Move OEM Windows 10 to SSD

[Aikiscott]

I just bought a new laptop that arrives tomorrow (!) with a 1 TB hard drive that has Windows 10 pre-installed, along with some utility programs and such for the laptop. (Probably a little crapware too, but I can deal with that. The utility programs are keepers, though.)

Yesterday, I was given an M.2 SSD (Crucial 275GB). I'd obviously like to move Windows and all the installed programs to the SSD, make it the bootable drive, and then turn the 1 TB drive into a data drive.

I haven't had the opportunity to work with Win 10 hardly at all, and as an OEM version, I won't have any disks or install media. Plus a generic Windows ISO won't have the laptop utilities.

It seem like the only thing that makes sense is to make the SSD the bootable drive and keep the other for data. How can I go about accomplishing what I want to do here?

Thanks!

 

[Boogieman_WD]

Hey there, Aikiscott.

You could simply migrate your OS over to the SSD. Here's a pretty good tutorial on how to do that: http://lifehacker.com/5837543/how-to-migrate-to-a-solid-state-drive-without-reinstalling-windows.
Other than that if you want to keep everything as it is right now, you could create a Windows recovery drive, just in case you need restore/recover your laptop: http://www.tenforums.com/tutorials/4200-recovery-drive-create-windows-10-a.html.

Once you've migrated your OS and and made sure that you can boot to Windows without any issues by having only the SSD connected to the mobo, you can connect the HDD as well and repartition and reformat it as you see fit.

Hope that helps. Please don't hesitate to ask if you have any questions.
Boogieman_WD

 

[Aikiscott]

Thanks, Boogieman!

I'm hoping to avoid taking apart and putting the laptop back together multiple times. Should it work the same if I disable the old HDD in the BIOS and verify that it boots OK from the SSD, or is there some possibility that would give bogus results? If the only way to be 100% sure is to physically uninstall it, I'll do it. I'd rather not (because lazy), but I will (because I want to be sure). I thought I may have read of instances where uninstalling was the only way to be absolutely sure...

Thanks again!

Hey there, Aikiscott.

You could simply migrate your OS over to the SSD. Here's a pretty good tutorial on how to do that: http://lifehacker.com/5837543/how-to-migrate-to-a-solid-state-drive-without-reinstalling-windows.
Other than that if you want to keep everything as it is right now, you could create a Windows recovery drive, just in case you need restore/recover your laptop: http://www.tenforums.com/tutorials/4200-recovery-drive-create-windows-10-a.html.

Once you've migrated your OS and and made sure that you can boot to Windows without any issues by having only the SSD connected to the mobo, you can connect the HDD as well and repartition and reformat it as you see fit.

Hope that helps. Please don't hesitate to ask if you have any questions.
Boogieman_WD

 

[Boogieman_WD]

Well, basically if you can disable the HDD via your BIOS, then that should be enough. When you boot to Windows open your Disk Management to make sure that you computer used the SSD as the booting device.
How to access Disk Management in Windows

 

[Aikiscott]

Thanks, Boogieman. It worked like a champ. Once I figured out that I needed to use Disk Management right after installing the SSD before I could run the cloning software, everything fell into place. Looks like I'm booting from the SSD now, so I'm going to repartition the rotating media for programs (ones that won't benefit hugely from the SSD, in case I run out of program room on the SSD) and data.

Thanks for your help!

Well, basically if you can disable the HDD via your BIOS, then that should be enough. When you boot to Windows open your Disk Management to make sure that you computer used the SSD as the booting device.
How to access Disk Management in Windows

 

[HL022]

You can change to an SSD will not affect the license. To transfer the OEM licensed from the HDD into new SSD, refer to this tutorial: Money-saving tips for upgrading your hard drive in a laptop: Move Windows 10 OEMs to SSD without re-activating