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?

 

[gsteele531]

When you say legit copy, are you saying a retail copy of Windows? And when you say "entirely new hardware" are you referring to a new mobo and CPU only - same memory, HD (pre-SSD), graphics card, etc.?

It's probably the case that the image would work (boot from the rescue disk, proceed to restore) - the machine would restart at the end of the restore, and then proceed to add in any new chipset support, etc. But whether it would find too many changes and fall out of active status depends on how many changes it detected. Going from AMD to Intel usually works, but not VV, because of certain dlls that are Intel-specific that blow up AMD systems (the endless loop restart problem with XP SP2 upgrade comes to mind).

The other alternative, assuming you are tossing the old computer (not supplying it with a Windows image) is to build the new one, install the SSD, install Windows 7 from your Win 7 copy, activate with the product key, and if a problem arises, do the telephone activation. If the automated activation by phone doesn't work, speak to a tech and tell them that it's on only one computer. That should get you to Win 7. Then do the free Win 10 upgrade once activated, and image the machine for the future.

 

[castl3bravo]

The upgrade was easiest for me to go from an HD to a Samsung EVO SSD by reinstalling the original Windows 7 media on the SSD and then apply the upgrade to Windows 10. I didn't worry about erasing Windows on the HD as it's tied to the hardware it was installed on anyway. People that insist you erase the old drive are wasting your time.

As I'm somewhat of hardware hacker I've noticed the "Advantage" troll ties itself to the MAC address on my M/B's bios. On a whim I tried an identical M/B, same video card and SSD. The Advantage troll wasn't happy seeing the MAC addy change. I swapped the bios chip from the origin M/B and all was good.

I tried the Windows 8.0 upgrade media last year (Amazon will sell anything). What a disaster that was and a waste of cash. I had to go back to Windows 7 and wait for Windows 10 to improve BF4's performance.

For disaster recovery can I use ANY Windows 10 install media or do I have to create the "recovery media" specifically on the same hardware just in case the system is ever hacked or crashes and recovery is necessary?

 

[TheDarkOne198]

what about buying a 1TB SSHD,cloning everything from my system drive HDD to it and then formatting the original system drive HDD,turning it into more space? I would think that would work,as its a complete clone of the original 1TB HDD image and I would get a decent enough speed boost. Sorry for the late reply,I was without internet for like 6 months and that sucked like crazy.

 

[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 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?

Possibly:
Assuming you know the license key of your current Win 7, and assuming it is not an OEM license tied to that original motherboard, and assuming that Win 7 license is not used on any other system....

You can install Windows 10 on the new system, and use the existing Win 7 license to activate it.
During the install, it will ask "Do you have a license key?"
Enter your Win 7 license and continue.

 

[elvisruns]

Sort of a follow up question in this thread. I did an upgrade of Windows 7 to Windows 10 on a homebuilt PC a couple of months ago. It has a 7200rpm HDD, but I would really like to install a SDD along side and move windows and some other programs to it. What challenges am I going to run into, from a Windows standpoint, in trying to do this?

 

[USAFRet]

Sort of a follow up question in this thread. I did an upgrade of Windows 7 to Windows 10 on a homebuilt PC a couple of months ago. It has a 7200rpm HDD, but I would really like to install a SDD along side and move windows and some other programs to it. What challenges am I going to run into, from a Windows standpoint, in trying to do this?

Please start a new thread for this.
But basically, you can't "move windows and some other programs to it"
In terms of the migration concept, "some" is not a viable word.

Start a new thread, and let me know what it is. We can go through some of your options.