How to migrate a Windows 10 installation from HDD to SSD

[TheDarkOne198]

I will soon be buying an SSD,likely an 850 Evo for the purpose of putting my Win10 installation on it (unless someone can recommend something just as good for a lower price and I am sure 64GB will be fine for an OS installation too). I have heard you can use the reset windows feature to change the installation path and put it on another drive. The question is,will I then have two installations,one on the SSD and one on the HDD? Or should I use the installation media I created,on a USB stick? That sounds like it will be two installations with that method too. Is the reset feature and/or installer smart enough to realize you have it on a HDD in the same system and basically label all the old OS info as free space or something?

I have read this:

Can I reinstall Windows 10 on my computer after upgrading?

Yes. Once you’ve upgraded to Windows 10 using the free upgrade offer, you will be able to reinstall, including a clean install, on the same device. You won’t need a product key for re-activations on the same hardware. If you make a meaningful change to your hardware, you may need to contact customer support to help with activation. You’ll also be able to create your own installation media like a USB drive or DVD, and use that to upgrade your device or reinstall after you’ve upgraded.

Does adding a SSD into the environment and installing the OS constitute a "meaningful change"? I have heard of the EaseUS migration software,that has a trial that I can make use of for this,too. I just wonder if it will also break activation if I use that method. I really dont want to buy an activation key,just to move to an SSD. Is there a method of doing this easily and without any headaches?

 

[USAFRet]

You upgraded from a qualifying activated OS?
It should end up activated, even after a clean install. Mine did.

What did you start with, how did you do the Upgrade, and how did you do the clean install?

Yes I am on activated windows 10 booted from HDD right now. I started with windows 8.1 and upgraded through windows updates all on the HDD. I then got the media creation tool and made a windows 10 home bootable usb which I used to install onto my SSD. Then when I go through I leave to Key blank and continue. Then when I look at the activation page it says my key is blocked. I've successfully clean installed on the HDD but can't get the activation to transfer to SSD.
Do I need to format the HDD so the SSD is the only one with the OS? When making the USB there are options for windows 10 home, home N, and home (single language). Do I need a specific one of those?

When you upgraded using the USB drive, it should not have asked for the license key. At all.
I'm thinking that you booted from the USB and installed?

That was not the correct way.
Start your existing Windows 8.1. On the USB, find the file setup.exe
Run that
This upgrades the OS on your current drive.
Then you can come back and do a clean install on the SSD.

 

[spendlove57]

When you upgraded using the USB drive, it should not have asked for the license key. At all.
I'm thinking that you booted from the USB and installed?

That was not the correct way.
Start your existing Windows 8.1. On the USB, find the file setup.exe
Run that
This upgrades the OS on your current drive.
Then you can come back and do a clean install on the SSD.

So I need to already have windows 8.1 on the SSD? Because I did the standard way of upgrading on the HDD went through that without a hitch. Then from my windows 10 HDD made the USB and booted into it and did a clean install on the SSD.

 

[USAFRet]

When you upgraded using the USB drive, it should not have asked for the license key. At all.
I'm thinking that you booted from the USB and installed?

That was not the correct way.
Start your existing Windows 8.1. On the USB, find the file setup.exe
Run that
This upgrades the OS on your current drive.
Then you can come back and do a clean install on the SSD.

So I need to already have windows 8.1 on the SSD? Because I did the standard way of upgrading on the HDD went through that without a hitch. Then from my windows 10 HDD made the USB and booted into it and did a clean install on the SSD.

No....you upgraded the system on the old drive, right?
That is all you needed to do. Is it saying activated?
If so, then you can swap drives and to a clean install on the SSD.

Disconnect all drives except the SSD, boot from the USB you made, install.

 

[TheDarkOne198]

wait,is he wanting to do the same thing I was wanting too? Install windows 10 on an HDD,put an SSD in and then do a clean install on it that is active? Thats what I wanted to do.

 

[Harry_3]

Please chime in on this question. What if you purchase an enclosure for a hard drive with a USB connection, put the SSD in the enclosure, cloned the HDD to the SSD, then installed the SSD in the computer. Any issues with this?

 

[USAFRet]

Please chime in on this question. What if you purchase an enclosure for a hard drive with a USB connection, put the SSD in the enclosure, cloned the HDD to the SSD, then installed the SSD in the computer. Any issues with this?

That should work no problem.
That is basically what happens with the sometimes included SATA cable with a Samsung SSD.
USB on one end, and SATA power and data on the other end. The PC sees it as the same thing as what you suggest.

 

[docbillnet]

Adding an SSD is no problem.
"Meaningful change" would be the motherboard.

All you have to do is after you get it on the SSD, remove the OS from the old drive.

Unfortunately not true. About 2 weeks after upgrading my sons laptop I decided to migrate him to an SSD. The reason being his HDD was failing. Because it was failing the migration software than came with the drive would not work. In fact every method I tried to migrate failed because of the source drive errors. So I finally just did a fresh windows install on the new hard drive. Guess what. Despite what Microsoft claims, it won't activate. Windows seems to have decided it is a new computer, because the primary hard drive has changed. It doesn't even matter if I have the original hard drive connected via USB...

So no, you can't easily migrate to an SSD with windows 10. At least not if your source drive has errors.

 

[docbillnet]

When you upgraded using the USB drive, it should not have asked for the license key. At all.
I'm thinking that you booted from the USB and installed?

That was not the correct way.
Start your existing Windows 8.1. On the USB, find the file setup.exe
Run that
This upgrades the OS on your current drive.
Then you can come back and do a clean install on the SSD.

No dice. I had upgraded my sons laptop from 8.1 to 10 and activated two weeks before doing a clean install to an SSD. That still didn't stop the key from being blocked...

 

[docbillnet]

I think I can find a migration path to the SSD. I did not try chkdsk /r from the original HDD to see if that would clean up the errors and allow migration to work. However, the really sad part about this is if it turns out this is the only way to install a new drive, in the advent a sudden complete drive failure, you'll have no migration path to a new hard drive....

 

[TheDarkOne198]

I would say,in a drive failure scenario,it would be best to pay a local service to do it,as if they need a new CD key,they likely will get one as part of their service.It would do no good to give you a computer that is not activated,after servicing it. I am likely going to do that in the coming year or so,when I upgrade to the Zen CPU,assuming its not a flop. Microsoft needs to have some kind of built in software that is intended to let you upgrade your mobo (perhaps by making you select the very model mobo you are going to use and maybe typing in a serial number of the motherboard or something) in order to allow you to upgrade your board and keep your activation. As for migrating,maybe call a local service and ask them if they can do it for you and make sure to activate windows? I am considering that myself,but I am without the dollars for it,right now.

 

[docbillnet]

I would say,in a drive failure scenario,it would be best to pay a local service to do it,as if they need a new CD key,they likely will get one as part of their service.It would do no good to give you a computer that is not activated,after servicing it. I am likely going to do that in the coming year or so,when I upgrade to the Zen CPU,assuming its not a flop. Microsoft needs to have some kind of built in software that is intended to let you upgrade your mobo (perhaps by making you select the very model mobo you are going to use and maybe typing in a serial number of the motherboard or something) in order to allow you to upgrade your board and keep your activation. As for migrating,maybe call a local service and ask them if they can do it for you and make sure to activate windows? I am considering that myself,but I am without the dollars for it,right now.

Why in the world would I pay for something Microsoft already is legally obligated to provide me?

I ended up using linux tools to clone the old hard drive. ntfsclone --rescue was able ignore the errors and do a successful clone. But considering Microsoft states that one is suppose to be able to reinstall Windows 10 it should not have been necessary. Had Microsoft simply not supplied this incorrect statement, I would have never upgraded my son's computer from Windows 8.1, and I would not have had a problem...

 

[TheDarkOne198]

I always took MS saying that as saying you can reinstall on the exact same system environment,after you upgraded,in order to have that "fresh installation" feel. I never once assumed you would be able to add something like an SSD and install to it,once the upgrade was done,but I didnt know for sure. This is what made me ask to begin with. I also suggested maybe paying a local computer shop,because A: I think they should be supported,especially since I want to work in one myself and one should always support local businesses and B: I am willing to bet it would cost a bit less than the ridiculous price MS charges for a key. However,I know there are websites you can buy them for cheap. I recently had to buy one for this very PC,as I had been running a KMS activated edition of 8.1 (didnt want to buy another copy of 8 or 8.1,since I have the installation disk in my drawer for 8,MS got my money) but since it was KMS activated,the 10 update would not show. So,I found a website that had a deal going for 8.1 pro keys for only like 30 something dollars and I jumped on it. Worked like a charm. As for using linux,I know nothing about it and the only form I ever used was some CD based one called Knoppix,or something like that and that was a long time ago. Not everyone has the Linux option,or wants to go through the effort of learning an entire new OS just to do something like migrate Windows 10,I know I dont. All I know is Windows and I know many others are that way as well.

 

[Refugee47]

I would say,in a drive failure scenario,it would be best to pay a local service to do it,as if they need a new CD key,they likely will get one as part of their service.It would do no good to give you a computer that is not activated,after servicing it. I am likely going to do that in the coming year or so,when I upgrade to the Zen CPU,assuming its not a flop. Microsoft needs to have some kind of built in software that is intended to let you upgrade your mobo (perhaps by making you select the very model mobo you are going to use and maybe typing in a serial number of the motherboard or something) in order to allow you to upgrade your board and keep your activation. As for migrating,maybe call a local service and ask them if they can do it for you and make sure to activate windows? I am considering that myself,but I am without the dollars for it,right now.

Why in the world would I pay for something Microsoft already is legally obligated to provide me?

I ended up using linux tools to clone the old hard drive. ntfsclone --rescue was able ignore the errors and do a successful clone. But considering Microsoft states that one is suppose to be able to reinstall Windows 10 it should not have been necessary. Had Microsoft simply not supplied this incorrect statement, I would have never upgraded my son's computer from Windows 8.1, and I would not have had a problem...

I know this is an old thread but just in case someone ends up here , You have to call microsoft to reactivate your key if you change your motherboard or cpu and in some cases storage device . Your key will get blocked right after you change your hardware , no way to unblock it without calling microsoft . If they tell you you have to buy a new one ask to speak to a supervisor . They tried to do this to me for upgrading my cpu and motherboard until i hit them with this tweet

https://twitter.com/GabeAul/status/630161382042808320?ref_src=twsrc^tfw

 

[TheDarkOne198]

I would say,in a drive failure scenario,it would be best to pay a local service to do it,as if they need a new CD key,they likely will get one as part of their service.It would do no good to give you a computer that is not activated,after servicing it. I am likely going to do that in the coming year or so,when I upgrade to the Zen CPU,assuming its not a flop. Microsoft needs to have some kind of built in software that is intended to let you upgrade your mobo (perhaps by making you select the very model mobo you are going to use and maybe typing in a serial number of the motherboard or something) in order to allow you to upgrade your board and keep your activation. As for migrating,maybe call a local service and ask them if they can do it for you and make sure to activate windows? I am considering that myself,but I am without the dollars for it,right now.

Why in the world would I pay for something Microsoft already is legally obligated to provide me?

I ended up using linux tools to clone the old hard drive. ntfsclone --rescue was able ignore the errors and do a successful clone. But considering Microsoft states that one is suppose to be able to reinstall Windows 10 it should not have been necessary. Had Microsoft simply not supplied this incorrect statement, I would have never upgraded my son's computer from Windows 8.1, and I would not have had a problem...

I know this is an old thread but just in case someone ends up here , You have to call microsoft to reactivate your key if you change your motherboard or cpu and in some cases storage device . Your key will get blocked right after you change your hardware , no way to unblock it without calling microsoft . If they tell you you have to buy a new one ask to speak to a supervisor . They tried to do this to me for upgrading my cpu and motherboard until i hit them with this tweet

https://twitter.com/GabeAul/status/630161382042808320?ref_src=twsrc^tfw

Thank you for that,I would be doing the same thing,asking for a supervisor if they say I need to buy a new key. BTW,your twitter link goes to nothing,just a blank page.

 

[Robert_72]

well wiping the whole drive isnt an option,as I dont have a spare HDD to back things up to and dont want to lose all my data,such as games,music,etc. If there is failure in migration,what is the result,potentially? Could it render my HDD installation corrupt or something?

OK, let's back up a bit.
Migration = migrating the whole C partition to the new drive.
What size SSD, and how large is the C partition?

There are only a couple of migration tools that allow leaving behind what is in the Library folders...Doc/Music/etc. Other than that, everything goes. You can't choose 'just the OS', or this 'program and not that program' Everything goes.

So if your SSD is too small, migration from old to new is not for you.

You can create a new partition on the existing drive, move the Users folder there, and then clone the remaining OS+Apps partition onto the SSD. Make sure you have a 100% functional setup with the new partitions, and that you have all Windows updates installed - my first attempt at cloning resulted in a non-bootable SSD because Windows Update had gone and installed new updates in the background as I was starting to clone... so I cloned a drive with an OS that required a reboot to complete updates, not a good idea. Went back to the original drive, let the updates complete, rebooted, checked for and installed any other updates lurking behind, then re-did the clone (with the Samsung Migration tool, the version that works on Win10). Success. Don't forget to set the drive mode in BIOS, that was also a no-go.

 

[TheDarkOne198]

by drive mode,do you mean making sure the SSD is the first thing booted from?

 

[USAFRet]

"move the Users folder"
Not a good idea....http://www.zdnet.com/dont-move-your-windows-user-profiles-folder-to-another-drive-7000022142/

 

[TheDarkOne198]

"move the Users folder"
Not a good idea....http://www.zdnet.com/dont-move-your-windows-user-profiles-folder-to-another-drive-7000022142/

It is possible to move that to another drive,or rather change the default to another drive. I delved into the registry and altered two specific keys and did it not to long ago with my laptop and have had absolutely no issues since then. I had also ran SFC and DISM for good measure and all things are fine. Since Windows 10 is the last version of windows,any "upgrades" will be limited to MAYBE service packs or likely something akin to point releases and those shouldn't effect much. The reasons being that Armory,my bitcoin wallet software,was putting all of its data in the users file of my 64GB SSD that windows 10 is on. Of course,there wasn't enough space so I had to do something about it. I changed the registry settings,after some research and now my default users folder is on the HDD. I had to reset some things,such as software settings and browser log ins (google,firefox) but nothing major happened. This,of course,would not help with a copying of an OS installation,I dont think.

 

[USAFRet]

"move the Users folder"
Not a good idea....http://www.zdnet.com/dont-move-your-windows-user-profiles-folder-to-another-drive-7000022142/

It is possible to move that to another drive,or rather change the default to another drive. I delved into the registry and altered two specific keys and did it not to long ago with my laptop and have had absolutely no issues since then. I had also ran SFC and DISM for good measure and all things are fine. Since Windows 10 is the last version of windows,any "upgrades" will be limited to MAYBE service packs or likely something akin to point releases and those shouldn't effect much. The reasons being that Armory,my bitcoin wallet software,was putting all of its data in the users file of my 64GB SSD that windows 10 is on. Of course,there wasn't enough space so I had to do something about it. I changed a registry setting,after some research and no my default users folder is on the HDD. I had to reset some things,such as software settings and browser log ins (google,firefox) but nothing major happened. This,of course,would not help with a copying of an OS installation,I dont think.

Is it 'possible'? Yes.
Is it recommended? No.
Is it needed? No.

As far as Windows 10 being 'the last version of Windows'....the most recent update, Nov 10 (10586 build), was pretty much a whole reinstall. So much so that it broke major things on some peoples' PC, and they rescinded it.

 

[TheDarkOne198]

"move the Users folder"
Not a good idea....http://www.zdnet.com/dont-move-your-windows-user-profiles-folder-to-another-drive-7000022142/

It is possible to move that to another drive,or rather change the default to another drive. I delved into the registry and altered two specific keys and did it not to long ago with my laptop and have had absolutely no issues since then. I had also ran SFC and DISM for good measure and all things are fine. Since Windows 10 is the last version of windows,any "upgrades" will be limited to MAYBE service packs or likely something akin to point releases and those shouldn't effect much. The reasons being that Armory,my bitcoin wallet software,was putting all of its data in the users file of my 64GB SSD that windows 10 is on. Of course,there wasn't enough space so I had to do something about it. I changed a registry setting,after some research and no my default users folder is on the HDD. I had to reset some things,such as software settings and browser log ins (google,firefox) but nothing major happened. This,of course,would not help with a copying of an OS installation,I dont think.

Is it 'possible'? Yes.
Is it recommended? No.
Is it needed? No.

As far as Windows 10 being 'the last version of Windows'....the most recent update, Nov 10 (10586 build), was pretty much a whole reinstall. So much so that it broke major things on some peoples' PC, and they rescinded it.

Well,it was needed by me,as I needed the users folder located elsewhere,due to Armory filling up the SSD with the bitcoin blockchain data,which easily gets to be 50GB. 64GB SSD + OS installation = not enough space for the blockchain info. I needed it located elsewhere and it was all I could do,really. As for Windows 10,I wouldnt be surprised if they put out complete overhauls that are essentially a new OS,deep down but I have been keeping up to date with all updates and have had no issues,thus far.

 

[Ramahi89]

Adding an SSD is no problem.
"Meaningful change" would be the motherboard.

All you have to do is after you get it on the SSD, remove the OS from the old drive.

Hello I Know its an old thread but was having the same situation here with a bit difference in steps etc... I have created a new Thread and would like someone to look at as its urgent.

Anyways here is the link for the The new Thread:

http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/id-2946434/question-downgrading-win-win-days-limit-urgent.html

and here me copying the message again, hopefully someone will answer me.



Hello,

I Think I have a question that is very rare to happen, and would like your opinion about it.

I have An Asus G75VW Laptop with Pre-installed Windows 7 Home Premium (The activation Key is printed on a sticker at the bottom part of the laptop along with other information about the laptop (i.e version, product ID etc...)

Now the Question is:

I Have upgraded freely From Windows 10 to 7 as many others did, but did not have the chance to go back to Windows 7 as i missed the deadline of 30 days. And at the same time I'm thinking to Format the device (HDD), afterwards install/insert a new SSD along with my old HDD which had Windows 7 pre-installed on it.

Now, If I do the Format and install Windows 7 on my new SSD will it work? Or im stuck with Windows 10 Forever? I will be having to download the Windows 7 apps and drivers that came associated with the Device (and I'm willing to do that via ASUS website).

(Note: I have Found a clean ISO version of Windows 7 Home premium That is compatible with my laptop, will be mounting it on USB Stick for installation using windows USB Tool).

Help is Urgent

Thanks in advance

Best Regards,

 

[gsteele531]

I find the question odd, for a few reasons:

1. You are going to buy a Samsung Evo drive. Samsung packages a migration utility with the drive that does the cloning for you; the resulting disk is an identical image of your old disk, with activation status intact. I have done this 9 times with their software so far with no problems.

2. You can also use Windows' Image Creation tool (Control Panel/Backup and Restore/Create a System Image) to build an image on an external drive or a series of DVDs, Create a Bootable System Repair disk on CD, then put in the SSD, boot from the repair disk, and restore to the SSD.

Once the disk has been cloned, and the SSD is booting, verify that it is activated; the activation status doesn't change when you restore from an image.

You can then put the old disk back in the computer as, for example, the D: drive. It will coexist with the SSD and have the old system image on it; in the case the SSD goes toes up, just unplug the sata cable from the SSD, plug it into the old drive, and boot. It's not as if you are cloning drives to put unlicensed copies of Windows on multiple computers for free; since you can keep a system image around to move to a new drive at will - and that is not only allowed, but encouraged, by Microsoft - you aren't violating terms of your license, which is for use of the OS on one computer, per license.

If there's not enough room on the target disk for all the data on the source disk, move it off the source disk to DVD or external HD before cloning. Then bring it back to the HD when the machine is back in operation and access your old data on the D: drive. Or just leave it on DVD or external HD if it is old and rarely accessed.

 

[faceb00k]

This thread is vaguely similar to what I want to achieve, so mind if I ask the following. I currently have a legit copy of Windows 7. When my new PC parts arrive I want to get Windows 10 on the new Evo 850. Here's the snag. I can't image over a clone because I will have entirely new hardware. I'm talking AMD to Intel. So the thing won't boot.

So option 1. Upgrade and install 10 on existing HDD. Create Win 10 recovery media to use on Evo.
Option 2. Use windows 7 recovery media and install windows 7 on Evo. Then upgrade from there.

Any thoughts?

 

[USAFRet]

This thread is vaguely similar to what I want to achieve, so mind if I ask the following. I currently have a legit copy of Windows 7. When my new PC parts arrive I want to get Windows 10 on the new Evo 850. Here's the snag. I can't image over a clone because I will have new hardware amd to Intel. So the thing won't boot.

So option 1. Upgrade and install 10 on existing HDD. Create Win 10 recovery media to use on Evo.
Option 2. Use windows 7 recovery media and install windows 7 on Evo. Then upgrade from there.

Any thoughts?

No.
Your new PC and hardware will need a clean install of the OS. Be it 7, 10, whatever.
This may involve purchasing a new OS license.

 

[gsteele531]

This thread is vaguely similar to what I want to achieve, so mind if I ask the following. I currently have a legit copy of Windows 7. When my new PC parts arrive I want to get Windows 10 on the new Evo 850. Here's the snag. I can't image over a clone because I will have entirely new hardware. I'm talking AMD to Intel. So the thing won't boot.

So option 1. Upgrade and install 10 on existing HDD. Create Win 10 recovery media to use on Evo.
Option 2. Use windows 7 recovery media and install windows 7 on Evo. Then upgrade from there.

Any thoughts?