[SOLVED] How to safely move whole partition on a new drive

[Varios]

Hello, im currently rocking a 480GB SX8200 pro split into System partition and a separate D: partition for games and most of my programs. Both are completelly full so i ordered a 970evo, and now im wondering. Would that work if i copy everything from a D partition to a new ssd, then extend my C partition with what used to be a D partition so a C is now whole 480GB, and then change a letter of my new ssd to D:. Would it work, are programs and games going to work fine after moving them this way?

I know the proper way would be formatting and setting my system back from the begining but i cant do that now.

 

[Lafong]

Do I understand correctly:

You have a C and D on the 480.

You want to end up with the D on the Samsung 970 and leave the C on the 480 and then extend the C so it takes up the entire 480?

I suspect you can get that to work, but I'm wondering about the size of the Samsung 970 and why you wouldn't move everything to it..both C and D?

Proper tool might be an imaging application like Macrium. Not sure what would happen if you instead just tried a simple copy of D to the Samsung considering that D has some installed programs.

 

[Varios]

Yes, you do understand corectly and 970 is 1TB. Moving C: feels kinda sketchy to me, and i currently cant afford loosing any data or having to reinstall my system and its components. I mean all of it as a temporary solution untill i finish my degree.

 

[DSzymborski]

Yes, you do understand corectly and 970 is 1TB. Moving C: feels kinda sketchy to me, and i currently cant afford loosing any data or having to reinstall my system and its components. I mean all of it as a temporary solution untill i finish my degree.

Here's the problem: there's always a risk when playing with partitions like this. If you can't afford to lose any data -- and you imply that you don't have proper backups, suggesting a lack of proper maintenance of your PC -- then you shouldn't be doing any of this.

The far bigger problem here is that you're missing two very basic characteristics of a well-maintained system. In addition to backups, you ought to be able to wipe and reinstall a system at any time. If you truly can not do either of these things, making it so you can is crucial before you even start thinking of upgrades and reconfigurations.

 

[Lafong]

Yes, you do understand corectly and 970 is 1TB. Moving C: feels kinda sketchy to me, and i currently cant afford loosing any data or having to reinstall my system and its components. I mean all of it as a temporary solution untill i finish my degree.

You could find out rather quickly if a simple copy would work....without using Macrium or any similar program.

Format the new drive. Copy (not move) all files from D to the new drive. Give the old D a new drive letter E. Make sure the new drive is D.

Reboot and see what problems you have.

If that fails....you could try imaging the old D to the new drive. That would involve climbing the Macrium learning curve.

Or.....use Macrium to transfer both C and D to the new drive via cloning or imaging. That assumes that 1 TB is plenty of space for your needs.

Macrium probably has a 99% success rate, but I don't know your anxiety level. I don't think I can recall a case where it fouled up the original drive, so I suspect the worst case scenario would be simple failure to transfer with no harm done. You'd then have to dream up some other plan.

I'd assume your data (per se) is more important to you than your installed programs or games, so I'd be sure to do a manual backup of it before proceeding with any plan.

 

[Varios]

I'll do a backup and simply test it like you mentioned. Thanks.