[SOLVED] Moving OS and files from 2TB HDD to 2TB SSD

[JohnSmith7798]

I've just bought a Samsung V-Nand SSD 860 Evo Sata 6Gb/s.
I'm replacing a 2TB HDD to speed the system up and I'm looking for advice/tips on how to go about moving everything over with as little risk as possible. Are there any guides available I should look at?
I've downloaded Macrium Reflect as I think someone recommended it here last week.
I'm hoping to be able to keep the HDD on the system as extra storage or to use as a backup drive afterwards.

 

[USAFRet]

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Specific steps for a successful clone operation:
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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 s not optional.
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.
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[JohnSmith7798]

Thanks USAFRet. Went with Samsung Data Migration and followed your instructions. Everything went perfectly and the system is now much faster. Didn't wipe the old HDD yet. Unplugged it and will leave it as a backup for a while in case any issue arises with the SSD.