Moving data from one HDD to another

[Gracodana]

So I want to move the contents of a 2TB hdd to anther one on my pc. The issue is that I will be removing the one I want to wipe but I want to still have all the games installed on it. If I needed to move something before I just set a link to a different places the files were but that link wont exist without the drive.

It would be a pain to redownload nearly 1TB of games especially as I have a daily 20gb cap so any thoughts?

 

[Sohom]

You can use cloning tools like: ASUS clonedrive, Macrium Reflect Free Edition. This will keep the installations intact.

 

[USAFRet]

So I want to move the contents of a 2TB hdd to anther one on my pc. The issue is that I will be removing the one I want to wipe but I want to still have all the games installed on it. If I needed to move something before I just set a link to a different places the files were but that link wont exist without the drive.

It would be a pain to redownload nearly 1TB of games especially as I have a daily 20gb cap so any thoughts?

If this is a secondary drive with no OS, simply copy and swap around drive letters as needed.

If it is the OS drive, then clone from one drive to the other.
Exactly like this:
-----------------------------
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
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 original boot partitions, 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
-----------------------------

 

[Gracodana]

So I want to move the contents of a 2TB hdd to anther one on my pc. The issue is that I will be removing the one I want to wipe but I want to still have all the games installed on it. If I needed to move something before I just set a link to a different places the files were but that link wont exist without the drive.

It would be a pain to redownload nearly 1TB of games especially as I have a daily 20gb cap so any thoughts?

If this is a secondary drive with no OS, simply copy and swap around drive letters as needed.

If it is the OS drive, then clone from one drive to the other.
Exactly like this:
-----------------------------
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
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 original boot partitions, 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
-----------------------------