Question Can it cause problems to boot the PC without my HDD ?

[Gokhannn]

So i have an SSD which Windows is installed on and 2 x HDDs. I will upgrade 1 HDD and clone it on to a new HDD, but i don't have a 4th sata slot on my mobo so i need to take off 1 HDD which a lot of programs and games are installed on and my downloads folder is also on the HDD i will take out. can this cause problems ?

 

[USAFRet]

So i have an ssd which windows is installed in and 2 hdds. I will upgrade 1 hdd and clone it into a new hdd, but i dont have a 4th sata slot on mobo so i need to take off 1 hdd which a lot of programs and games are installed inside and my downloads folder is also inside the hdd i will take out. can this cause problems ?

SSD
HDD 1
HDD 2

What motherboard do you have that only has 3x SATA ports?

 

[Gokhannn]

SSD
HDD 1
HDD 2

What motherboard do you have that only has 3x SATA ports?

it has 4 but i cant use 1 bc my gpu blocks it

 

[Gokhannn]

>I will upgrade 1 hdd and clone it into a new hdd, but i dont have a 4th sata slot on mobo so i need to take off 1 hdd

Get a SATA->USB adapter per below. Connect new HDD to adapter; it will appear in Windows as new drive; partition it w/ Windows Disk Mgmt. Then just do file copy all files from old to new HDD. Cloning or image copy will also copy partition structure from old to new, which you don't want.

https://amazon.com/s?k=sata+usb+ac+adapter

After file copy, and installing new HDD in place of old, use Disk Mgmt to re-use old HDD's drive letter for new HDD.

SATA->USB and NVMe->USB adapters are cheap, and very handy for situations like this, plus for data recovery and troubleshooting uses.

Wouldn't it be extremely slow though ?

 

[USAFRet]

Wouldn't it be extremely slow though ?

Slow is better than not at all.

Give us a screencap of the current Disk Management window.

 

[USAFRet]

Cloning or image copy will also copy partition structure from old to new, which you don't want.

In Macrium Reflect, you can fix that during the clone process.

 

[USAFRet]

So i have an ssd which windows is installed in and 2 hdds. I will upgrade 1 hdd and clone it into a new hdd, but i dont have a 4th sata slot on mobo so i need to take off 1 hdd which a lot of programs and games are installed inside and my downloads folder is also inside the hdd i will take out. can this cause problems ?

What specific drives are you working with?
Please list ALL. Existing, and the new one.

 

[Gokhannn]

What specific drives are you working with?
Please list ALL. Existing, and the new one.

mx500 1tb ssd wd blue 2tb and wd blue 4tb

 

[Gokhannn]

Slow is better than not at all.

Give us a screencap of the current Disk Management window.

yeah ofc if it wouldnt cause problems i would prefer faster method thats why i asked and new hdd is wd blue 8tb btw

https://imgur.com/a/wMszVtW

View: https://imgur.com/a/wMszVtW

 

[USAFRet]

Which one are you changing for the new 8TB?

 

[Gokhannn]

Which one are you changing for the new 8TB?

im still not sure but i think 4tb. 4tb is 5400rpm and 2tb is 7200rpm and new one is also 5640. I install my non heavy games into hdd and what i can see from videos there is diffrence between 5400 and 7200 in loading times . 4tb is just media/backup drive so prob that

 

[USAFRet]

im still not sure but i think 4tb. 4tb is 5400rpm and 2tb is 7200rpm and new one is also 5640. I install my non heavy games into hdd and what i can see from videos there is diffrence between 5400 and 7200 in loading times . 4tb is just media/backup drive so prob that

Well, for a detailed "how", we kinda need to know the "what".

But, as these are not OS drives, you can do a simple Copy/Paste.
Not all the folders/files at once. Just do 'some of it'.

But as long as the folder structure ends up the same, and the new drive ends up with the same drive letter...it will work.

 

[Gokhannn]

Well, for a detailed "how", we kinda need to know the "what".

But, as these are not OS drives, you can do a simple Copy/Paste.
Not all the folders/files at once. Just do 'some of it'.

But as long as the folder structure ends up the same, and the new drive ends up with the same drive letter...it will work.

so i can just unplug one or should i use sata to usb ?

 

[USAFRet]

so i can just unplug one or should i use sata to usb ?

Disconnect the one you want to keep.
Connect the new 8TB.

Carefully, Copy/Paste (not Move) to the new 8TB.
Disconnect the old, reconnect the other one you wish to keep.
In Disk Management, change the Drive letter for the 8TB to what the other drive was.

Done properly, the OS will never know the difference.

 

[Gokhannn]

Disconnect the one you want to keep.
Connect the new 8TB.

Carefully, Copy/Paste (not Move) to the new 8TB.
Disconnect the old, reconnect the other one you wish to keep.
In Disk Management, change the Drive letter for the 8TB to what the other drive was.

Done properly, the OS will never know the difference.

thank you cant award best answer idk why but thanks for your help

 

[USAFRet]

thank you cant award best answer idk why but thanks for your help

Try it now.