Transfer all data to another ssd

[Sinji58]

I built my computer with 1tb HDD. I'm looking to upgrade to a 1tb ssd.

How do I transfer all the data, (files, OS) to the ssd from the HDD?
(I would obviously backup all data on another drive first)

 

[ss202sl]

If you are buying a new SSD, most of the retail versions come with some type of cloning software. Otherwise you can use something like clonezilla.

 

[Barty1884]

You can clone, but a clean install of the OS would be recommended. Then you can transfer over your file.s

 

[USAFRet]

Clean install or clone from the HDD to SSD

Clean install - This always works. But, you will need to reinstall all your applications as well. And know all the relevant license keys, etc.

Clone - This usually works. Easier.
And you have a fall back in case it fails. The original data is still on the original drive.

To clone? I've stopped recommending CloneZilla, due to partition size issues. Many of the more recent applications work a lot better.
Macrium Reflect Free is a good tool for this.


Question - How old is this current install? Does it work to your satisfaction?

 

[Sinji58]

What issues are you talking about with the partition? Really what I'm asking what are the pros and cons to cloning? Compatibility, driver transfer...?

 

[USAFRet]

What issues are you talking about with the partition? Really what I'm asking what are the pros and cons to cloning? Compatibility, driver transfer...?

CloneZilla requires the same size or larger target partition.
Most of the newer tools, the partition size does not matter, just the actual used space.

For instance.
Given a 1TB HDD with 1 partition, and 190GB actual used space:
CloneZilla would require a 1TB target partition/drive.
Newer tools (Macrium Reflect) could put that into a 250GB drive.

 

[USAFRet]

For the actual Clone vs Clean install.....
Clean install always works. Clone usually works.

It is easier to make the wrong selections in the cloning operation than for a clean install.