How to upgrade system to SSD

[Spencer Brown]

I realize that this question has probably been asked before, and I have searched the forums for answers, but I have had a hard time finding what I need to know for my system specifically.

I currently have a budget gaming rig (AMD FX-6350 with XFX R9 270X) That I built in July of 2014, and to save money on the initial cost of the system, I used a 500 GB WD Blue as my main hard drive. Now I am looking to upgrade to an SSD--Most likely a 120 GB Samsung 850 Pro--and am wondering about what the best process is to use the SSD as my main drive while preferably keeping the 500 GB WD Blue as a storage drive. I am running Windows 8.1 and am currently using only about 67 GB of disk space, so I figure I could just clone my HDD to the SDD and go from there. (I would rather do this over a fresh install so I don't have to reinstall all my programs and reconfigure all my mouse settings and macros, etc). Because of this, I am looking for a low-cost, reliable way to clone the HDD to the SDD and then mount the HDD as a storage drive.

If it helps any, I do have another computer running Windows XP with a DVD drive and 3 SATA ports that I could use to do the cloning if necessary (I have used it before to boot disk backup-ing software from a CD).
Also, the reason I ask about mounting the WD Blue as a storage drive is because in the past, I have had problems with the computer taking twice as long to boot up or failing to boot when 2 different hard drives are connected, even when I have the BIOS boot priority set to the main drive.

Thanks in advance for any answers,
Spencer

 

[emeck]

Jayz does a pretty good tutorial on this using Acronis, this or a similar program should come with your ssd.
This will clone your hard drive.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KuI2yFSAiN0

 

[mcnumpty23]

look for the samsung version that comes with the usb to sata cable --only costs a little more than the bare drive version

and easeus do a good free cloning software as well

 

[Marty01]

If you wanna SSD, get 256GB. They're faster and don't cost that much more, well depends where you live.

When you add SSD, switch SATA settings from IDE to AHCI in the BIOS before you install Windows.

 

[rhysiam]

Samsung SSDs come with a cloning tool. Having said that though, if you have the time, it's always better to reinstall your operating system fresh on an SSD. If you've upgraded to Win10 it also allows you to do a fresh Win10 install from scratch (you can legally download a Win10 ISO, put it on a USB or DVD and install, as long as you've performed the upgrade on that machine first).
If you don't have the time or energy for a full reinstall though, you can probably get away with cloning.

Just FYI, there's very few cases where 850 Pro makes sense over the much cheaper and almost as fast alternatives. You can very likely get a 250GB Drive for the price of a 120GB 850 Pro. The BX100 or 850 EVO are both very capable drives. While the Pro is technically faster, you have to subject drives to some pretty intensive workloads before "faster" SSDs are actually able to stretch their legs and pull away from the more mainstream models. In reality, those kind of workloads just never happen unless you have some very unusual use-cases.

Concerns over drive wear are similar - it's just never going to happen unless you have some very unusual workloads.

The 120GB 850 Pro is $89 on US pcpartpicker at the moment.
You can get a 250GB EVO for $99.
Or (this would be my pick) the still very capable 250GB BX100 for $76

If you're not in the US, the prices obviously aren't relevant, but you'll probably find they're pretty similarly spaced.

 

[mcnumpty23]

samsungs ssd cloning tool failed to work in windows 10 for me easeus free cloning tool works fine in windows 10