Question Disk Cloning VS Reinstall

[Vahlok]

So a bit of context, i'm getting a new SSD and want to run windows and a few programs off it for the boot speed but keep my current HDD for files and what not. My HDD is 1TB (has about 600gb on it) and the SSD is 500GB so wont fit everything. I dont really know much about this so potential dumb questions inc. would you advise a reinstall if so is it just widows or all programs that need to be reinstalled can I just move the programs from HDD to SSD. If cloning is better what software is your go to and is there a way to clone selected things.

 

[ElectrO_90]

What you can do is this - create a partition on the HDD since you have 400gb spare - make it as big as you can
move the files you don't need to clone to that which will make C: smaller than 500gb
Then you can just clone C drive and it will be fine

 

[USAFRet]

There is one and only one way to do "selected things"
A Samsung target SSD, and the Samsung Data Migration tool. It allows you to leave off files and folders for Doc/Music/Video/etc.
However...that can absolutely complicate things by leaving those stuck in the old /User/ folder tree.

It is FAR more pain than doing this clone or full reinstall properly.

For a 500GB SSD, you need to get the actual consumed space to below 400GB.
Then we can talk about cloning it over to the SSD.