How to get Windows 8 onto an SSD from an HDD

[Adrien Chaussabel]

Can I move Windows 8 from an HDD onto an SSD? I want to move it by itself, not everything else on the Hard Drive. If so how? Also, alternively, can I deactivate Windows 8 on my Hard Drive and then reinstall it onto my SDD and make the SSD the boot device (All of this being done with an OEM disk).

 

[The_Prophecy]

The only way to move it is to clone the drive, which means moving everything. It is not possible to use a cloning tool on a drive and only move the Windows install. Cloning programs work exclusively at the sector level rather than the file system level (at least, that's what you need to do in order for the clone to really work properly).

You can't deactivate your old copy of Windows either, like you would with a copy of an Adobe product such as Acrobat Pro. When they say in the license agreement that you must remove the old copy of Windows that is using your existing license key, they mean format the old drive.

 

[Adrien Chaussabel]

The only way to move it is to clone the drive, which means moving everything. It is not possible to use a cloning tool on a drive and only move the Windows install. Cloning programs work exclusively at the sector level rather than the file system level (at least, that's what you need to do in order for the clone to really work properly).

You can't deactivate your old copy of Windows either, like you would with a copy of an Adobe product such as Acrobat Pro. When they say in the license agreement that you must remove the old copy of Windows that is using your existing license key, they mean format the old drive.

What if my hard drive has more stuff than my SSD can hold?

 

[The_Prophecy]

Then the clone won't work and you will have no choice but to reinstall a fresh copy of Windows and transfer everything manually.

 

[PinchedNerve]

Or delete enough stuff to allow the cloning. Sounds like you should just clean install the SSD & then use the HDD for storage & all your data is already there. Just delete the windows folder on the HDD, or even find where the data is on the HDD that you want to keep & delete everything else on it after you've clean installed the SSD

 

[Adrien Chaussabel]

Or delete enough stuff to allow the cloning. Sounds like you should just clean install the SSD & then use the HDD for storage & all your data is already there. Just delete the windows folder on the HDD, or even find where the data is on the HDD that you want to keep & delete everything else on it after you've clean installed the SSD

Would I need a new Windows 8 disk to clean install?

 

[PinchedNerve]

You may be able to download a Win8 ISO from Microsoft (used to be able to) and burn it to a DVD then use that as long as you have a valid Win8 key.

 

[The_Prophecy]

You may be able to download a Win8 ISO from Microsoft (used to be able to) and burn it to a DVD then use that as long as you have a valid Win8 key.

The link for that site is:

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-8/upgrade-product-key-only