Need help with partitions

[connorthebomb]

Hello forum, I need a little assistance. I got a new SSD that I will be making my boot drive for my PC. It is a 500gb ssd so it will not hold all of my HDD. My plan was to use a cloning tool to clone windows onto the new drive. To do this I need a partition holding windows but I currently don't have any partitions on my drive... I can't find anywhere explaining how to do this...so I need to #1 figure out how to make a partition, and #2 move just the information needed to make a boot drive onto said partition. If you all could help me out that would be great!

Or if there is an easier way to transfer just the OS to the ssd, I am all ears!
Thanks ahead of time!

 

[jay32267]

Do you have the original Windows install media?
How much is currently on the HDD?

 

[connorthebomb]

Do you have the original Windows install media?
How much is currently on the HDD?

There is currently 650 gb on the 2tb HDD. I've cleaned just about everything off of it as I can. By original windows install media do you mean the usb drive I installed with? Sorry I'm not SUPER technical with these types of things, usually can just follow along youtube videos but I can't seem to find any that will help my situation.

 

[jay32267]

What does the 650 GB contain mostly?

I think you want to get the drive down to below 400GB or cloning is a bad idea.

If you can't I would do a clean install of Windows on the new drive with the Windows install media you hopefully have.

 

[connorthebomb]

What does the 650 GB contain mostly?

I think you want to get the drive down to below 400GB or cloning is a bad idea.

If you can't I would do a clean install of Windows on the new drive with the Windows install media you hopefully have.

I got rid of all unnecessary videos and pictures so it mostly contains steam games and other programs similar. A couple of noob questions for you...what do you mean by install media and also, what all would be lost and need setup with a clean install?

 

[jay32267]

Media...like a usb stick or a dvd with the original install program for windows that is on your current hard drive.

With a clean install you would just have Windows.

Then you would have to add whatever programs you use.

 

[connorthebomb]

Media...like a usb stick or a dvd with the original install program for windows that is on your current hard drive.

With a clean install you would just have Windows.

Then you would have to add whatever programs you use.

What happens to my hdd drive if I do a fresh install then? Do I back that up and format it or what? Also, I have the usb drive that has windows from the original download, I won't have to rebuy the key correct?

 

[jay32267]

Usually what I do is do a clean install of windows and then install whatever programs I use and the copy the data files over to my C drive from the old drive.

Then I wipe the old drive and use it for backups.

 

[connorthebomb]

Usually what I do is do a clean install of windows and then install whatever programs I use and the copy the data files over to my C drive from the old drive.

Then I wipe the old drive and use it for backups.

Gotcha! thank you for the help! Can I use the old drive to store word files a stuff like that and also some unimportant programs that don't need to be on the ssd and have them still work like normal?

 

[lolnole]

If you follow the previous poster's instructions, your SSD will have a clean install of Windows. You will have to reinstall all of the programs that you want from the old drive. You do not need to repurchase Windows. The Windows 10 license should be tied to your Microsoft account. You won't need to input a product key.

After you retrieve your files from your HDD and copy them to your SSD, you are free to do whatever you want with the old drive. You can format the drive to erase its contents and use the drive as additional memory storage. You can store it away as a backup drive. You can also sell it after wiping the data.

If you are adamant in wanting to clone the drive, then I will tell that it is possible to do so. Usually the only good reason to do so is if you are unable to reinstall programs because you no longer have the installation media or a valid product key/license. The other poster is correct that 650 GB will not fit on the 500 GB SSD. You will need to shed data so that it can fit.

Here is a link to one guide to cloning data to an SSD:

https://lifehacker.com/how-to-migrate-to-a-solid-state-drive-without-reinstall-5837543

 

[connorthebomb]

If you follow the previous poster's instructions, your SSD will have a clean install of Windows. You will have to reinstall all of the programs that you want from the old drive. You do not need to repurchase Windows. The Windows 10 license should be tied to your Microsoft account. You won't need to input a product key.

After you retrieve your files from your HDD and copy them to your SSD, you are free to do whatever you want with the old drive. You can format the drive to erase its contents and use the drive as additional memory storage. You can store it away as a backup drive. You can also sell it after wiping the data.

If you are adamant in wanting to clone the drive, then I will tell that it is possible to do so. Usually the only good reason to do so is if you are unable to reinstall programs because you no longer have the installation media or a valid product key/license. The other poster is correct that 650 GB will not fit on the 500 GB SSD. You will need to shed data so that it can fit.

Here is a link to one guide to cloning data to an SSD:

https://lifehacker.com/how-to-migrate-to-a-solid-state-drive-without-reinstall-5837543

Thank you for summarizing that for me! I can always count on this awesome forum! I think I will just do the clean install since no programs need a key. Thank you both for the help!

 

[jay32267]

You're welcome.