Booting windows 7 from SSD and using HDD as storage

[bmcallister]

Hey guys,
I might be purchasing a SSD soon to have it as my boot drive and use my HDD as the storage drive.

This might have been asked before but how do I set up the SDD as the boot drive and HDD as the storage drive without loosing any of the files on my HDD? And only having the OS on the SSD.

I am new to this stuff still so clear step by step instructions would be nice or if someone could point me to a thread would also be helpful.

Thanks in advance

 

[popatim]

There is only 1 program able to move just windows from your HDD to an SSD. It is not free and it does not work 100% of the time.
Its Paragons Migrate OS to SSD.

Your only other option, and the recommended way to begin using your SSD. is to install windows to it from scratch while the HDD is disconnected. From there you can reinstall all your programs (either to the ssd or the hdd) and then reference your data that might be on the HDD. So games such as steam, origin, uplay only require you point the app to the existing games folders to get them to work again. Ie - you tell steam where on the hdd your steam games are after you reinstall steam.

And like most things computer: making a backup before you begin can be a lifesaver.

 

[giantbucket]

how big is your hard drive - or more specifically, how much space are you currently using on your hard drive?
how big of an SSD are you looking at buying?



* a clean install is best, but also most long-winded as you have to reinstall EVERYTHING, including updates which require reboots, all weekend long.

* a system image & restore is slick, but requires a 3rd drive to hold the image and might mean a decent amount of prep work separating your OS from your personal files if your SSD isn't big enough to hold EVERYTHING

* there's 3rd party apps that can clone from HDD to SSD directly, but i've only tried one (EaseUS) and didn't do it right so gave up

 

[LordConrad]

This might have been asked before but how do I set up the SDD as the boot drive and HDD as the storage drive without loosing any of the files on my HDD? And only having the OS on the SSD.

It sounds like you want to change from a one drive setup (your current hard drive) to a two drive setup with the SSD being the boot drive. The safest way is to start fresh.

Make a backup of your hard drive and then disconnect it from your computer. Connect your SSD and Install windows on it. Reconnect your hard drive and delete any partitions on it. Create a new partition on the hard drive and quick format it. Install your programs to the location of your choice (your SSD or your hard drive), then restore your data files from the backup you made of your hard drive.

 

[bmcallister]

how big is your hard drive - or more specifically, how much space are you currently using on your hard drive?
how big of an SSD are you looking at buying?



* a clean install is best, but also most long-winded as you have to reinstall EVERYTHING, including updates which require reboots, all weekend long.

* a system image & restore is slick, but requires a 3rd drive to hold the image and might mean a decent amount of prep work separating your OS from your personal files if your SSD isn't big enough to hold EVERYTHING

* there's 3rd party apps that can clone from HDD to SSD directly, but i've only tried one (EaseUS) and didn't do it right so gave up

My hard drive is a 500gb Western Digital Blue. It has only 20gb left on it (the main reason I want to boot from SSD). I was looking a buying either the 60gb or 120gb Kingston Digital SSD. I don't want anything besides the OS on the SSD. Is it possible to just do a clean install on the SDD and select the boot drive as the SDD in the bios and leave all the files on the hard drive alone. Or will I have to delete the system files on the hard drive as running windows on both the Hard drive and SSD could cause a problem.

 

[bmcallister]

This might have been asked before but how do I set up the SDD as the boot drive and HDD as the storage drive without loosing any of the files on my HDD? And only having the OS on the SSD.

It sounds like you want to change from a one drive setup (your current hard drive) to a two drive setup with the SSD being the boot drive. The safest way is to start fresh.

Make a backup of your hard drive and then disconnect it from your computer. Connect your SSD and Install windows on it. Reconnect your hard drive and delete any partitions on it. Create a new partition on the hard drive and quick format it. Install your programs to the location of your choice (your SSD or your hard drive), then restore your data files from the backup you made of your hard drive.

Okay, what do you mean by partitions and also quick format? Sorry still new to this.

 

[giantbucket]

skip 60G (too small, realistically) and skip Kingston. they did a nasty bait-n-switch on their V300. plenty of other good affordable 120G options, though.

if you're doing a clean install, UNPLUG your hard drive during that whole process. you may have to do some clean-up of your hard drive after the SSD is up and running, since there might be a few conflicts at first. i've not had the displeasure of that since i've kept my OS separate from my data since around 2006 (learned that by playing with Linux back in those days).

if you happen to be in Ottawa, i can help you out as i find this sort of stuff kinda fun to do.

 

[bmcallister]

skip 60G (too small, realistically) and skip Kingston. they did a nasty bait-n-switch on their V300. plenty of other good affordable 120G options, though.

if you're doing a clean install, UNPLUG your hard drive during that whole process. you may have to do some clean-up of your hard drive after the SSD is up and running, since there might be a few conflicts at first. i've not had the displeasure of that since i've kept my OS separate from my data since around 2006 (learned that by playing with Linux back in those days).

if you happen to be in Ottawa, i can help you out as i find this sort of stuff kinda fun to do.

Alright, what about Corsair Force Series LS 120GB. After doing the clean install on the SSD will I be able to leave all the files on the hard drive? My main concern would be loosing all of my files that are stored on my hard drive.

 

[giantbucket]

i've used a Corsair Force 3 a while ago and it was great. oddly enough, amongst the SSDs that i have and use, no two are from the same manufacturer - just turns out like that!

if you do a clean install onto the SSD, and assuming you keep your original HDD disconnected during that whole process, then yeah you'll still have access to your files such as your pics, movies, documents, etc. you'll have to resolve the conflict of having the OS on both drives at once when you plug your HDD back in, but once you're past that it's just a data drive. i haven't had to do that in years, though, so i'm not sure what the best steps would be to resolve that OS conflict.

 

[bmcallister]

i've used a Corsair Force 3 a while ago and it was great. oddly enough, amongst the SSDs that i have and use, no two are from the same manufacturer - just turns out like that!

if you do a clean install onto the SSD, and assuming you keep your original HDD disconnected during that whole process, then yeah you'll still have access to your files such as your pics, movies, documents, etc. you'll have to resolve the conflict of having the OS on both drives at once when you plug your HDD back in, but once you're past that it's just a data drive. i haven't had to do that in years, though, so i'm not sure what the best steps would be to resolve that OS conflict.

Thank you for the information, I found many threads explaining how to resolve that conflict. Most say it is as simple as setting the SSD as the primary boot drive in the bios, now I understand this a bit more and I purchase the Corsair Force 3. I can't wait to have it up and running!

 

[madmatt30]

i've used a Corsair Force 3 a while ago and it was great. oddly enough, amongst the SSDs that i have and use, no two are from the same manufacturer - just turns out like that!

if you do a clean install onto the SSD, and assuming you keep your original HDD disconnected during that whole process, then yeah you'll still have access to your files such as your pics, movies, documents, etc. you'll have to resolve the conflict of having the OS on both drives at once when you plug your HDD back in, but once you're past that it's just a data drive. i haven't had to do that in years, though, so i'm not sure what the best steps would be to resolve that OS conflict.

Thank you for the information, I found many threads explaining how to resolve that conflict. Most say it is as simple as setting the SSD as the primary boot drive in the bios, now I understand this a bit more and I purchase the Corsair Force 3. I can't wait to have it up and running!

just what i did mate in the past.
I did a clean install on my ssd when upgrading & then went though my platter hdd manually tidying it up afterwards
When you fresh install windows on your new ssd,remove the sata plug from your old hdd before to avoid any confusion & plug it back in once you have your ssd up & running with windows.
also be sure to set sata mode to ahci in bios before installing windows on your ssd.