Question external vs internal SSD

[BorZafror]

recently got a computer from a famiy member and the C drive only has 200GB of storage, i have more then enough storage space on external USB drives but they cant run .exe files very well especially video games so i need a new SSD

should i buy an external or internal one? is there a meaningful difference in speed? obviously an external SSD would be way easier to work with and im not very tech savy but im willing to work with an internal one if needed
my main problem is that a lot of apps are forced to be on an SSD and ones that dont keep crashing when i install them on a USB drive

and can you transfer the OS from one SSD to another? a lot of apps are forcing the install location to be on the same drive as the OS so if install a new SSD can i safely transfer it to it?
and is it secure to put the OS on an external drive?

 

[USAFRet]

Internal drive, no question.

Transfer the OS? Given certain conditions, yes, this can be done.

No you do NOT want to try to put the OS on an external drive. At all.

Details of your system, please.
Make/model of everything.

 

[triplex1]

If there is a USB 3 or USB C connection, there is not much difference, from there on it is a matter of price.

 

[BorZafror]

Internal drive, no question.

Transfer the OS? Given certain conditions, yes, this can be done.

No you do NOT want to try to put the OS on an external drive. At all.

Details of your system, please.
Make/model of everything.

yeah as i guessed it wouldnt be a good idea to put the OS in an external drive

OS edition: Windows 10 Pro
Version: 22H2
CPU: Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-4770 CPU @ 3.40GHz
RAM: 16GB
if you need anymore info let me know, any recommendations for SSDs around 1-2TB? no specific budget but i would obviously prefer something cost efficient.

 

[USAFRet]

yeah as i guessed it wouldnt be a good idea to put the OS in an external drive

OS edition: Windows 10 Pro
Version: 22H2
CPU: Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-4770 CPU @ 3.40GHz
RAM: 16GB
if you need anymore info let me know, any recommendations for SSDs around 1-2TB? no specific budget but i would obviously prefer something cost efficient.

What specific motherboard?

For something of that vintage, a SATA III SSD will likely be fine.
Crucial MX500 would be a logical choice.

 

[wyliec2]

What specific motherboard?

For something of that vintage, a SATA III SSD will likely be fine.
Crucial MX500 would be a logical choice.

Often SATA SSD pricing is not much different then Gen3/Gen4 NVMe drives. SATA-NVMe adapters are relatively cheap.

You may not get any advantage now, but a future upgrade/build will likely be able to benefit from NVMe. I have a stack of SATA SSDs on the shelf...most builds I've done over the past several years are all NVMe.

 

[USAFRet]

Often SATA SSD pricing is not much different then Gen3/Gen4 NVMe drives. SATA-NVMe adapters are relatively cheap.

You may not get any advantage now, but a future upgrade/build will likely be able to benefit from NVMe. I have a stack of SATA SSDs on the shelf...most builds I've done over the past several years are all NVMe.

In addition to the NVMes, I carry over the SATA III SSDs.
Some are getting ready to into their 3rd system.

 

[chillhouse1]

you can fix your ssd without replacing it, just run system file checker in cmd command prompt as admin, type: sfc /scannow

 

[USAFRet]

you can fix your ssd without replacing it, just run system file checker in cmd command prompt as admin, type: sfc /scannow

The only thing 'wrong' with the drive in question is lack of space.

Nothing to be 'fixed'.

 

[USAFRet]

Often SATA SSD pricing is not much different then Gen3/Gen4 NVMe drives. SATA-NVMe adapters are relatively cheap.

You may not get any advantage now, but a future upgrade/build will likely be able to benefit from NVMe. I have a stack of SATA SSDs on the shelf...most builds I've done over the past several years are all NVMe.

Not all systems of that vintage can boot from an NVMe in a PCIe slot adapter.

 

[chillhouse1]

The only thing 'wrong' with the drive in question is lack of space.

Nothing to be 'fixed'.

yes, he can use another drive, and also fix the exe issue

 

[USAFRet]

yes, he can use another drive, and also fix the exe issue

The "exe issue" would seem to just be lack of space.

 

[chillhouse1]

The "exe issue" would seem to just be lack of space.

yeah, sure low disk space cause problems

 

[USAFRet]

Once you get whatever drive....

-----------------------------
Specific steps for a successful clone operation:
-----------------------------
Verify the actual used space on the current drive is significantly below the size of the new SSD
Both drives must be the same partitioning scheme, either MBR or GPT
Download and install Macrium Reflect (or Samsung Magician (which includes Data Migration), if a Samsung target SSD)
If you are cloning from a SATA drive to PCIe/NVMe, you may need to install the relevant driver for this new NVMe/PCIe drive.
Power off
Disconnect ALL drives except the current C and the new SSD
Power up

Verify the system boots with ONLY the current "C drive" connected.
If not, we have to fix that first.

Run the Macrium Reflect (or Samsung Data Migration)
Select ALL the partitions on the existing C drive

[Ignore this section if using the SDM. It does this automatically]
If you are going from a smaller drive to a larger, by default, the target partition size will be the same as the Source. You probably don't want that
You can manipulate the size of the partitions on the target (larger)drive
Click on "Cloned Partition Properties", and you can specify the resulting partition size, to even include the whole thing
[/end ignore]

Click the 'Clone' button
Wait until it is done
When it finishes, power off
Disconnect ALL drives except for the new SSD. This is not optional.
This is to allow the system to try to boot from ONLY the SSD

(swapping cables is irrelevant with NVMe drives, but DO disconnect the old drive for this next part)
Swap the SATA cables around so that the new drive is connected to the same SATA port as the old drive
Power up, and verify the BIOS boot order
If good, continue the power up

It should boot from the new drive, just like the old drive.
Maybe reboot a time or two, just to make sure.

If it works, and it should, all is good.

Later, reconnect the old drive and wipe all partitions on it.
This will probably require the commandline diskpart function, and the clean command.

Ask questions if anything is unclear.
-----------------------------

 

[BorZafror]

What specific motherboard?

For something of that vintage, a SATA III SSD will likely be fine.
Crucial MX500 would be a logical choice.

do i necesserely need to transfer the OS to a bigger drive or can i just buy a new SSD for apps? do certain apps need to be on the same SSD as the OS or do you only need an SSD? and assuming they dont can executables comfortably run on an external SSD considering the possibility for it to disconnect?

if i can just transfer all my apps to an external SSD without touching the OS i'll happily do that

 

[Moonstick2]

do i necesserely need to transfer the OS to a bigger drive or can i just buy a new SSD for apps? do certain apps need to be on the same SSD as the OS or do you only need an SSD? and assuming they dont can executables comfortably run on an external SSD considering the possibility for it to disconnect?

Define need.

For one thing, you wouldn't be able to just copy the files over to a separate SSD. You'd need to uninstall each app and then install it on the new SSD or you'll almost certainly run into problems.

Then, even though it shouldn't technically be a problem, even now Windows/some apps still sometimes have issues due to assuming they're all installed on the same drive (which is expected to be called C: ).

Placing apps on an external drive is multiplying the chance of issues by a decent factor. Removable drives are treated differently and behave differently.

So you don't need to transfer the OS or have the apps on the same drive, but you'll be very lucky not to regularly run into annoying issues if you don't do it that way, even more so if you try running all your apps from an external drive. And cloning OS + apps to a bigger internal drive is likely to easier and faster than uninstalling/reinstalling your apps.

 

[USAFRet]

do i necesserely need to transfer the OS to a bigger drive or can i just buy a new SSD for apps? do certain apps need to be on the same SSD as the OS or do you only need an SSD? and assuming they dont can executables comfortably run on an external SSD considering the possibility for it to disconnect?

if i can just transfer all my apps to an external SSD without touching the OS i'll happily do that

No, you can't just move your applications to a different drive.
Either internal or externnal.

Replacing your current OS drive with something larger is likely easier, and absolutely more stable.

Lastly, OS and applications really need to go on the same drive. There is little reason to split them up.