How to switch OS from HDD to SSD

[BigHigh]

Hi, i built my computer about a year ago and i want to change the OS from the HDD to the SSD now, i have lots of stuff on my hard drive and don't want to have to deal with any transfers or loss of information, what is the easiest way to move the OS to the SSD?

 

[dannyrg85]

You have to reinstall windows on the SSD. There is no way to transfer a OS.

 

[USAFRet]

Hi, i built my computer about a year ago and i want to change the OS from the HDD to the SSD now, i have lots of stuff on my hard drive and don't want to have to deal with any transfers or loss of information, what is the easiest way to move the OS to the SSD?

Couple of questions first:
How large is the SSD?
How much total used space is on the HDD?
How old is the install?
Does everything work (mostly) perfectly?
What OS is it?

 

[USAFRet]

You have to reinstall windows on the SSD. There is no way to transfer a OS.

Yes there is. Takes some investigation first, but it is doable.

 

[USAFRet]

IN addition to the above, I generally recommend a clean install. But it can be done, maybe.

 

[BigHigh]

Hi, i built my computer about a year ago and i want to change the OS from the HDD to the SSD now, i have lots of stuff on my hard drive and don't want to have to deal with any transfers or loss of information, what is the easiest way to move the OS to the SSD?

Couple of questions first:
How large is the SSD?
How much total used space is on the HDD?
How old is the install?
Does everything work (mostly) perfectly?
What OS is it?

120gb ssd, 1tb hdd 680gb used, 9 month old install, it all works perfect and it's windows 7

 

[USAFRet]

120gb ssd, 1tb hdd 680gb used, 9 month old install, it all works perfect and it's windows 7

In this case, a clean install on the SSD is about your only recourse. All of the current migrations tools will move the OS and all applications.
So unless you can get the actual used space to below 100GB, your only way forward is a clean install on the SSD.

 

[BigHigh]

120gb ssd, 1tb hdd 680gb used, 9 month old install, it all works perfect and it's windows 7

In this case, a clean install on the SSD is about your only recourse. All of the current migrations tools will move the OS and all applications.
So unless you can get the actual used space to below 100GB, your only way forward is a clean install on the SSD.

once i do a clean install on the ssd, will all of my stuff on the hdd stay there, and will there be a problem if the os is installed on both the ssd and hdd?

 

[USAFRet]

120gb ssd, 1tb hdd 680gb used, 9 month old install, it all works perfect and it's windows 7

In this case, a clean install on the SSD is about your only recourse. All of the current migrations tools will move the OS and all applications.
So unless you can get the actual used space to below 100GB, your only way forward is a clean install on the SSD.

once i do a clean install on the ssd, will all of my stuff on the hdd stay there, and will there be a problem if the os is installed on both the ssd and hdd?

Your 'stuff' will still be on the HDD, but you won't be able to use the applications, until you reinstall them. The new OS and Registry will know nothing about them.

 

[BigHigh]

120gb ssd, 1tb hdd 680gb used, 9 month old install, it all works perfect and it's windows 7

In this case, a clean install on the SSD is about your only recourse. All of the current migrations tools will move the OS and all applications.
So unless you can get the actual used space to below 100GB, your only way forward is a clean install on the SSD.

thanks for the help!
once i do a clean install on the ssd, will all of my stuff on the hdd stay there, and will there be a problem if the os is installed on both the ssd and hdd?

Your 'stuff' will still be on the HDD, but you won't be able to use the applications, until you reinstall them. The new OS and Registry will know nothing about them.