance by 20-40% due to read-modify-write cycles in the NAND flash. If the source and destination drives have different capacities, use the partition resizing options to proportionally scale partitions or manually allocate space. Enable 'Intelligent Sector Copy' to copy only used sectors, allowing cloning from a larger drive to a smaller NVMe if the used data fits.

Execute the Clone and Verify

Click 'Finish' to start the clone. NVMe-to-NVMe clones are extremely fast — a 500 GB drive with 250 GB of data typically completes in 5 to 10 minutes thanks to the high throughput of the NVMe interface. When the clone completes, Macrium Reflect verifies data integrity. Shut down, remove or disconnect the source drive, and boot from the new NVMe SSD to confirm Windows starts correctly.

NVMe Alignment and Optimization

4K Sector Alignment

NVMe drives use 4,096-byte (4K) physical sectors. If partitions are not aligned to 4K boundaries, every write operation spans two physical sectors, requiring a read-modify-write cycle that significantly degrades performance. Macrium Reflect automatically aligns all partitions to 4K boundaries during cloning.

Over-Provisioning

NVMe drives reserve a portion of their NAND flash capacity for wear leveling, garbage collection, and bad block replacement. When cloning, do not fill the destination drive to 100% capacity. Leave at least 10-15% of the drive unallocated to maintain optimal performance and longevity.

TRIM Support

TRIM tells the SSD which blocks are no longer in use, allowing the drive's controller to perform garbage collection efficiently. Macrium Reflect preserves TRIM functionality during cloning. After cloning, verify that TRIM is enabled by running 'fsutil behavior query DisableDeleteNotify' in a command prompt — a result of 0 means TRIM is active.

NVMe Driver Compatibility

Windows 10 and 11 include a native NVMe driver (stornvme.sys) that supports all standard NVMe drives. Some manufacturers provide vendor-specific NVMe drivers (Samsung NVMe Driver, Intel SSD Toolbox) that may offer marginal performance improvements but are not required for basic functionality.

NVMe Cloning Troubleshooting

New NVMe drive not detected in Macrium Reflect

Verify the M.2 slot supports NVMe (some M.2 slots are SATA-only). Check BIOS settings to ensure the M.2 slot is enabled. For PCIe Gen 4/5 drives in Gen 3 slots, the drive should still be detected at reduced speed. If using a USB enclosure, confirm it supports NVMe (not just SATA M.2).

Clone speed is slower than expected

NVMe-to-NVMe cloning should exceed 1,000 MB/s on PCIe Gen 3 and 3,000+ MB/s on Gen 4. If speeds are significantly lower, check that the M.2 slot is connected to the CPU PCIe lanes (not chipset lanes), that the drive is not thermally throttling (check drive temperature in CrystalDiskInfo), and that no other disk-intensive processes are running.

Windows does not boot after clone

Enter BIOS/UEFI and set the cloned NVMe drive as the primary boot device. Ensure the boot mode is set to UEFI (not Legacy/CSM) since NVMe drives require UEFI boot. If the source was an MBR disk and the NVMe uses GPT, you may need to convert the boot mode.

Performance is degraded after cloning

Check partition alignment using msinfo32 > Components > Storage > Disks — the 'Partition Starting Offset' divided by 4096 should be a whole number. If misaligned, re-clone with Macrium Reflect's intelligent sector copy enabled to force proper alignment. Also verify that the Windows power plan is set to 'High Performance' to prevent NVMe power state transitions.

BIOS does not show NVMe boot option

Some older BIOS versions do not support NVMe boot natively. Update your BIOS/UEFI firmware to the latest version from the motherboard manufacturer. If BIOS updates are not available, a Clover or rEFInd boot manager can add NVMe boot support to older UEFI implementations.

Written by

Macrium Software Technical Team

The Macrium technical team has been developing industry-leading disk imaging and backup solutions since 2006. With deep expertise in Windows storage systems, NTFS, GPT/MBR disk structures, and enterprise backup architecture, our engineers write authoritative guides based on hands-on experience protecting data for over 10 million users worldwide.

Microsoft Certified PartnerPC Magazine Editor's Choice18+ Years of Expertise

Clone Your NVMe SSD Today

Download Macrium Reflect Free and clone your NVMe M.2 SSD with automatic 4K alignment and TRIM support. Fast, reliable, and completely free.

Download Free Cloning Software Guide

Supports NVMe, M.2, SATA, and PCIe drives — all editions, all form factors.

Related Guides & Resources

Explore more expert guides on disk imaging, cloning, and backup.