Moving from HDD to SSD - Windows 8.1

[Moffinz]

So as I mentioned in the title I want to switch out my current HDD with an SSD, but I'm a little unsure what would be the safest way to do this. If I could have both my HDD and my SSD in my computer at the same time, it wouldn't be a problem, but my powersupply blocks me from doing that, so I have to completely replace the HDD with my SSD (I also have a 1TB HDD). The problem with replacing the HDD with my SSD is that I have the digital version of Windows 8.1 (no disk). So in order for me to reinstall windows I need to be booted up on the HDD and do it from there. But if I do that there is no SSD connected so I can't install the OS on the SSD. How can I work around this?

Thanks

 

[lantrich]

What do you mean your power supply blocks you? If it is a power issue then disconnect your 1 TB hard drive and plug in your ssd. Use EasUS to transfer operating systems and programs.

 

[fkr]

If you buy a one tb sdd then you can just clone the image over.

you can also buy an external cage to house your old hdd and plug that in through usb. the same can be done for the sdd while you are cloning it over

sdd like the crucial mx100 comes with free cloning software and it i seemless.

the only issue you could have is that you cannot clone a larger hdd to a smaller sdd. you would have to partition the size of your hdd down to less than the capacity of whatever hdd you buy then you could clone it over.

 

[USAFRet]

What case and/or motherboard only allows a single drive? (Assuming this is a desktop)

 

[Moffinz]

Cheers for the replies. I see now that I have a been a little unclear with my question. Currently I have one 300gb HDD (OS is installed on this) and a 1TB HDD. I have also bought a 250GB SSD (a ssd with more space than that is too expensive for me atm). Since I have both the 300gb HDD and the 1TB HDD connected I can't add another drive because of the limitation of power connectors. I guess I could just switch out my 1TB drive with my SSD and clone the 300GB HDD to the SSD. But then again, wouldn't that cause problems, considering that the 300GB is bigger than the 250GB SSD? Also I've heard things like cloning a HDD to an SSD can cause the OS to become unstable. Is this right?

 

[USAFRet]

Personally, I always recommend a clean install on a new SSD vs cloning from an old HDD.

However...what is the overall used space on the OS drive?

 

[Moffinz]

Personally, I always recommend a clean install on a new SSD vs cloning from an old HDD.

However...what is the overall used space on the OS drive?

33,7 gb space is left on the OS drive. I could always clear some space on it, would that help?

 

[fkr]

i would partition the 300gb hdd down to a 200 and 100 partition then use a cloning software to move the 200 partition to the ssd.

moving info from one disk to another does not cause issues, if it does it is a failure someplace in the system and not the actual process itself. data is data the hdd and sdd do not see anything other than 1010101010 and when the CPU reads it it does not know if it is a thumdrive hdd or ssd.

you can use one of the below softwares
http://www.techsupportalert.com/best-free-drive-imaging-program.htm

the top one macrimum is there favorite and has worked for me in the past. just read the whole article and also go to there forums as they have tutorials for just about everything there.

 

[Moffinz]

i would partition the 300gb hdd down to a 200 and 100 partition then use a cloning software to move the 200 partition to the ssd.

moving info from one disk to another does not cause issues, if it does it is a failure someplace in the system and not the actual process itself. data is data the hdd and sdd do not see anything other than 1010101010 and when the CPU reads it it does not know if it is a thumdrive hdd or ssd.

you can use one of the below softwares
http://www.techsupportalert.com/best-free-drive-imaging-program.htm

the top one macrimum is there favorite and has worked for me in the past. just read the whole article and also go to there forums as they have tutorials for just about everything there.

That sounds like a nice way to do it. Cheers for the help

 

[USAFRet]

Personally, I always recommend a clean install on a new SSD vs cloning from an old HDD.

However...what is the overall used space on the OS drive?

33,7 gb space is left on the OS drive. I could always clear some space on it, would that help?

To migrate to a 250GB drive, it really needs to be under 200GB used space.

 

[Moffinz]

Personally, I always recommend a clean install on a new SSD vs cloning from an old HDD.

However...what is the overall used space on the OS drive?

33,7 gb space is left on the OS drive. I could always clear some space on it, would that help?

To migrate to a 250GB drive, it really needs to be under 200GB used space.

I'll see if I can clear the hard drive of unnessecary things and also run a defragmention on the drive. Thanks for your help!

 

[lantrich]

If you have free space on the hard drive so that it is less than 250 gb you can move to the ssd with no problems. EasUS allows you tomove from a larger hard drive to a small one.

 

[lantrich]

EasUs is free.

 

[fkr]

EasUs is free.

the ones i recommended are free also

you should check out this sight it is the best collection of free software I have ever found. they have been around for 25 years or something

http://www.techsupportalert.com/

they test out everything and have a great community. they are always revising with new software and comparing it to old software. they never recommend things that have other bloatware added and always warn if that software tries to add additional software when installing. overall a great sight.