[SOLVED] Moving my C-Drive?

[Beachhead1985]

About eight years ago, it seemed like a really swift idea to put all the basic "Run-the-Computer"-stuff on this 120gb SSD, with the thought it would help it run faster. And it did!

The problem is now that with the ongoing bloat of the various basic programs, program files, ect; I don't have much in the way of free space on this drive now and unless or until I move the files I am working with to my HDD, space is rather tight. I've been through my program files, ect and while I am at a loss to figure out where all the space is going to, I can't seem to find much I can move without messing things up in how the computer works to free up space.

Larger SSDs are quite affordable now and what I'd like to do is move everything that runs the computer to that larger drive.

But unfortunately, it seems that if I did this, I would need to get a new installation of Windows and Office. Is there any way around this?

Thanks for your time.

 

[SkyNetRising]

it seems that if I did this, I would need to get a new installation of Windows and Office. Is there any way around this?

Yes. It's called cloning.

https://www.pcmag.com/how-to/how-to-clone-a-hard-drive

 

[hotaru.hino]

But unfortunately, it seems that if I did this, I would need to get a new installation of Windows and Office. Is there any way around this?

You have several options:

• Clone the drive (this can be finnicky depending on what you use to do it)
• Create a system restore image, then "back up" your system with that image onto the new SSD
• Reinstall the OS anyway (the OS license is tied to the motherboard), but copy over the data from the old SSD's user folder into the new SSD's user folder. This works in keeping your settings for most apps, but I'm not sure how Office will react to it.

 

[USAFRet]

About eight years ago, it seemed like a really swift idea to put all the basic "Run-the-Computer"-stuff on this 120gb SSD, with the thought it would help it run faster. And it did!

The problem is now that with the ongoing bloat of the various basic programs, program files, ect; I don't have much in the way of free space on this drive now and unless or until I move the files I am working with to my HDD, space is rather tight. I've been through my program files, ect and while I am at a loss to figure out where all the space is going to, I can't seem to find much I can move without messing things up in how the computer works to free up space.

Larger SSDs are quite affordable now and what I'd like to do is move everything that runs the computer to that larger drive.

But unfortunately, it seems that if I did this, I would need to get a new installation of Windows and Office. Is there any way around this?

Thanks for your time.

1. For a fresh install on a new drive in this same system, you do NOT need a new Windows license. $0. Details to follow.
2. Cloning from your current drive to a new one. Details to follow.

 

[USAFRet]

Fresh install.

You create your own Win 10 to install with. All you need is a blank flash drive, 8GB or larger.

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

 

[USAFRet]

Cloning:

-----------------------------
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)
If you are cloning from a SATA drive to PCIe/NVMe, 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
Run the Macrium Reflect (or Samsung Data Migration)
Select ALL the partitions on the existing C drive

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 specifiy the resulting partition size, to even include the whole thing

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 all partitions on it.
This will probably require the commandline diskpart function, and the clean command.

Ask questions if anything is unclear.
-----------------------------

 

[Beachhead1985]

Does this all go for Office as well? I have an older version of Office that i do not have to buy anew every year and don't want to lose that.

Will cloning/reinstalling windows mess with the data on my other drives? That may be a dumb question.

 

[hotaru.hino]

Does this all go for Office as well? I have an older version of Office that i do not have to buy anew every year and don't want to lose that.

Will cloning/reinstalling windows mess with the data on my other drives? That may be a dumb question.

Office should not be affected. Though just to be certain, uninstall it from your computer first.

While cloning or reinstalling will not affect the data on your other drives, it's recommended to unplug everything but the drives you need to avoid issues anyway.

 

[USAFRet]

Does this all go for Office as well? I have an older version of Office that i do not have to buy anew every year and don't want to lose that.

Will cloning/reinstalling windows mess with the data on my other drives? That may be a dumb question.

The clone operation moves everything from one drive to another.
It does not affect anything on other drives.

Please post a screencap of your current Disk Management window.

 

[SkyNetRising]

The clone operation moves everything from one drive to another.

Just to be clear - cloning doesn't move anything. It creates identical copy.

 

[USAFRet]

Just to be clear - cloning doesn't move anything. It creates identical copy.

Right.
And for good reason. The source drive is NOT deleted or affected. The user needs to do that manualy, after the clone is verified successful.

 

[Beachhead1985]

Okay guys, I think this looks good. I will give this a try and report back.