Most "efficent" way to move OS to new ssd?

[Max_Pare]

I have a 240GB ssd and i want to move my OS to it, while also trying to lose the least amount of data and installed programs, can i somehow move my installed programs to the ssd without reinstalling everything? (windows 10)

 

[SkyNetRising]

Yes. You can do it by cloning. But to to this, certain conditions have to be met.
Used space on OS partition of your HDD has to be smaller than capacity of SSD.

Can you show screenshot from Disk Management?

 

[USAFRet]

I have a 240GB ssd and i want to move my OS to it, while also trying to lose the least amount of data and installed programs, can i somehow move my installed programs to the ssd without reinstalling everything? (windows 10)

How much space is consumed on your current drive?
What, exactly, constitutes that used space? ("games and stuff" is not an answer)

 

[Max_Pare]

How much space is consumed on your current drive?
What, exactly, constitutes that used space? ("games and stuff" is not an answer)

150GB out of 191Gb (it's a partition of a bigger drive), i need 80% of the programs installed on it on a daily basic (earlier today i did some cleaning up and removed a dozen programs that i did not need anymore), but the thing is that i was also planning to move some very heavy games to the ssd (which together are 200Gb), but if i clone that partition to the SSD i would barely have any space left for 1 of the games, can i perhaps move only some heavier programs (Unity3D, after effects, photoshop, visual studio etc.) and leave the rest on the other HHD? Maybe i can clone the whole thing and then move the ones i don't need on the SSD with some sort of Windows magic? I want to leave reinstalling the programs as the last option because my internet connection is painfully slow so it would take weeks to reinstall the stuff i need. I know that moving a program isn't as easy as Ctrl + C and Ctrl + V it on another drive, but there must be a way to tell it to look for the files in a different directory, right? I am no computer scientist though, so i might be all wrong.

 

[USAFRet]

150GB consumed space and a new 240GB SSD.

No problem.

Done right, you lose nothing.
Your C partition gets migrated to the SSD.
It will address whatever you have in the other partition (D or E?) just like nothing ever happened.

Exactly like this, the whole thing goes.

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, except your 'other partition'
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
-----------------------------

 

[Max_Pare]

150GB consumed space and a new 240GB SSD.

No problem.

Done right, you lose nothing.
Your C partition gets migrated to the SSD.
It will address whatever you have in the other partition (D or E?) just like nothing ever happened.

Exactly like this, the whole thing goes.

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, except your 'other partition'
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
-----------------------------

Wonderful, i will try this as soon as i can, in the meantime, thanks for the help.

 

[USAFRet]

You're lucky in this instance, in that you have a smaller C partition.
Many people have a single 1TB drive and partition, and everything installed in that one large partition.

Making this migration thing a lot harder.

 

[Max_Pare]

Ok so, in the end, Macrium Reflect did not work and returned error 9, i tried running chkdsk but it got stuck on 25% for about 3 hours so i had to turn off the pc the hard way, i knew it was going to screw something up but it was my only option, and as i predicted it completely corrupted my windows install so i just used my trusty old laptop and installed Windows on the SSD through USB (after some messing around with formatting and partitions), obiviously all my data is still on the HHD so i can just copy and paste what i need and reinstall the programs.

 

[SkyNetRising]

Probably your HDD has sustained some damage. Use HDtune health to diagnose your HDD. Post screenshot.