Upgrade the Asus ROG Ally's SSD WITHOUT Starting Over

In this video, we're going to clone the Asus ROG Ally's SSD without losing data so we can get more storage.
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[@JoeysRetroHandhelds]

If you don't have Bitlocker, you can skip that step. Super weird that it's not on everyone's Ally.

[@3ValiD]

How long did your ssd take to clone?

[@JoeysRetroHandhelds]

Forgot to time it, but about an hour probably?

[@NiteSek4804]

@@JoeysRetroHandhelds what happens if you cancel the cloning process? ? Will it corrupt & break your system? ? Because I'm not going to lie, I don't think the ROG Ally battery is going to make it in time. I think it will die before the cloning process finishes. What should I do? ? :/

[@halfthebattle8913]

Bitlocker isn't on windows 11 home. So it's weird that it's on yours unless you upgraded your windows version. However windows does have encryption on the HD anyway it's just not bitlocker. So might wanna disable that.

[@JoeysRetroHandhelds]

Bitlocker absolutely is on some people's Ally's from the factory, and it seems some, not. The ROG Ally Discord had a bunch of examples.

[@triggerhappey101]

JUST A HEADS-UP TO EVERYONE. MIDDLE BOTTOM SCREW IS A CAPTURED SCREW, IT IS NOT MEANT TO BE REMOVED ALL THE WAY!!!

[@christopherscott934]

Basically it acts as a lock of sorts? Loosens enough to release the threads and tightens enough to anchor back into the threads.

[@triggerhappey101]

@@christopherscott934 not really a lock, it actually had a retainer on the inside the keep the screw from backing all the way out

[@christopherscott934]

@@triggerhappey101 Ahh ok. Just wanted to make sure. Don't want it to be an issue when I swap the SSDs in mine. I just got my Ally today, love it but no way 512GB is going to cut it. I got a 2TB Micro 2230 for it earlier for a decent price.

[@AmvCrazyimvu]

@@christopherscott934that’s not working now right ?

[@genesvinceguillena7512]

​@@AmvCrazyimvuyou can basically upgrade your you storage

[@BobCongdon]

Originally I was going to do a cloud restore but since I hadn't installed much on the ROG Ally I decided to give your approach a try. Took less than 15 minutes to clone the old drive and probably 5 minutes to swap out the SSD. Works great and now I've got plenty of space. Thanks!

[@jaleelmcdonald3374]

Did you do the bit locker step?

[@JacaboBlanco]

Ah shoot you can do a cloud restore? That sounds better to me as I'd need to buy a USB C extension with power delivery because no way my ally is gonna last long enough to clone.

[@izziboye]

Just upgraded my SSD using your instructions. No data loss! 🙌🏾🙌🏾.

[@telarson001]

Worked like a charm. I didn’t disconnect my battery and followed your instructions. I now have 952 GB of storage using a 1TB drive. Thanks so much!

[@telarson001]

My unit didn’t have bitlocker installed. It didn’t have Windows encryption activated either. I used a grounding strap just to be sure. I purchased an Orico drive enclosure from Amazon which worked well. I was a little concerned about opening the unit, but the experience gave me enough confidence that I could do it again, if necessary.

[@zmzegare]

I ran your steps to the letter and it worked perfectly. One note is that you need to connect with the based power supple when you turn it back on. A lesser power supply will not work, so I had a mini panic attack when it did not turn on at first.

[@NiteSek4804]

This is EXACTLY what I was looking for, thank you. You just saved me from having to wait an eternity for many large games to download all over again. ESPECIALLY Borderlands 3. Jesus christ that shiznit is a huge game file lol... & your video is good quality, with a stylish & yet professional clean environment, & your guide was simple & not over-explained. Thanx again buddy. Very helpful. You earned a like & a sub 😊

[@TheJediRevan]

The bottom screw is a captive screw, so by function it is supposed to stay attached even when unscrewed.

[@Mrgrin3h]

Its honestly suppose to help you get the cover of easier that's the lifting point

[@ThreeFortySeven]

I just followed this video today to clone a 2tb WD Black drive because cloud recovery is apparently not working right now. Everything went relatively well, except during the cloning process, my screen turned off, and then my Ally went into sleep mode. I pressed the power button, and woke up my Ally. The cloning process proceeded to finish without issue. The only things i had to do once I got my new drive installed, was reinstall Armoury Crate, and log back into my launchers. Very helpful video, but keep in mind, it may not go as smoothly as you expect. But don't panic if something unexpected happens, everything should work out fine. Thanks for making this video.

[@mitchedee]

This worked perfectly for me, thank you! SN: BE VERY CAREFUL WHEN REMOVING THE SCREWS. I had a frustration meltdown because I almost stripped the final screw that I tried to remove (bottom left, NOT the capture screw). Oh, another SN: don’t forget to plug in the battery BEFORE putting the Rog back together. I reassembled it, plugged it in with the charger (it worked and was updated) and then remembered it wasn’t internally plugged back in🤦‍♀️ Fortunately, this all took under an hour lol!

[@wbb77]

Worked perfect. I keep the enclosure with the orginigal 512GB SSD connected to the docking station. Use it install less demanding games and which I only use when docked (most of the time). Better than selling / collecting dust in the drawer.

[@nopointinnames]

Guide worked like a charm. Didn't have bitlocker installed on my ally but the drive was still encrypted by windows. I decrypted it just in case before cloning. New drive works great, thanks for the video.

[@carlosnavarro9944]

How did you do this? My ally does not have bitlocker also

[@RolyGuacamole]

go to settings and when you begin typing the word encryption itll pop up. It's under Privacy Security > Device Encryption.@@carlosnavarro9944

[@james15222]

If anyone is wondering if this works when going from one Rog Ally to a new Rog Ally (not just an SSD swap) it works perfectly fine, just follow the steps as he showed, great video.

[@Blaxor666]

Worked like a charm encrypting took 4 hours and cloning 2 for me installed the ssd then in 5 mins lost no data and got more space. My sd card slot makes problem after 3 months and this is the best way and the ssd is much faster then those crap sd cards no space problems anymore. Got the micron 2400 ssd in 2tb which is the same like the original model for 120 bucks. Thanks for the guide

[@kmc9376]

Upgraded my Ally to a 2TB SSD using this method this morning and everything worked like a charm. New subscriber! Thanks a lot!

[@infoseek2304]

What are your temperatures of the nvme?

[@BlakeBeardsley]

Thank you for the video. Just installed a 2tb following your instructions. Ended up being easier than I expected. Thanks again!

[@TheDarKris]

Wanted to thank you for this guide & post my feedback for others. I upgraded from the 512gb to a 2tb SSD that I took out of my Steam Deck that I dual booted SteamOS and Windows. I did take a few hours to wipe and clone to the drive and once I got it all done & installed in my Ally I had to plug in the power cable (prob. due to unplugging the battery) and it hung on the splash screen for about a minute before it booted. All in all everything seems to be functioning as expected after the swap. I considered using Asus's cloud recovery but this method was definitely more ideal since I had a couple of games and such already installed.

[@danielguerra4447]

mine wouldnt start either until i plugged in to power cord, but booted up fine once it started.

[@simwirx]

Brilliant upload! Thank you! Worked flawlessly, however my Ally took all night to decrypt. Too many files installed, but I got to copy them all over in 25 min when I got to cloning! :)

[@TbellFPV]

Worked great! One watch out is that after installing the new SSD you need to plug in with the original charger. It will not boot if you have it plugged into a dock or even the ROG 65w dock they sell.

[@danielguerra4447]

yeah i got scared for a bit as it wouldnt power up, but booted just fine as soon as i plugged cable in.

[@BigKurzMD]

Really appreciate this guide. Just used it today and got a 2TB installed in my ally. no more sd worries!

[@proper1341]

This guide is so helpful! Thank you! Also, if anyone can't or doesn't want to disable bitlocker, mine copied as unencrypted onto my new SSD.

[@BrianR73]

Never ever clone a drive with bitlocker enabled. Big trouble if you do. If it were done professionally anyone with knowledge of I.T. would be disabling it. Great advice!

[@davidkramer8565]

Just used your video to upgrade my Ally to a 2TB drive. Whole process took about an hour. Great video! Thanks!

[@barrybressler9505]

Wow, followed your instructions step by step and worked like a charm!! Super easy, thank you much!

[@mattlikex]

Excellent video Joey. I love how you anticipate potential issues for your viewers before they even have to leave a comment or go to Google.

[@shonen84]

Thank you so much! I’ve followed every step you outlined (including decrypting and turning off Bitlocker, this took 14 hours) - and my new Corsair 1tb MP600 mini is working like a charm! It’s like magically adding 500gb to my old original drive! Minus decrypting, the entire operation (cloning, opening the Ally up) took 30 minutes!

[@danielguerra4447]

i had ally hard drive full and decryption only took 2 hrs. Crazy it took 14hrs for you.

[@edip818]

These instructions are flawless! I just executed and it worked perfectly! I am thrilled and thankful for your help.

[@GDoggProductions]

Would like to take a moment to thank you so much for your tutorial, it was perfect, I was having a few issues at the beginning, but just followed the instructions again, and it works flawlessly, have a great day

[@DoubleDragonGaming]

just want to leave an updated comment from my last one. IT WORKED! No issues smooth as silk I am very pleased. If you get the prompt for "The following BitLocker encrypted Drive will be cloned without enabling Bitlocker on the target: C: - OS" just keep going with it there shouldn't be any issues! I also recommend a fully charged battery as you can' t do the clone and have the device plugged in at the same time obviously. To be on the safe side I ran in silent 10w mode and that took about 45 minutes to do the clone. But my guess is that with a charged battery on performance it will take a half hour like it did for Joey and you should still have around 50% battery left. Time to start downloading some more games =)

[@NeutralGenericUser]

Thank you so much for this excellent guide! I'll be using it to upgrade my Ally's SSD to 2tb as soon as I get the new drive on Wednesday

[@flaviokbt]

Excellent tutorial bro! Now I’ll rock a bunch of games on my 2TB upgraded Ally thx to you! Greetings from Brazil 🇧🇷

[@itsJoNada]

Perfect video at the perfect time. In light of the SD card issues I got that same 2TB drive from Ali and it’s on the way but I REFUSE to start over after all this time getting my Ally just right so cloning is a must. Thanks!

[@user-ep7el6vt7o]

If I just got an rog and just downloaded 40% of a game can I change the ssd without cloning ?!

[@joeygreco1985]

Hey thanks for the tutorial, just upgraded my SSD with no issue.

[@Worgen4ik]

Thanks for the tip, managed to do this but only on 2nd attempt. So far so good

[@notsurewhoiamyet]

Thanks , ive done the whole process !!! You've made it so easy and panic free

[@BodofLegend]

I just did this with the 2230 to 2280 adapter. Skipping the setup was needed. My original ssd was full so the clone and decryption took a while!

[@f00fightrs]

Thanks so much! Your vid was super helpful and made cloning the SSD a virtually painless process.

[@dnesdlrow]

Great guide. Just followed it and it worked flawlessly. You have a very good way of explaining things, thanks!

[@JoeysRetroHandhelds]

Glad it helped!

[@IMPORTEKNIKA]

An absolutely flawless guide! Thank you! 🍻

[@JacobVanasse]

Thank you so much, great guidance throughout this whole process that was very intimidating for me at first. Subbed!

[@Underthanoa]

Joey, thanks so much for sharing this information. I have tried the ASUS Cloud option before and it bloody took forever. This method is simple and straight to the point as well as easy to follow too! Cheers! 😁

[@mengy007]

Great video! I plan on following this when my 2TB gets here. Keep up the great work.

[@frankconsidine5989]

Another heads up if your ram is not 6 or higher you will get error 8

[@mathiaskolleck5969]

Nice Guide, works like a charm for me. Thank You an Greetings from Germany!!!!

[@fsilvamartins]

Thanks a lot! Worked as a charm! At first it didn't recognize the SSD but it worked fine in the end!!🎉🎉

[@Cody-ho8ox]

Thank you so much! I am not a tech guy/PC guy by any stretch. With your video I was able to clone my 512gb SSD and install my new 2tb SSD with ease. I avoided upgrading my SSD due to dreading “starting over”. This was the answer to all my woes lol. Thank you!

[@haven8185]

i think the bitlocker is only enabled if when your setting up your rog ally and you use your live login i didn't use my microsoft login and stayed offline so i think that is why bitlocker didn't setup

[@brodyjames4126]

Really solid video and good pacing.

[@danielguerra4447]

Thank you for the video! super easy to follow just finished cloning my ssd and installed new 2tb wd black ssd. booted up like i never swapped drive. working perfectly! as far as bitlocker, it didnt show up as bitlocker even though it showed it when i first set up ally. it only has option to remove encryption. So i did that and it took about 2hrs. Now if you have a video on emulators for switch, let me know!!

[@matthewdelgadillo9918]

Thank you so much such a time saver and having the ability to back up any of my computers or ally is a blessing

[@ltraltier6009]

What if we already have an external SSD? Why can't we just back up our files to it and not worry about any of this? The only thing to worry about with cloud recovery is setting the fan curves again.

[@ookamibear8071]

Great guide my transfer took awhile to do but got there in the end thanks 👍😁

[@averyreddick5850]

Thanks for the easy step by step guide!

[@JoeysRetroHandhelds]

Glad it was helpful!

[@ezg8448]

Where was this video last week when I installed my 2tb ssd, DOH!

[@bushysowavvey]

I bought a 1tb SSD from MC before the ally even came out, but it’s not enough space. Especially the fact that we have to be extra cautious with the micro SD. I haven’t had any issues so far, but I don’t want to risk it.

[@TheRussell50]

This guide worked perfectly! Thank you!

[@MuhammadLutfiAlAnshory]

Thanks brother! Now my Ally has 2TB Storage, btw it is safe to uninstall the Macrium Software after we use it? I already uninstall it, hoped no problem in the future.

[@JoeysRetroHandhelds]

Hey! Thanks for the support! You can uninstall it no problem, won't be necessary anymore.

[@hobsonsaffiliatedllc8028]

I don't have bitlocker but i hit turn off device encryption on windows 11 setting on rog ally it says description in process and won't let me turn it back on

[@spadz93]

Followed everything, and then when I go to boot the new drive, I get no storage device found. Brand new 990 Evo 2tb

[@Steelbooking541]

Thanks for your help. Worked flawlessly for me!

[@JoeysRetroHandhelds]

Great to hear!

[@DanielRunions]

Very informative man,good work!

[@dennywilliams6444]

This was SUPER helpful! Subscribed.

[@JoeysRetroHandhelds]

Thanks for the sub!

[@Inzpectre]

Thank you for this amazing tutorial Adam Sandler👍 (thats a good thing btw)

[@ThatKidCj23]

So do I need 2 SSD cards? You put one in the enclosure and you put one in the rog ally? Correct?

[@biggusd534]

Awesome, thanks a lot, will try once my new SSD arrives. Great video, gonna subscribe!!

[@ChadKenova]

I just upgraded to a 2tb gen4 for my ally, and I did it the wrong way, doing it all from scratch, and it takes forever. And it didn't want to connect to my wifi when restoring it. Thankfully, I used my phones hotspot and it worked.

[@faisalcsat3301]

Thanks for this method, is more effisien and safe than to use cloud recovery method. BTW I need your Guidence for my case. I have 2TB ROG Ally and ROG Flow Z13 1TB. And I have plan to swap the SSD. For helping this, I have Laptop and HD External 4TB. Any ideas how to swap it?

[@ItsFlawlessGaming]

had my 2t sd card absolutely killed so im doing this now :) i had no idea about the whole sd card slot situation so maybe i should do more research on this big switch computer that i bought lol

[@jeggzzzz]

My ally has w11 Home edition, so no bitlocker features. Just putting it out there in case others are looking for it.

[@carlosnavarro9944]

So does this mean we just skip that step in this tutorial guide? Or is there something else we have to do

[@jeggzzzz]

@@carlosnavarro9944 There's really no way to get to it with the pre-installed home edition, so safe to say yes if it works for you. Unfortunately for me, there was an issue for me with the remote install, so I just installed the OS traditionally with a dock with 3 ports for charging, kbm combo (logitech k600tv) and a bootable windows USB. All works now since then. No issues. So hopefully your remote install works cos that would be the most convenient. PS: I also tried cloning, but the partitions management in windows is a headache so I would've lost valuable space in that new SSD, so I did it that traditional way I mentioned. T. T

[@bellotriggerfish]

This is exactly what I was looking for. Kudos! And shout out for using that background music from Fortnite Flappy Bird. Immediately earned you a LIKE 👍

[@kingbyouchoob2488]

If you dont have BitLocker do you still need to disable the encryption if its "on"

[@BillyXX]

Hi, your windows 11 is pro right? Maybe that why we home edition doesn't have bitlocker option?

[@MikeHedges1993]

JSYK the middle bottom is supposed to stay in the case just get unscrewed. Although I just kept going until it came out lmfao. Great video though!! thank you!

[@infoseek2304]

So what I noticed was that when I upgraded to 1 TB certain games began to stutter. I downloaded CrystalInfo and the NVMe was at 79 degree Celsius. So it was thermal throttling. I switched back to the original one and this one stays under 62 degrees Celsius. So now I know why Asus only offers 512 GB of storage.

[@TheMrJamela]

This was great. Really helpful. Thanks!

[@3ValiD]

I ordered the same exact one for my steam deck and the one for my rog ally should be here in the next couple days both from aliexpress

[@JoeysRetroHandhelds]

It's such a great price.

[@jadedinc1]

I love you tutorial, quick question, I do not have a dock. Will I have enough time to clone on 100percent battery? or should i get a dock?

[@JoeysRetroHandhelds]

Hard to tell, depends on how full, the profile etc. You can certainly try, it doesn't hurt, others have been doing it.

[@JacaboBlanco]

8:45 its not meant to come out.

[@Image-X]

Thanks, dude. Watching your video made me buy a 2tb and a cool enclosure with RGB lights. 😀

[@giannski]

Thank you man I have spotty internet, going to buy a 2tb ssd now!

[@PetrusB83]

Worked as advertised! Cool software. Will definitely use it again. You need an affiliate link 😉

[@haven8185]

yea i had a fresh install like when you first take it out of the box and did what you said it took around 30 minutes to clone the drive thanks for the guide oh yea and bitlocker wasn't even on my rog ally

[@karltangri6926]

Hello, I was wondering do you have a software like Maccirum for the Mac as it does not work on the Mac ? As I already have removed the old standard SSD with all my data on it from the first ROG Ally I had ( PS that’s spoilt now so i have a new one coming) my plan is to attach both the SSD cards to my Mac and then just clone one SSD to the other. So was just wondering if you could recommend a software like Macirum. Awaiting your prompt response. Thank you

[@juniorsegura25]

I have a somewhat rhetorical question. Can you connect the enclosure directly to the ally and clone or do you need to use a seperate PC?

[@danieldiplay]

I recomend to disconnect the battery cable before switching the SSD for security reasons...

[@respond_code3]

Nice!!! I see a lot of people run into a issue when using a new SSD and doing the restore from bios. When it asks for wifi pw to install windows and everything, the keyboard doesnt come up.. I was wondering about cloning. If i did that would i just power on and boom. My ally is exactly as it was like nothing changed. Except more space. I watched 1 video on this and when the Ally resrarted they had a C drive on their 2TB card with the orignal Ally state, and a D drive with all the extra space on their 2TB. I was looking for a video to see how to avoid this. You covered it. Love that you showed us how to make sure its all 1 partition and that when you boot it up its like nothing ever happened. Just right into the desk top ready to rock. I cant give enough thumbs up. I think I'll wait until July 11th to see if there are prime day sales on SSD's

[@BigDaddyKai620]

There used to be a simple option to change your install location of your OS but not no more.

[@OpoSai]

Saved fornlayer when i get money to get an SSD and make it all nice and easy

[@bloadstar]

Also a heads up: If you do this disconnecting the battery, and try to turn it back on without external power, it won't boot. Dont panic. Connect it to power. Wait for the amber led light and then proceed.

[@alexjenkin4216]

There are m.2 2230 to 2280 on Amazon not a lot of ppl have covered them

[@SupaaManix]

Can you do the cloning part after swapping the nVme if you choose to boot from USB in the Bios? I'm asking because I want to get a 2230 size enclosure for the old drive and add a 2280 size nVme to the Ally with an adapter.

[@hnznsyh]

which one is good for rog ally after upgrade ssd, fresh start or clone? please help me

[@mad-0614]

Do you think this same process can be used to clone my boot sata ssd into a nvme?

[@jakesullivan-qk9zd]

Great video man! Very helpful😁 you earned a sub😎👍

[@5CornersInteractive]

How does it know to boot from the cloned drive? Aren’t there bios steps not in this video? Never seen a plug and play windows clone?.

[@JoeysRetroHandhelds]

Every step is in this video works if you follow it directly.

[@5CornersInteractive]

@@JoeysRetroHandhelds currently decrypting even though I didn’t have BitLocker (windows 11 home on my Ally) but I figured I would still decrypt just in case it bricked my old or new SSD

[@1980easyboy]

After the first clone, the new 1TB SSD only had 500GB available. I was actually sure that everything would fit, so I didn't check as recommended in the video. So now I'm doing the operation a second time in the hope that everything will work now. Or is there another way to release the hidden storage space later?

[@JoeysRetroHandhelds]

You skipped the step in the video :)

[@babbayagga4330]

just bought new ssd but dont have money for the enclosures, can i just copy my save game data to micro sd and copy it back once i download my games again?

[@2011jaydog]

How long did it take to clone the drive, I was asking because I have about 70gigs free on my 512m.2 and didn't kno if it would finish before the battery dies or should I do this when I get a dock to have power pass thru and use a USB to do the cloning, didn't kno if it would finish before my battery dies

[@EmperorStorky]

When I tried my PH0 screwdriver it felt if it didn't grip the screw and it was just turning and felt if i push the screwdriver too much it would damage the screw too much. I've heard that the SSD screw needs a PH1 screwdriver.

[@JoeysRetroHandhelds]

I used a PH0 personally, but if 1 works better for you, you can use that.

[@EmperorStorky]

@@JoeysRetroHandhelds well i have to try that whenever my iFixit kit arrives. Not sure if some PH0 are pointier than others as I just used one from a local diy shop.

[@locked01]

Nice video, buddy. Maybe you got to talk about Bitlocker gor too long but anyways, very useful.