[SOLVED] Question about Migrating Windows 10 from HDD to SSD in new rig.

[jky77]

Hi guys, quick question about migrating Windows 10 between drives. I'm currently on Windows 7 Ultimate (not activated, unable to) in my old rig on an HDD.

I just purchased a new PC with a 1TB SDD drive and no OS installed. So I was considering the following options:

1) For the new rig, making a fresh Win10 install on the new SSD with a USB drive and activating it later. Also install old HDD from old rig onto new one and use just for storage. But I was wondering if I install my old HDD with Win 7 on it, will it boot automatically Win7 on my new rig?

2) or I wanted to try maybe upgrading my Windows 7 ultimate to Windows 10 by purchasing a Win10 license, then moving that HDD to my new rig and booting from that. Then finally move the OS in my new rig from the HDD to SSD. Is this possible to do this?

Also my old Win7 isn't in the best shape, maybe some malware too IDK. Nothing too crazy though, I was wondering if I upgrade to Win10 if any of those issues would carry over to Windows 10 as well.

But mostly I was interested in trying option 2 even if its more complicated because I won't have to download all my games and apps again. Do I?

 

[DSzymborski]

Option 2 is absolutely terrible. New hardware means a fresh install.

As for the proper course of action, you can leave Steam games on your old hard drive, transfer the drive over, and after installing Steam on your new SSD, you can point it to the old Steam files on your old HDD. Most other games and apps, you will have to download and reinstall.

Also, if you obtain a new license on your old PC and have the license associated with your Microsoft account, you can just install Windows 10 properly on your new PC and migrate the license to it. OSs are not tied to individual hard drives.

 

[jky77]

Option 2 is absolutely terrible. New hardware means a fresh install.

As for the proper course of action, you can leave Steam games on your old hard drive, transfer the drive over, and after installing Steam on your new SSD, you can point it to the old Steam files on your old HDD. Most other games and apps, you will have to download and reinstall.

Also, if you obtain a new license on your old PC and have the license associated with your Microsoft account, you can just install Windows 10 properly on your new PC and migrate the license to it. OSs are not tied to individual hard drives.

Ok thanks for the reply, that makes sense. So I was wondering if I go with option 1 and install my old HDD with Windows 7 on it onto my new rig, will it boot up Win7 instead of booting from USB for Win10? I eventually just want to use the HDD as extra disk space, IDK if I would have to delete the OS on there or just keep it there and boot from SSD Win10.

 

[DSzymborski]

Ok thanks for the reply, that makes sense. So I was wondering if I go with option 1 and install my old HDD with Windows 7 on it onto my new rig, will it boot up Win7 instead of booting from USB for Win10? I eventually just want to use the HDD as extra disk space, IDK if I would have to delete the OS on there or just keep it there and boot from SSD Win10.

After you upgrade to a license, make a fresh install of Windows 10 on the SSD in the new PC with only the SSD connected. Then, you can attach your old hard drive and then in BIOS, select boot priority so that it boots to the SSD. Then you can delete things from the HDD as convenient.