[SOLVED] New SSD Incoming - Need Help Shuffling Files

[AnAbundanceOfBees]

Hey There! New to the forum.
So, question is: What's the best way to go about shifting files from an old HDD to a new SDD?

Specifically - I've a 2tb WD Blue 3d m.2 SSD incoming
Currently, I have a WD Green 240gb SSD (C: drive) that is almost full, including the Windows 10 installation.
I also have an old WD Blue 1tb HDD (E: drive) that I salvaged from my old setup, which is what I've been really wanting to replace.
So bear with me here, as I don't know too much about storage.
I guess I want to keep Windows on the 240gb SSD, but most of the storage is being used, and I feel that I should alleviate some of the files and give it more space, so I would be aiming to move the games and extra stuff from that, and all of the files from the HDD, to the new m.2 SSD.
So what's the cleanest way to go about that?
Thanks.

 

[USAFRet]

Laptop or desktop?

 

[USAFRet]

Install and run either WinDirStat, or WizTree.

Run as Administrator, selecting only the drive in question.
Post a screencap here.

Also, a screencap of your Disk Management window.


From there, we can determine what is on which drive, what can be moved, and just as importantly...what cannot be moved.

 

[AnAbundanceOfBees]

Laptop or desktop?

Guess I should have mentioned - Desktop.

 

[AnAbundanceOfBees]

Install and run either WinDirStat, or WizTree.

Run as Administrator, selecting only the drive in question.
Post a screencap here.

Also, a screencap of your Disk Management window.


From there, we can determine what is on which drive, what can be moved, and just as importantly...what cannot be moved.

I hope I got these screenshots right. First time using either of these.

 

[USAFRet]

For the current HDD, let's do a test:
Power OFF
Physically disconnect the SATA data and power from it
Power UP
Does the system boot properly?


For the current C drive:
1/2 of it is taken with .PAK...game files. 101GB.
Are those Steam or other? Click on one of the orange spaces, and at bottom left it will show you the path for that particular file.
If Steam, we can probably move those elsewhere.

 

[AnAbundanceOfBees]

For the current HDD, let's do a test:
Power OFF
Physically disconnect the SATA data and power from it
Power UP
Does the system boot properly?


For the current C drive:
1/2 of it is taken with .PAK...game files. 101GB.
Are those Steam or other? Click on one of the orange spaces, and at bottom left it will show you the path for that particular file.
If Steam, we can probably move those elsewhere.

The vast majority of those are Steam game files. What's not a steam game I can bear to get rid of, or just haven't gotten around to completely getting rid of yet.
Don't really feel like cracking my case open right now, but the HDD is something that I added after having the PC for awhile, and it booted up no differently from when I first got it, without that HDD, from how it boots up after adding the HDD.

 

[USAFRet]

OK.
Just wanted to verify it booted up without that 100MB "System" partition.

Steam games can be moved directly in the Steam client.
Steam games location
In the steam client:
Steam
Settings
Downloads
Steam Library Folders
Add library folder

To move an already installed game
Games library
Right click the game
Properties
Local Files
Move Install Folder



Move that 101GB off the C drive, and that will absolutely fix the low drive space on that 240GB.

Then, a simple copy/paste from the HDD to the new SSD.
Swap drive letters around, and done.

 

[AnAbundanceOfBees]

OK.
Just wanted to verify it booted up without that 100MB "System" partition.

Steam games can be moved directly in the Steam client.
Steam games location
In the steam client:
Steam
Settings
Downloads
Steam Library Folders
Add library folder

To move an already installed game
Games library
Right click the game
Properties
Local Files
Move Install Folder



Move that 101GB off the C drive, and that will absolutely fix the low drive space on that 240GB.

Then, a simple copy/paste from the HDD to the new SSD.
Swap drive letters around, and done.

Thanks, you're a lifesaver.
So what I would do, once the SSD arrives, is install it, open up both that and the HDD files, and just copy/paste from the HDD window to the new SSD window, and uninstall the HDD?
Another Question: Should I install the new SSD to top port (CPU I suppose) or the bottom port (Chipset), if it's purely for storage?

 

[USAFRet]

1. Yes.
2. For the new drive, doesn't matter. But, you'll need to verify any conflicts between the M.2 port and the current SATA port your C drive is in now. Sometimes, one or more SATA ports are disabled.