Question moving an ssd to my new pc

[Ripable]

hello, i am currently about to do a completely new build and my question is if i just take out 1 of my 2 M.2 ssd's out of my old pc and install it in my new computer, will i have to still re download all my games and applications? i have no real care for my files i just mainly want to be able to install my ssd into my new pc and be able to play when i boot up. just seeing if i can bypass the whole needing to redownload everything back on my new pc.

Also, if my OS is installed on the M.2 that i want to transfer to my new pc, is there any way that i can transfer my OS to the other M.2 that is installed in the computer?

 

[USAFRet]

hello, i am currently about to do a completely new build and my question is if i just take out 1 of my 2 M.2 ssd's out of my old pc and install it in my new computer, will i have to still re download all my games and applications? i have no real care for my files i just mainly want to be able to install my ssd into my new pc and be able to play when i boot up. just seeing if i can bypass the whole needing to redownload everything back on my new pc.

Also, if my OS is installed on the M.2 that i want to transfer to my new pc, is there any way that i can transfer my OS to the other M.2 that is installed in the computer?

So, to be clear, you're wanting to move the C drive, with your OS and all that other stuff, to a whole new PC?

Doing that, 3 possible outcomes:

1. It works just fine
2. It fails completely
3. It "works", but you're chasing issues for weeks/months.

I've personally seen all 3.
A full wipe and reinstall is by far the recommended way forward.

Now....you will get a few people who will say "just slap it in, Windows will figure it out. It always works."
No, it does not.

You might get lucky, and it works.
Or not.

Prepare for the 'not'.

 

[Ripable]

I am wanting to move my OS to my other M.2 that is installed in my (current) pc, then move the drive that had the OS on it to my new pc. just bc my current OS M.2 is a Gen4 and the other one is Gen3, so i would rather have my Gen4 in my new computer then a Gen3

 

[USAFRet]

I am wanting to move my OS to my other M.2 that is installed in my (current) pc, then move the drive that had the OS on it to my new pc. just bc my current OS M.2 is a Gen4 and the other one is Gen3, so i would rather have my Gen4 in my new computer then a Gen3

Are you looking to move an OS to a different system?

 

[Ripable]

I have a boot drive ready for my new system but i do not want to move both of the drives to my new pc. i want to keep my Gen3 in it as i plan to give the pc to my younger brother. Im just looking to move the OS from the Gen4 to the Gen3, take the Gen4 out, wipe the computer, then give it to my younger brother. Then i will just be able to put my Gen4 in my new pc and use my boot drive to install windows back onto it.

if this is at all possible it would save me a headache.

 

[USAFRet]

Im just looking to move the OS from the Gen4 to the Gen3,

-----------------------------
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
Both drives must be the same partitioning scheme, either MBR or GPT
Download and install Macrium Reflect (or Samsung Data Migration, if a Samsung target SSD)
If you are cloning from a SATA drive to PCIe/NVMe, you may need to 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

Verify the system boots with ONLY the current "C drive" connected.
If not, we have to fix that first.

Run the Macrium Reflect (or Samsung Data Migration)
Select ALL the partitions on the existing C drive

[Ignore this section if using the SDM. It does this automatically]
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 specify the resulting partition size, to even include the whole thing
[/end ignore]

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

(swapping cables is irrelevant with NVMe drives, but DO disconnect the old drive for this next part)
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.
-----------------------------

 

[Ripable]

okay so going into my BIOS and looking at my boot options, i have realised that both my Gen3 and Gen4 M.2's have windows on them however my PC has put my Gen3 as #1 boot option. now, if i just fresh restart my pc to factory settings with all of my drives in my pc, it will remove everything apart from windows OS am i correct? (I have just decided to bite the bullet and fresh restart everything and just redownload everything on my new pc). Also, is there a way i can wipe the OS off of one of the drives? just so im not having unnessesary space being taken up for no reason.

 

[USAFRet]

okay so going into my BIOS and looking at my boot options, i have realised that both my Gen3 and Gen4 M.2's have windows on them however my PC has put my Gen3 as #1 boot option. now, if i just fresh restart my pc to factory settings with all of my drives in my pc, it will remove everything apart from windows OS am i correct? (I have just decided to bite the bullet and fresh restart everything and just redownload everything on my new pc). Also, is there a way i can wipe the OS off of one of the drives? just so im not having unnessesary space being taken up for no reason.

It doesn't automatically anything.

Disconnect ALL drives except the one you want your OS on.

Then, a full wipe and reinstall.

How To - Windows 10 clean install tutorial

If you are looking for the Windows 11 Clean install tutorial, you can find that here: Windows 11 Clean install tutorial (Click here) Otherwise, welcome to the Windows 10 Clean install tutorial This tutorial is intended to help you, step by step, to perform a clean install of Windows...

forums.tomshardware.com

 

[letmepicyou]

I will state for the record that moving your OS drive from one PC to another is TOTALLY FINE if you're running Intel systems. You may have to install a few drivers specific to components your new motherboard has, but it will be TOTALLY FINE.

To illustrate this, note that when you go searching for "intel chipset drivers", you can't physically find independent drivers for various Intel chipsets. If you go searching for Z390, Z490, Z590, ect chipset drivers, you'll find THEY ARE ALL THE SAME DRIVER.

My last upgrade (just a few weeks ago) was me moving from a Z390 Gigabyte board running Windows 10 Pro to a new Z690 Asrock board, moving from an 1151 9700k to a 1700 12700kf.

I had NO PROBLEMS migrating the OS drive, and even my RAID array transferred with no issue whatsoever from one system to the next. Didn't lose a byte of data, all I had to do was install a few drivers.

If you're going from 1 Intel system to another and you're using Intel chipsets, there is NO WORRY. AMD can be another matter, however.

In fact, my LAST upgrade I did the same thing, I went from a 4790k to the 9700k with no issues.

INTEL uses the same .inf catalog for all their chipsets. This makes system migration a BREEZE, and is one of the reasons I run Intel nowadays.

 

[USAFRet]

I will state for the record that moving your OS drive from one PC to another is TOTALLY FINE if you're running Intel systems. You may have to install a few drivers specific to components your new motherboard has, but it will be TOTALLY FINE.

And I will state, for the record, you are 100% incorrect.

Sometimes it works, sometimes it fails.
Intel -> Intel
AMD -> AMD
Whatever.

 

[letmepicyou]

And I will state, for the record, you are 100% incorrect.

Sometimes it works, sometimes it fails.
Intel -> Intel
AMD -> AMD
Whatever.

I think the ratio of AMD swap failures is quite a bit higher than Intel swap failures.
AMD has individual chipset drivers for every one of their chipsets.
Intel has ONE.
Herein lies the difference.

 

[USAFRet]

I think the ratio of AMD swap failures is quite a bit higher than Intel swap failures.
AMD has individual chipset drivers for every one of their chipsets.
Intel has ONE.
Herein lies the difference.

And again, I have personally had Intel -> Intel fail.
Ranging from "total fail", to "sorta mostly works but not quite", to no problems at all.

Blanket statements such as "it always works" is simply false.

Even hazardous, because it gives a reader a false impression that "it just works", and they do not have to do any prep work. Then, when it does fail, and they have to do a full wipe and reinstall....now they have to jump through weird hoops to protect whatever personal data is on that drive.

 

[letmepicyou]

And again, I have personally had Intel -> Intel fail.
Ranging from "total fail", to "sorta mostly works but not quite", to no problems at all.

Blanket statements such as "it always works" is simply false.

Even hazardous, because it gives a reader a false impression that "it just works", and they do not have to do any prep work. Then, when it does fail, and they have to do a full wipe and reinstall....now they have to jump through weird hoops to protect whatever personal data is on that drive.

I absolutely agree, and I'm sure there are rare instances of failure. I've had a few hiccups, but most of those issues resulted from migrating from a MBR booting system to one capable of UEFI. I did that on my last upgrade, and it took a little effort to get it configured properly. One could say it was a "failure", but it wasn't a "failure" resulting in the need to reinstall windows; it was simply a need to configure bios correctly and get the drive configured correctly. Here, once again, I've heard people say "Don't convert an MBR system to UEFI!" claiming it either can't be done or shouldn't be done. Except...nah, it just takes a wee bit of effort.

I certainly wouldn't claim the Intel to Intel swap is 100% certified problem free. There are wild configurations out there, and incompatibilities can certainly arise.

All I'm saying is that your odds of doing an intel-intel swap is probably a 95% certainty, whereas an amd-amd swap is probably in the neighborhood of a 10% certainty AT BEST. There is such disparity between the two, as a tech I feel quite confident in stating to a client "If you're Intel to Intel, your odds are GREAT." And if we were discussing an AMD migration, I'd pretty much assure them that they're going to be re-installing the OS.

But in anything, there is never an absolute certainty. If I gave that impression, I apologize.

 

[USAFRet]

I certainly wouldn't claim the Intel to Intel swap is 100% certified problem free. There are wild configurations out there, and incompatibilities can certainly arise.

Yet you did.
"I will state for the record that moving your OS drive from one PC to another is TOTALLY FINE if you're running Intel systems "

In any case....any prospective user should prepare for the worst, try it, and be glad if it works.
But do prepare.

 

[DSzymborski]

We get a ton of people who have issues ham-handedly slapping in their OS in a new platform, and there's little commonality, it's in fact one of the most common problems that we get here. I just spot-checked and I found half-a-dozen Intel->Intel OS transplants that failed, and I only spent about two minutes looking. Windows is way better at this than it used to be, but it's basically butchery.

Anything worth doing is worth doing correctly. The best practice with new hardware is a full, fresh install. This is not a field that rewards corner-cutting in the long run; sooner or later it'll bite you in one way or another.

 

[letmepicyou]

We get a ton of people who have issues ham-handedly slapping in their OS in a new platform, and there's little commonality, it's in fact one of the most common problems that we get here. I just spot-checked and I found half-a-dozen Intel->Intel OS transplants that failed, and I only spent about two minutes looking. Windows is way better at this than it used to be, but it's basically butchery.

Anything worth doing is worth doing correctly. The best practice with new hardware is a full, fresh install. This is not a field that rewards corner-cutting in the long run; sooner or later it'll bite you in one way or another.

Who knows, perhaps I've just been extraordinarily lucky.