Question Changing boot drive from HDD to newly installed SSD

[Loam12]

I've recently purchased the WD BLUE SN570 1tb m.2 drive after using a hard drive only, for the past few years. I would like to also make this my boot drive but the problem is, I've lost my usb drive so I cannot use that to install Windows on it.

Is it possible to just install my nvme drive, and install windows on it, and then select that as my boot drive and then maybe "delete" windows from the hard drive/format it?

I've heard cloning a drive is possible but that can lead to some problems, and I don't really want to copy all the junk over from my hard drive to my nvme.

 

[lvt]

I've heard cloning a drive is possible but that can lead to some problems, and I don't really want to copy all the junk over from my hard drive to my nvme.

A good clone utility will only copy system files and other necessary files.

You also can manually remove all the junk before cloning the drive.

 

[USAFRet]

Either way, cloning or fresh install on the new drive.
You can make a new USB to install with, free.

Give us some details first.

Motherboard?
OS?
Actual consumed space on the current C drive?

A screencap of your current Disk Management window, please.

A clone operation would benefit from you cleaning up the old drive first.

 

[Loam12]

Motherboard: Msi B450 MORTAR
OS: Windows 10

Disk management: https://prnt.sc/sC2wwYF1Ik1n

I wouldn't mind losing all the data in my hard drive if it meant easier operation, re-installing all drivers is slightly annoying but is fine. My flash drive comes tomorrow and I'm just seeing if there is a simple alternative to that before that comes in.

So just to reiterate, can I just install windows straight onto my nvme without a flash drive and then select that as my boot drive in my bios? > then format my hard drive.

 

[SkyNetRising]

Disk management: https://prnt.sc/sC2wwYF1Ik1n

You do not have M.2 drive installed into your pc.
You have to install it first.

 

[USAFRet]

Motherboard: Msi B450 MORTAR
OS: Windows 10

Disk management: https://prnt.sc/sC2wwYF1Ik1n

I wouldn't mind losing all the data in my hard drive if it meant easier operation, re-installing all drivers is slightly annoying but is fine. My flash drive comes tomorrow and I'm just seeing if there is a simple alternative to that before that comes in.

So just to reiterate, can I just install windows straight onto my nvme without a flash drive and then select that as my boot drive in my bios? > then format my hard drive.

A fresh install on the new drive will require a flash drive. 8GB or larger.

A clone from old to new does not, but that will bring along all the old junk from the current install.

 

[USAFRet]

And for a clone operation from the current 1TB HDD to the new 1TB NVMe, you MUST reduce that used space to below 800GB.
IOW....you need to lose at least 150GB of what is on there now.

 

[Loam12]

Thank you all for your replies, Is there a way to clone JUST the operating system and necessary files, (and if there is, will I still have to increase my free space)?
and, can doing this lead to more problems than just a full cloning, or a fresh install from usb drive?

Also, if i opt to just using the usb, will it be better to install windows onto my ssd > format my hdd or format my hdd > install windows onto ssd?

 

[USAFRet]

Thank you all for your replies, Is there a way to clone JUST the operating system and necessary files, (and if there is, will I still have to increase my free space)?
and, can doing this lead to more problems than just a full cloning, or a fresh install from usb drive?

No, sorry.
There is no function or application that will clone "only the OS".

It cannot be split like we all wish it could be.

 

[lvt]

Install your M.2 drive and make sure that it works correctly.

Install Macrium Reflect (Free) and run it to see how many big the backup will be.

Actually your C drive has 950Gb of data, but temporary data like cache, restore files... take a lot of space. The final complete backup might be half that amount as those temporary files will be discarded.

 

[Lafong]

Also, if i opt to just using the usb, will it be better to install windows onto my ssd > format my hdd or format my hdd > install windows onto ssd?

If you intend to do a clean install to the SSD, the HDD should not even be connected.

Do the clean install first.

Then reconnect the HDD and do whatever you want with it....copy files somewhere, format it, whatever.

Imaging is another method of transferring "everything" from the HDD to the SSD...rather than cloning.

If one fails, try the other. Macrium can do both.