[SOLVED] How do I migrate Windows 10 to a new HDD/SSD without cloning and no install disc?

[Uraneum]

I have two PCs, each with Windows 10 Home 64-bit linked to its own Microsoft account. Each are running Windows on a 1TB HDD right now. One I'd like to simply switch from the current HDD to another 1TB HDD, and the other I'd like to upgrade to a 2TB SSD with a UEFI-based partition.

I do not have any install discs and I really do not want to use cloning software. One HDD is already very old and I'm afraid it'll die in the process of cloning, and the other I don't even think would work because I want to switch to UEFI partition. I'm really at a loss here because every article/tutorial/video I go to just tells me to clone the drive. This forum has always been an absolute savior in my time of need, so I'm coming here to ask: What do I do? What are my options? Thank you in advance.

 

[punkncat]

Go online and download the install from Microsoft onto a USB.

Take the time NOW to transfer all the items you want to keep, particularly off the possibly failing drive, to an external drive and/or purchase from drive space from the various cloud options for a month or even permanently.

 

[Uraneum]

Go online and download the install from Microsoft onto a USB.

Take the time NOW to transfer all the items you want to keep, particularly off the possibly failing drive, to an external drive and/or purchase from drive space from the various cloud options for a month or even permanently.

Thanks for your response, and I apologize but I'm not sure if I'm looking at the right page. https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows10 I assume I follow the steps listed here?

 

[punkncat]

^that's the spot

 

[wpgwpg]

The site in your link will download the MCT (Media Creation Kit), which is the tool you will run to download the install files to a USB flash drive or DVD.
I guess you know that doing it this way means that you'll need to reinstall all of your apps. Since you don't want to clone, you could use a backup/restore utility to avoid having to reinstall. I've been using the free version of Macrium Reflect for this, but there are numerous others as well.