Question Should I reinstall Windows when getting a new ssd?

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christofferskr

christofferskr

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Dec 19, 2019
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I'm waiting on a new SSD which is a lot better than the one im using now. I'm planning on using the new SSD as the C drive. Should I reinstall windows on the new drive or can I just move it from the one I'm using now to the new one without any negative effects. I don't really want to reinstall windows again as I did it the other day when I upgraded CPU.
 
Use cloning. Will be faster than reinstall.
New drive has to be larger in capacity than used space on old drive for this to be possible.

You can use Macrium Reflect free.
With Samsung drives - Samsung data migration software.

Note - after cloning first boot from cloned drive has to be done with old drive physically disconnected.
This is not optional. If you fail to do that, you'll have to redo cloning.
 
christofferskr said:
I'm waiting on a new SSD which is a lot better than the one im using now. I'm planning on using the new SSD as the C drive. Should I reinstall windows on the new drive or can I just move it from the one I'm using now to the new one without any negative effects. I don't really want to reinstall windows again as I did it the other day when I upgraded CPU.
Click to expand...
Unless this is a brand new install with nothing else in it, a clone operation is probably the answer.

Some details....
What motherboard?
What OS?
What drives are involved here?
 
Assuming you ca have both of these drives connected at the same time...
(if not, there are other methods)


-----------------------------
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
Both drives must be the same partitioning scheme, either MBR or GPT
Download and install Macrium Reflect (or Samsung Data Migration, if a Samsung target SSD)
If you are cloning from a SATA drive to PCIe/NVMe, you may need to 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

Verify the system boots with ONLY the current "C drive" connected.
If not, we have to fix that first.

Run the Macrium Reflect (or Samsung Data Migration)
Select ALL the partitions on the existing C drive

[Ignore this section if using the SDM. It does this automatically]
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 specify the resulting partition size, to even include the whole thing
[/end ignore]

Click the 'Clone' button
Wait until it is done
When it finishes, power off
Disconnect ALL drives except for the new SSD. This is not optional.
This is to allow the system to try to boot from ONLY the SSD

(swapping cables is irrelevant with NVMe drives, but DO disconnect the old drive for this next part)
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.
-----------------------------
 
SkyNetRising said:
Use cloning. Will be faster than reinstall.
New drive has to be larger in capacity than used space on old drive for this to be possible.

You can use Macrium Reflect free.
With Samsung drives - Samsung data migration software.

Note - after cloning first boot from cloned drive has to be done with old drive physically disconnected.
This is not optional. If you fail to do that, you'll have to redo cloning.
Click to expand...
Both drives are kingston. New one is 2tb, old is 1tb. Windows will work 100% as it should after doing this? I can connect it after having booted without it right? I'll just delete everything on it.
 
USAFRet said:
Unless this is a brand new install with nothing else in it, a clone operation is probably the answer.

Some details....
What motherboard?
What OS?
What drives are involved here?
Click to expand...
Asus ROG Strix B450-F
Windows 11
Both old and new are kingston drives. Old is 1tb, new is 2tb.
 
USAFRet said:
Assuming you ca have both of these drives connected at the same time...
(if not, there are other methods)


-----------------------------
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
Both drives must be the same partitioning scheme, either MBR or GPT
Download and install Macrium Reflect (or Samsung Data Migration, if a Samsung target SSD)
If you are cloning from a SATA drive to PCIe/NVMe, you may need to 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

Verify the system boots with ONLY the current "C drive" connected.
If not, we have to fix that first.

Run the Macrium Reflect (or Samsung Data Migration)
Select ALL the partitions on the existing C drive

[Ignore this section if using the SDM. It does this automatically]
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 specify the resulting partition size, to even include the whole thing
[/end ignore]

Click the 'Clone' button
Wait until it is done
When it finishes, power off
Disconnect ALL drives except for the new SSD. This is not optional.
This is to allow the system to try to boot from ONLY the SSD

(swapping cables is irrelevant with NVMe drives, but DO disconnect the old drive for this next part)
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.
-----------------------------
Click to expand...
I just did these steps and it boots into windows fine, but it shows that aprox. 1tb is unallocated. Is this because of the cloning? Is it possible to allocate it to the C drive so it shows up as 2tb?
 
christofferskr said:
I just did these steps and it boots into windows fine, but it shows that aprox. 1tb is unallocated. Is this because of the cloning? Is it possible to allocate it to the C drive so it shows up as 2tb?
Click to expand...
Right.
The middle section of that tutorial addressed this exact situation.

The partition on the Target is the same size as what was on the original, 1TB.

The easiest way is to just redo the clone, and changing the partition size on the target drive in the process.


Please show us a screencap of your Disk Management window.
 
USAFRet said:
2 ways forward:

1. Steps above, delete that partition. Then, you can Extend the C parition into that whole unused space.

2. Redo the clone operation, paying attention to the middle part that says how to manipulate the partition size on the target drive.
Click to expand...
thank you so much, this worked! thanks for all your help.
 
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