[SOLVED] How can i make a ssd into a boot drive?

[Masterofbtd5]

I bought a 240gb sata ssd from cruical and i thought if it would be possible to make it just for booting windows and some precious files. my hard drive already is like 6 years old and its very slow to boot. I can't put all my files to the ssd because i already use 213gb.

 

[USAFRet]

I bought a 240gb sata ssd from cruical and i thought if it would be possible to make it just for booting windows and some precious files. my hard drive already is like 6 years old and its very slow to boot. I can't put all my files to the ssd because i already use 213gb.

If you can reduce that current consumed space to below 200GB, you can probably maybe clone it ALL to the SSD.
Otherwise, a clean install on the new drive.

But...if the data on the HDD is not in pristine condition, cloning may not be a good idea.
If there are any issues, you'd just be moving those issues from old drive to new.

When was the last time you did a clean install on the HDD?

 

[Masterofbtd5]

The Had drive was from a windows 7 computer my Mother had. I had linux at the time and i switched to windos 10 a year ago. I couldnt upgrade because there was a problem with windows 7 but i put almost every personal file on to that drive
this drive now is a newly installed (not upgraded from 7) windows

 

[USAFRet]

The Had drive was from a windows 7 computer my Mother had. I had linux at the time and i switched to windos 10 a year ago. I couldnt upgrade because there was a problem with windows 7 but i put almost every personal file on to that drive
this drive now is a newly installed (not upgraded from 7) windows

It is currently Win 10?

1. That personal data NEEDS a backup, no matter what you're doing.
2. If you can reduce the actual consumed space to below 200GB, cloning might be a possibility. (detailed steps to follow if you want to go down that road)

What is the make/model of the SSD and motherboard?

 

[Masterofbtd5]

I already most these files on a cloud.
I might can free up space because i didnt look at everything , i just chucked the pictures, videos,documents and the Desktop folder which is like 90 gb (mostly videos and pictures tho)

The Motherboard is the Asus M5A99X EVO R2.0
The ssd is a Crucial BX500 240GB CT240BX500SSD1(Z)

 

[USAFRet]

Under 200GB, then cloning is an option.

Otherwise, a full install on the new drive. Including drivers, applications, etc.

 

[USAFRet]

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Specific steps for a successful clone operation:
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Verify the actual used space on the current drive is significantly below the size of the new SSD
Download and install Macrium Reflect (or Samsung Data Migration, if a Samsung SSD)
If you are cloning from a SATA drive to PCIe/NVMe, 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
Run the Macrium Reflect (or Samsung Data Migration)
Select ALL the partitions on the existing C drive

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 specifiy the resulting partition size, to even include the whole thing

Click the 'Clone' button
Wait until it is done
When it finishes, power off
Disconnect ALL drives except for the new SSD
This is to allow the system to try to boot from ONLY the SSD
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.
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