Installing new SSD in windows 10

[coachzachhorn]

Explain it to me like I'm 5. The extent of my PC knowledge is laid out in this post.

I have a regular windows 10 with a hdd. I bought a PNY SSD with 250 GB.

I want to clone the hdd onto the SSD so I can keep using the same PC with the same software without having to reinstall everything.

The current hdd has 932 GB. Partitioned as follows:
1023 MB "(recovery partition)"
360 MB "(EFI System)"
Windows C: 915.96 GB (Boot, Page File, Crash Dump, Primary Partition)
450 MB (Recovery Partition)
Recovery Image (D 13.63 GB NTFS (OEM Partition)

The new PNY SSD was installed. I created one big partition for the whole thing. So I have 223.45 GB NTFS available as one partition.

Can I use this SSD as my primary drive? Do I have to delete 700 GB worth of data off my HDD before I can clone it? And have I partitioned the SSD correctly?

I wouldn't mind just putting windows 10 on the SSD, running key programs (chrome, photoshop, etc.) and using the HDD to store stuff not used as frequently. Is this possible?

I'm currently using Acronis True Image to backup the primary HDD onto the SDD, although I'm not even sure how it's possible since it says I'm copying more GB worth of memory to a drive with less GB available.

After the copy is complete, should I try to boot it up in the SSD state to see if it worked correctly? Where do I go from here?

Thank you in advance

 

[USAFRet]

I want to clone the hdd onto the SSD so I can keep using the same PC with the same software without having to reinstall everything.

Stop all your copy/imaging/partitioning stuff.
There's ways to do this, but that's not it.

How much total space is consumed on your original HDD?

 

[coachzachhorn]

I want to clone the hdd onto the SSD so I can keep using the same PC with the same software without having to reinstall everything.

Stop all your copy/imaging/partitioning stuff.
There's ways to do this, but that's not it.

How much total space is consumed on your original HDD?

It looks like Windows C has 562 GB free of 915 GB...so about 353 GB are being used.

I halted my clone. As far as the partition stuff, that's just what was there already on the hdd. As far as the SSD, it wouldn't let me use the memory until I created a partition. Then it began available when I created one big partition.

 

[USAFRet]

It looks like Windows C has 562 GB free of 915 GB...so about 353 GB are being used.

I halted my clone. As far as the partition stuff, that's just what was there already on the hdd. As far as the SSD, it wouldn't let me use the memory until I created a partition. Then it began available when I created one big partition.

OK
~353GB actual used space.
To clone into a 250GB SSD, you need the actual used space to be below 200GB.

Do you have (or can borrow) another drive?
What constitutes this used space?

 

[coachzachhorn]

It looks like Windows C has 562 GB free of 915 GB...so about 353 GB are being used.

I halted my clone. As far as the partition stuff, that's just what was there already on the hdd. As far as the SSD, it wouldn't let me use the memory until I created a partition. Then it began available when I created one big partition.

OK
~353GB actual used space.
To clone into a 250GB SSD, you need the actual used space to be below 200GB.

Do you have (or can borrow) another drive?
What constitutes this used space?

Right now I have an external hard drive with 46 gb free. I have a bigger one at home I can bring to work tomorrow (about 1 TB I believe).

There are multiple video files (football games), a few expendable programs I can uninstall for now.

 

[USAFRet]

Right now I have an external hard drive with 46 gb free. I have a bigger one at home I can bring to work tomorrow (about 1 TB I believe).

There are multiple video files (football games), a few expendable programs I can uninstall for now.

OK...by hook or by crook, get that actual used space to below 200GB.

And we can probably ignore the 13.63GB "Recovery Image".
In fact...you can probably use that to create a 'recovery' USB or DVD set. Thisis a prebuilt PC, correct?
There should be a function to use that "Recovery Image" to create your own set. This would have been used if you needed to restore the system to factory spec, and if the original drive were damaged.

So, we can mostly ignore that.


So...get the actual consumed space to below 200GB, and we can continue.

 

[coachzachhorn]

Right now I have an external hard drive with 46 gb free. I have a bigger one at home I can bring to work tomorrow (about 1 TB I believe).

There are multiple video files (football games), a few expendable programs I can uninstall for now.

OK...by hook or by crook, get that actual used space to below 200GB.

And we can probably ignore the 13.63GB "Recovery Image".
In fact...you can probably use that to create a 'recovery' USB or DVD set. Thisis a prebuilt PC, correct?
There should be a function to use that "Recovery Image" to create your own set. This would have been used if you needed to restore the system to factory spec, and if the original drive were damaged.

So, we can mostly ignore that.


So...get the actual consumed space to below 200GB, and we can continue.

Yes, this is a pre-built PC.

Thank you for the help. I will have to wait until tomorrow when I have the larger external hard drive. I will do some deleting of unnecessary files and probably get back to work on this tomorrow afternoon. Thanks again.

 

[USAFRet]

Yes, this is a pre-built PC.

Thank you for the help. I will have to wait until tomorrow when I have the larger external hard drive. I will do some deleting of unnecessary files and probably get back to work on this tomorrow afternoon. Thanks again.

OK...discover the functionality to use that factory reset partition to create your own USB or DVD set.
Then, that 13.83GB is totally not necessary.

Once you get to below 200GB, come back here, and we will proceed.

 

[coachzachhorn]

Sorry for the delay. After a lot of time trying to locate and move or delete files, I discovered that dropbox was simultaneously stored on the cloud and my C: drive. Friday I started Smartsync and I freed up a bunch of memory over the weekend. Now I'm only using 119 GB.

Google search tells me to create a recovery set I need to get a blank flash drive. So, once I go to the store to get a blank flash drive and create the backup, how would you proceed on switching over from HDD to SSD?

Thanks

 

[USAFRet]

Sorry for the delay. After a lot of time trying to locate and move or delete files, I discovered that dropbox was simultaneously stored on the cloud and my C: drive. Friday I started Smartsync and I freed up a bunch of memory over the weekend. Now I'm only using 119 GB.

Google search tells me to create a recovery set I need to get a blank flash drive. So, once I go to the store to get a blank flash drive and create the backup, how would you proceed on switching over from HDD to SSD?

Thanks

Just like this:

Specific steps for a successful clone operation:
-----------------------------
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)
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
Click the 'Clone' button
Wait until it is done
When it finishes, power off
Disconnect ALL drives except for the new SSD
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 as necessary.
Delete the 450MB Recovery Partition, here:
https://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/windows/en-US/4f1b84ac-b193-40e3-943a-f45d52e23685/cant-delete-extra-healthy-recovery-partitions-and-healthy-efi-system-partition?forum=w8itproinstall
-----------------------------

 

[coachzachhorn]

Wow...I was almost certain I would do something wrong, but it worked and it's faster than ever. It's like switching from dial-up to fioptics. Thanks for the help!

 

[USAFRet]

Wow...I was almost certain I would do something wrong, but it worked and it's faster than ever. It's like switching from dial-up to fioptics. Thanks for the help!

Step by step...easy.
And barring any hardware faults, it almost always works.