Venue 11 Pro 7140 SSD Upgrade

I was able to upgrade my Dell Venue 11 Pro 7140 from 64GB to 256GB (Transcend TS256GMTS600).  Here is the procedure I used, as best I remember them from my notes:

1. Make a system image. Control Panel\All Control Panel Items\Backup and Restore (Windows 7) : Create a system Image.  Save it to a microSD card on the tablet.

2.  Create a Recovery USB flash drive. Control Panel\All Control Panel Items\Recovery: Create a recovery drive. Check “Back up system files” Wait until drive is created.

3.  Shut down tablet. Remove old SSD.  Install new SSD.  Do not format or partition it.

4. Power on tablet. After vibration, hold volume up button.  Tablet will go into one-time Boot menu.  In Other options, Change Boot Mode Settings: select UEFI Boot, Secure Boot OFF.  Under UEFI Boot: select the USB drive.

5.  Tablet should boot to Recovery Environment on USB.  Select  Troubleshoot, then Advanced Options, then System Image Recovery. Find the system image on the SD card. “Next”, “Finish”, and “Yes” your way through the screens until the process starts. 

6.  When it is done, it should boot back into your lock screen, just like the old one. 

7. Use a partition program to merge your unallocated space with your C: drive.  I used AOMEI Partition Assistant.  Very easy.

Of course, this is a simplified version of the tortured path I took to get here, but I believe this is everything important.  A couple of times I got errors that went away after a second try.