Question Migrate and Merge 2 Drives Into One new Drive ?

[akiraxiaoyu]

Hi guys, so here is my current set up :

• MB : Asus ROG Strix B365-G Gaming
• i7-9700K
• Disk 0 (drive D) : Samsung NVMe 970 EVO Plus 500GB (for programs instalation folders)
• Disk 1 (drive C) : Samsung SSD 860 EVO 250GB (windows 10 pro 64bit boot drive)
• Disk 2 (drive E) : Seagate HDD 1TB (for storage)

So back then my plan was using drive C for windows boot drive only, then i would install any programs that i downloaded onto drive D, because i use NVMe on drive D so i expect the program would run faster. After years, i realize that not all programs/softwares can be installed on drive D, some programs and its cache will always on drive C and this makes the free space on drive C becomes less and less. Also now there are duplicate folders of Program Files and Program Files (x86) on both drive C and drive D because some programs are installed on drive C and some on drive D.

Then today i come to conclusion to buy new Samsung NVMe 990 PRO 1TB which i will use as windows 10 pro boot drive and a drive where i will install all my programs. I don't want the messy folders like current set up. My plan :

• Samsung NVMe 990 PRO 1TB > will be drive C > i will install the windows 10 here and all programs will be installed here too (full 1TB no split)
• Samsung NVMe 970 EVO Plus 500Gb > will be drive D > will use it for storage (photos,videos,songs,etc)
• Seagate HDD 1TB > will be drive E > will use it for storage too (photos,videos,songs,etc)
• For samsung 860 evo 250GB, will give it to my cousin

Then the questions:
How do i clone and merge my current drive C and drive D together into one new drive (the new NVMe 990 PRO) which will be my OS boot drive and programs instalation folder later? Or is it even possible? How?

I have watch many youtube videos, most of them are tutorials to clone from one drive to other drive, so we don't need to reinstall the windows and programs, but my case is i need to merge two different drives into one.

Screenshots attached below.

If this is too hard to understand, TLDR :
Drive C 250GB, (SSD 860 EVO) > for windows boot + some programs instalation folders.
Drive D 500GB, (SSD 970 EVO Plus) > for programs instalation folders only
Q : How do i clone/migrate/merge the drive C (windows OS + programs) to drive D so everything in one drive?

 

[Lafong]

Merging partitions...........I don't think Windows will smile at that.

I'd prepare for a clean install with all new registry entries.

 

[USAFRet]

Then the questions:
How do i clone and merge my current drive C and drive D together into one new drive (the new NVMe 990 PRO) which will be my OS boot drive and programs instalation folder later? Or is it even possible? How?

The problem is that some of your applications are installed on the "D drive".
The OS knows this.

Cloning the OS to a new physical drive will not change that.
You'd have to have a second partition on the 990 Pro, identified as the D.

This will be very messy.

 

[akiraxiaoyu]

Merging partitions...........I don't think Windows will smile at that.

I'd prepare for a clean install with all new registry entries.

clean install would be last option 🙁

The problem is that some of your applications are installed on the "D drive".
The OS knows this.

Cloning the OS to a new physical drive will not change that.
You'd have to have a second partition on the 990 Pro, identified as the D.

This will be very messy.

Dumb idea : can i clone the drive C (windows OS and some apps) to the new NVMe 990 PRO, after that i manually copy paste the entire drive D to the new 990 PRO?

 

[Dragos Manea]

clean install would be last option 🙁



Dumb idea : can i clone the drive C (windows OS and some apps) to the new NVMe 990 PRO, after that i manually copy paste the entire drive D to the new 990 PRO?

That will result in a epic fail, start clean, in your situation will be the best, yea i know it is painstaking long and horrid but you will only have problems and you will spend much much more time fixing issues compared to a clean install.

 

[akiraxiaoyu]

Cloning the OS to a new physical drive will not change that.
You'd have to have a second partition on the 990 Pro, identified as the D.

That will result in a epic fail, start clean, in your situation will be the best, yea i know it is painstaking long and horrid but you will only have problems and you will spend much much more time fixing issues compared to a clean install.

What happen if i do this :
> I split the 990 PRO into two partitions (name it Drive Y and Drive Z)
> Clone the original drive C (windows OS and some apps) to drive Y
> Then clone the original drive D (all programs) to drive Z
> After that i merge this Y and Z as one, will this work?

 

[USAFRet]

Dumb idea : can i clone the drive C (windows OS and some apps) to the new NVMe 990 PRO, after that i manually copy paste the entire drive D to the new 990 PRO?

Assuming there is a second partition identified as "D", maybe.
You'd still be left with a messy set up, and I expect not everything would work properly.

Me personally, I'd just start over.

 

[USAFRet]

What happen if i do this :
> I split the 990 PRO into two partitions (name it Drive Y and Drive Z)
> Clone the original drive C (windows OS and some apps) to drive Y
> Then clone the original drive D (all programs) to drive Z
> After that i merge this Y and Z as one, will this work?

No.
The OS is still looking for applications in two different drives or partitions.

 

[akiraxiaoyu]

No.
The OS is still looking for applications in two different drives or partitions.

last question mate, then what if i choose to clone the drive D (where all my most applications are) to the new 990PRO. After that is it possible to instal windows os into it? hoping that i won't need to reinstall all the softwares one by one.

 

[Lafong]

Installing Windows onto an occupied partition won't end well for whatever is on that partition.

 

[USAFRet]

last question mate, then what if i choose to clone the drive D (where all my most applications are) to the new 990PRO. After that is it possible to instal windows os into it? hoping that i won't need to reinstall all the softwares one by one.

That absolutely will not work.

 

[akiraxiaoyu]

Installing Windows onto an occupied partition won't end well for whatever is on that partition.

That absolutely will not work.

Okay, thank you guys, looks like clean install is the only way out for my case.

 

[DSzymborski]

Honestly, the trick for a painless OS install is preparation. Prepare a USB flash drive with the install files for the software you use, and then it's just a matter of going down the line and systematically installing the software.

I don't personally use it as I keep my own solution in this way, but if you use a lot of commonly used applications, a lot of people swear by Ninite.

 

[akiraxiaoyu]

Honestly, the trick for a painless OS install is preparation. Prepare a USB flash drive with the install files for the software you use, and then it's just a matter of going down the line and systematically installing the software.

I don't personally use it as I keep my own solution in this way, but if you use a lot of commonly used applications, a lot of people swear by Ninite.

I'm ok with reinstalling app, i just too lazy for resetup all the configuration for each software's preferences 🙁
especially all the games setting, etc. I wish there is cloud backup like apple icloud that can backup entire machine and restore it, haha.

 

[USAFRet]

I'm ok with reinstalling app, i just too lazy for resetup all the configuration for each software's preferences 🙁
especially all the games setting, etc. I wish there is cloud backup like apple icloud that can backup entire machine and restore it, haha.

Well, Macrium Reflect does exactly that.
Save an Image, or a series of images, of the whole drive.

But your case is very different.

 

[akiraxiaoyu]

Well, Macrium Reflect does exactly that.
Save an Image, or a series of images, of the whole drive.

But your case is very different.

So, it means Macrium Reflect won't work? haha