How do I link my SSD boot drive with my HDD?

[Ashton Costa]

I just migrated my OS (Windows 7) to an SSD. I can still boot from the HDD without any issues, and I can boot from the SSD but have many problems. It is essentially blank. I have a blank desktop, no programs installed, User profile is empty, etc. How can I have the SSD OS access everything I had on my old Windows install from the HDD?

 

[rgd1101]

how did you "migrated"?

 

[thently]

Usea program like Ezgig or something like that to make an image to the SSD.

Thent

 

[bgunner]

Assuming you have enough space on the SSD to move all files from the HDD over you need to "clone" the drive. you can use Clonezilla to do this. It is a free program and does a good job.

If you do not have enough room on the SSD you will need to reinstall all programs and you can move all user data over into the program from the HDD. Obviously leaving some things off, you can put them on any kind of removable media and reformat the drive if you wish.

 

[Ashton Costa]

I used the "Migrate OS to SSD" feature of Paragon Hard Disk Manager 15.
@bgunner the SSD is only 120 GB, the HDD is 1 TB. My plan was to use the SSD as a boot drive with a few key programs on it, and have everything else on the HDD. I was hoping there would be a way to link the drives so that the OS install on the SSD can access the programs and info from the HDD without reinstalling everything?

 

[bgunner]

not totally possible. It is possible run some programs that are installed on a separate HDD after a reinstall or a different machine but some will give issues and will be unusable. Most of your programs will need to be reinstalled to work properly.

I recommend that you save all info you want to a different media and reformat the 1 TB drive. start fresh and install your programs this way if you need to change/reinstall the OS everything will be safe on the HDD.