HDD to SSD

[agentcal]

Hello all. My build is 2 years old. I have a 1TB HDD. I bought a 256gb Samsung EVO SSD which has the cloning software. I have about 200gb of data (windows 8 included). My docs/pics are in cloud storage and im not worried about losing anything. I can redownload Steam games if need be. My plan was to install the SSD and reinstall windows 8 to SSD. I think i can clone since the SSD has more capacity than my current 200gb of data....any suggestions?

 

[Mattios]

Yes you can do that...

Do you have any more questions?

 

[USAFRet]

You might want to trim down that used space a little. IIRC, the Samsung migration tool will choke if you are above 200GB.

 

[agentcal]

As far as cloning goes what do I do? Install samsung software BEFORE installing SSD. Thats what the instructions say but I want to be sure. Will have any issues with saving some programs and data to SSD vs HDD in the future? I want to use the SSD for windows 8 and steam and HDD for other programs like office, etc. I use office 365 and save data to cloud

 

[Mattios]

If 'thats what the instructions say' then I would suggest they are correct because they, you know, probably know what they're talking about. I can't answer your second question.

 

[agentcal]

Thanks for the replies...I can get the used space down to 150gb

 

[USAFRet]

As far as cloning goes what do I do? Install samsung software BEFORE installing SSD. Thats what the instructions say but I want to be sure. Will have any issues with saving some programs and data to SSD vs HDD in the future? I want to use the SSD for windows 8 and steam and HDD for other programs like office, etc. I use office 365 and save data to cloud

Those instructions specifically refer to cloning the old drive to the new.
You install that on the existing system, then clone to the new SSD.

Personally, I always recommend a clean install on a new SSD. Far fewer hassles.

 

[agentcal]

By clean you mean just reinstall OS to SSD? That was my original plan. If I do that though I will have to reinstall everything correct? Anti virus, and other programs.

 

[USAFRet]

By clean you mean just reinstall OS to SSD? That was my original plan. If I do that though I will have to reinstall everything correct? Anti virus, and other programs.

Yes, exactly.

 

[agentcal]

I reinstalled OS to SSD and works fine. Its only a 256gb SSD. I have a 1TB HDD. What programs and data should stay on SSD or go to HDD? I want windows and steam to be on SSD. What about antivirus, office and things like that?

 

[USAFRet]

I reinstalled OS to SSD and works fine. Its only a 256gb SSD. I have a 1TB HDD. What programs and data should stay on SSD or go to HDD? I want windows and steam to be on SSD. What about antivirus, office and things like that?

The OS, and probably ALL of your applications, apart from multiple large games.
My 120GB drive has Win 8.1 Pro, MS Office, Adobe Lightroom, Corel VideoStudio, etc, etc, etc.....Plenty of space left.

What really takes up space would be the 35GB music library, and the 1TB video library. Those live elsewhere.

 

[agentcal]

I may just keep steam and all my games on HDD for capacity purposes. Movies and music on HDD as well.

 

[USAFRet]

I may just keep steam and all my games on HDD for capacity purposes. Movies and music on HDD as well.

Steam client on the SSD. You can designate other location for the actual games.

 

[agentcal]

I may just keep steam and all my games on HDD for capacity purposes. Movies and music on HDD as well.

Steam client on the SSD. You can designate other location for the actual games.

 

[agentcal]

I just saw Steam has the option...thanks for your help. One last thing...i disconnected HDD before installing SSD...when i plug that HDD back in to format it will i screw anything up since it still has data?

 

[USAFRet]

I just saw Steam has the option...thanks for your help. One last thing...i disconnected HDD before installing SSD...when i plug that HDD back in to format it will i screw anything up since it still has data?

Not at all. Just be sure you also remove the System Reserved partition from the HDD. Just formatting the drive won't necessarily do that.
And verify that the SSD is first in the boot chain.