[SOLVED] I want to clone my HDD and put my OS and data on New SSD

[Mista Krank]

I just want a straight forward answer. When I clone my SSD and Restart the system, do I have to disconnect the HDD to make sure the SSD boot my pc or can I just go into BIOS and change the boot then I'm done? I am kinda nervous about touching the HDD because I have a custom pre built pc from HP and this is my first PC and I just got it a couple months ago. The only thing I replaced in the PC was new and faster ram.

 

[USAFRet]

"When I clone my SSD and Restart the system, do I have to disconnect the HDD to make sure the SSD boot my pc "

Yes, you need to do that.

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Specific steps for a successful clone operation:
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Verify the actual used space on the current drive is significantly below the size of the new SSD
Download and install Macrium Reflect (or Samsung Data Migration, if a Samsung SSD)
If you are cloning from a SATA drive to PCIe/NVMe, install the relevant driver for this new NVMe/PCIe drive.
Power off
Disconnect ALL drives except the current C and the new SSD
Power up
Run the Macrium Reflect (or Samsung Data Migration)
Select ALL the partitions on the existing C drive

If you are going from a smaller drive to a larger, by default, the target partition size will be the same as the Source. You probably don't want that
You can manipulate the size of the partitions on the target (larger)drive
Click on "Cloned Partition Properties", and you can specifiy the resulting partition size, to even include the whole thing

Click the 'Clone' button
Wait until it is done
When it finishes, power off
Disconnect ALL drives except for the new SSD. This is not optional.
This is to allow the system to try to boot from ONLY the SSD
Swap the SATA cables around so that the new drive is connected to the same SATA port as the old drive
Power up, and verify the BIOS boot order
If good, continue the power up

It should boot from the new drive, just like the old drive.
Maybe reboot a time or two, just to make sure.

If it works, and it should, all is good.

Later, reconnect the old drive and wipe all partitions on it.
This will probably require the commandline diskpart function, and the clean command.

Ask questions if anything is unclear.
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[Mista Krank]

I understand it. I have one last question. What if I just want the SSD specifically for games for better performance and keep everything else on HDD, will that work?