[SOLVED] Moving Windows from hdd to ssd

[Cas1mir]

Hey, I’m doing some much needed maintenance for my memory storage and need a little help.

Currently I have everything on my PC just on a plain 1TB harddrive. Plan is to

1. Backup some of my more important files on some storage or another disk maybe and do a factory reset on my PC
2. Buy 1TB ssd and have the windows installation copied/moved or reinstalled over to the ssd.

Whats the best way I should go about this, thanks in advance for any help.

 

[USAFRet]

What motherboard are you using?
Which specific SSD?
How much space is consumed on your current HDD?

 

[USAFRet]

Further:

Which Windows version?
Does it currently work to your satisfaction?

 

[Cas1mir]

Further:

Which Windows version?
Does it currently work to your satisfaction?

My motherboard is Asus Prime z270 iirc
Havent decided on the specific ssd yet but perhaps Kingston A2000 1000 Gt SSD M.2 SSD
Currently I have around 950/1000gb on the hdd, a little full hence why I was thinking of factory resetting and clearing the disk

I’m running windows 10 and perfectly happy with it.

 

[USAFRet]

1. Don't buy that Kingston. Yes, Kingston is a good "brand". But we've seen far too many issues with those here lately.
2. WD Blue SN550 or Samsung 970 EVO would be better choices.
3. Get that consumed space to under 800GB, and we can migrate the whole thing over. No reset or reinstall needed.

 

[USAFRet]

Or, a fresh install on the new SSD. This means a reinstall of everything else as well. Drivers, applications, etc.

We can walk through either process.

 

[Cas1mir]

Or, a fresh install on the new SSD. This means a reinstall of everything else as well. Drivers, applications, etc.

We can walk through either process.

Migrating everything to ssd sounds better and wiping the hdd for more space, or do you think I should keep the old disk as a backup perhaps?

 

[USAFRet]

Migrating everything to ssd sounds better and wiping the hdd for more space, or do you think I should keep the old disk as a backup perhaps?

The migration process leaves the old drive intact.
Later, when the system is verified fully working on the new drive, you'd wipe the old drive clean.

Then, can start a good actual backup routine.

 

[USAFRet]

-----------------------------
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.
-----------------------------

 

[Cas1mir]

Ok, I’ll start working on this and ask if anything comes up. Thanks a lot!

 

[Cas1mir]

Got my hdd cloned to ssd successfully! How should I go about wiping the old hard drive?

 

[USAFRet]

Got my hdd cloned to ssd successfully! How should I go about wiping the old hard drive?

You've verified the system works with ONLY the new drive connected?

If so, commandline diskpart function, and the clean command.

https://www.tomshardware.com/news/format-hard-drive-command-prompt,37632.html