Moving windows 7 Professional (64-bit) from HDD to SSD

[Lunarphysics]

Hello! First time here, I'll try to cover everything I need.

Firstly, http://pcpartpicker.com/user/leoplanb/saved/3V8j4D this is my complete build, minus the SSD. The SSD is a 16 GB SanDisk unit that I have installed in my desktop. I got this SSD from my Acer C7 Chromebook, I upgraded both the RAM and the SSD on the laptop. I wish to use the left over SSD to move my windows OS onto, for a faster booting process.

I'm sure this is asked frequently, but I rather use a method that doesn't involve me losing all of my files. I am also without possession of any restore disks, I'm honestly not sure if that usually comes with a windows OS or not. I got my Windows OS through my public high school's computer engineering class, for free and legally.

I partitioned this SSD in half. Half was dedicated to the Chrome OS that came with the laptop, and the other half was dedicated to Ubuntu (or Chrubuntu as some call it) and various other softwares, which i installed through Chrome OS's terminal and developer mode. After installing the drive into my desktop, it is being read as "Local disk (G" and it says that "7.45 GB free of 7.45". When i open the drive through "my Computer" there are no files in it. I guess my first question is how do I get the other 7-8GB~ back?

My next question is how do I, or is it even possible, to move ONLY my Windows OS from my desktop's HDD to this SSD.

As a senior in high school i took a computer engineering class, and will start majoring in computer science this fall, so I can handle some technical instructions. However, I'm not great with software and configuration yet.

I appreciate the community for taking time to read this and hopefully help me out, thanks!

 

[Guest]

Hello! First time here, I'll try to cover everything I need.

Firstly, http://pcpartpicker.com/user/leoplanb/saved/3V8j4D this is my complete build, minus the SSD. The SSD is a 16 GB SanDisk unit that I have installed in my desktop. I got this SSD from my Acer C7 Chromebook, I upgraded both the RAM and the SSD on the laptop. I wish to use the left over SSD to move my windows OS onto, for a faster booting process.

I'm sure this is asked frequently, but I rather use a method that doesn't involve me losing all of my files. I am also without possession of any restore disks, I'm honestly not sure if that usually comes with a windows OS or not. I got my Windows OS through my public high school's computer engineering class, for free and legally.

I partitioned this SSD in half. Half was dedicated to the Chrome OS that came with the laptop, and the other half was dedicated to Ubuntu (or Chrubuntu as some call it) and various other softwares, which i installed through Chrome OS's terminal and developer mode. After installing the drive into my desktop, it is being read as "Local disk (G" and it says that "7.45 GB free of 7.45". When i open the drive through "my Computer" there are no files in it. I guess my first question is how do I get the other 7-8GB~ back?

My next question is how do I, or is it even possible, to move ONLY my Windows OS from my desktop's HDD to this SSD.

As a senior in high school i took a computer engineering class, and will start majoring in computer science this fall, so I can handle some technical instructions. However, I'm not great with software and configuration yet.

I appreciate the community for taking time to read this and hopefully help me out, thanks!

Backup any files that you value to an external HDD or other network resource (file server, etc). Reinstall Windows fresh on the SSD and copy back over your files.

As for just moving the OS to the SSD, you may be able to create a backup in windows of your machine, install Windows on your OS and restore from that backup. I have never tried that as I usually just backup my important folders/files and do a fresh install.

 

[spooky2th]

Just uninstall the hdd and install the ssd into the first sata port, usually sata0 or sata1. Install windows and then load all the MB drivers and when you have your comp up and running OK, install the hdd into another sata port and you should have access to it. You will need to load any programs and games again onto the ssd. Change the location of documents, music, videos, pictures and etc to the hdd and divert all downloads to the hdd too. 16GB might be too small as it will fill up faster that you think. As ssd's get close to full they start to slow down a lot.