Transfering Windows 8 OEM *as windows 10* from a HDD to SSD

[Bananaslu]

I have a few questions for you guys. I have a crappy HDD with my boot drive on it. I am looking to upgrade the 1tb HDD to a 250 GB SSD while still using the HDD for bulk storage. The OS I have is Windows 8 OEM upgraded to Windows 10. My HDD has over 500gb and if I would not have to clone, I would appreciate it. I still own the product key and disc for the Windows 8 OEM.

My main two questions:
Is there a way to get it off the HDD and onto the SSD?

Will I be able to upgrade to windows 10 like before?

Thanks!

 

[IisGamer]

Bad news, copying an operating system manually can be a huge pain, if possible at all. The windows installer comes packaged and the installer extracts everything to the drive as well as making the drive bootable at the same time. You could try making the drive a bootable drive with a program (I don't know any current ones for SSD's) and copying the files for windows over to it but I highly doubt it will work. You'd have to get the Windows 8 installer and use your OEM's product key and I do not think you'll be able to upgrade like before as they have ended the free Windows 10 upgrade. Hope this helps and good luck.

 

[USAFRet]

I have a few questions for you guys. I have a crappy HDD with my boot drive on it. I am looking to upgrade the 1tb HDD to a 250 GB SSD while still using the HDD for bulk storage. The OS I have is Windows 8 OEM upgraded to Windows 10. My HDD has over 500gb and if I would not have to clone, I would appreciate it. I still own the product key and disc for the Windows 8 OEM.

My main two questions:
Is there a way to get it off the HDD and onto the SSD?

Will I be able to upgrade to windows 10 like before?

Thanks!

OK...slow down.

1. How much total used space is on your current HDD?
2. Does the system actually work to your satisfaction?

 

[USAFRet]

Bad news, copying an operating system manually can be a huge pain, if possible at all. The windows installer comes packaged and the installer extracts everything to the drive as well as making the drive bootable at the same time. You could try making the drive a bootable drive with a program (I don't know any current ones for SSD's) and copying the files for windows over to it but I highly doubt it will work. You'd have to get the Windows 8 installer and use your OEM's product key and I do not think you'll be able to upgrade like before as they have ended the free Windows 10 upgrade. Hope this helps and good luck.

This whole paragraph is mostly incorrect.
There are tools built to do exactly what the OP seeks.

 

[IisGamer]

Bad news, copying an operating system manually can be a huge pain, if possible at all. The windows installer comes packaged and the installer extracts everything to the drive as well as making the drive bootable at the same time. You could try making the drive a bootable drive with a program (I don't know any current ones for SSD's) and copying the files for windows over to it but I highly doubt it will work. You'd have to get the Windows 8 installer and use your OEM's product key and I do not think you'll be able to upgrade like before as they have ended the free Windows 10 upgrade. Hope this helps and good luck.

This whole paragraph is mostly incorrect.

Yeah thanks. Was just trying to help -.-

 

[Bananaslu]

I have a few questions for you guys. I have a crappy HDD with my boot drive on it. I am looking to upgrade the 1tb HDD to a 250 GB SSD while still using the HDD for bulk storage. The OS I have is Windows 8 OEM upgraded to Windows 10. My HDD has over 500gb and if I would not have to clone, I would appreciate it. I still own the product key and disc for the Windows 8 OEM.

My main two questions:
Is there a way to get it off the HDD and onto the SSD?

Will I be able to upgrade to windows 10 like before?

Thanks!

OK...slow down.

1. How much total used space is on your current HDD?
2. Does the system actually work to your satisfaction?

Total used space is close to 500gb, and what do you mean work to my satisfaction? The reasoning behind getting the SSD is because I have witnessed the strengths of an SSD for booting up and would like to upgrade.

 

[USAFRet]

I have a few questions for you guys. I have a crappy HDD with my boot drive on it. I am looking to upgrade the 1tb HDD to a 250 GB SSD while still using the HDD for bulk storage. The OS I have is Windows 8 OEM upgraded to Windows 10. My HDD has over 500gb and if I would not have to clone, I would appreciate it. I still own the product key and disc for the Windows 8 OEM.

My main two questions:
Is there a way to get it off the HDD and onto the SSD?

Will I be able to upgrade to windows 10 like before?

Thanks!

OK...slow down.

1. How much total used space is on your current HDD?
2. Does the system actually work to your satisfaction?

Total used space is close to 500gb, and what do you mean work to my satisfaction? The reasoning behind getting the SSD is because I have witnessed the strengths of an SSD for booting up and would like to upgrade.

Given a 250GB SSD...

How much of that ~500GB used space is doc/video/music/Steam games?

If you can get the total used space to below 200GB, you can do a migration of that to the new SSD.
But you must get the actual space that low. You can't squeeze 500GB into a 250GB drive.
We can go into details on this if you wish.

Or, you can do a clean install of Win 10 on the new drive. Of course, this requires reinstall of all your applications.
And you do NOT need your old Win 8.1 install or license key.
You don't even need a Win 10 license key.

 

[Bananaslu]

I have a few questions for you guys. I have a crappy HDD with my boot drive on it. I am looking to upgrade the 1tb HDD to a 250 GB SSD while still using the HDD for bulk storage. The OS I have is Windows 8 OEM upgraded to Windows 10. My HDD has over 500gb and if I would not have to clone, I would appreciate it. I still own the product key and disc for the Windows 8 OEM.

My main two questions:
Is there a way to get it off the HDD and onto the SSD?

Will I be able to upgrade to windows 10 like before?

Thanks!

OK...slow down.

1. How much total used space is on your current HDD?
2. Does the system actually work to your satisfaction?

Total used space is close to 500gb, and what do you mean work to my satisfaction? The reasoning behind getting the SSD is because I have witnessed the strengths of an SSD for booting up and would like to upgrade.

Given a 250GB SSD...

How much of that ~500GB used space is doc/video/music/Steam games?

If you can get the total used space to below 200GB, you can do a migration of that to the new SSD.
But you must get the actual space that low. You can't squeeze 500GB into a 250GB drive.
We can go into details on this if you wish.

Or, you can do a clean install of Win 10 on the new drive. Of course, this requires reinstall of all your applications.
And you do NOT need your old Win 8.1 install or license key.
You don't even need a Win 10 license key.

Starting with the amount of the 500GB it is 75-80% of stuff i can throw away and reinstall. I just didn't want the hassle, but if its what I have to do that's fine. Moving on, I don't want to buy a new Windows 10 since I already paid for one that I happen to put on the HDD not too long ago. (I think that's what you meant by clean install of Win10. Correct me if wrong.)

 

[USAFRet]

Starting with the amount of the 500GB it is 75-80% of stuff i can throw away and reinstall. I just didn't want the hassle, but if its what I have to do that's fine. Moving on, I don't want to buy a new Windows 10 since I already paid for one that I happen to put on the HDD not too long ago. (I think that's what you meant by clean install of Win10. Correct me if wrong.)

A new install, on a new drive, in the same system does not require a new Win 10 license.

For the cloning operation, get the actual used space on that drive to well below 200GB. Uninstall, delete, save elsewhere...whatever.

Then, do this:
-----------------------------
Verify the actual used space on the current drive is significantly below the size of the new SSD
Download and install Macrium Reflect (or Samsung Data Migration, if a Samsung SSD)
Power off
Disconnect ALL drives except the current C and the new SSD
Power up
Run the Macrium Reflect (or Samsung Data Migration)
Select ALL the partitions on the existing C drive
Click the 'Clone' button
Wait until it is done
When it finishes, power off
Disconnect ALL drives except for the new SSD
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 as necessary.
Delete the original boot partitions, here:
https://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/windows/en-US/4f1b84ac-b193-40e3-943a-f45d52e23685/cant-delete-extra-healthy-recovery-partitions-and-healthy-efi-system-partition?forum=w8itproinstall
-----------------------------

 

[Bananaslu]

Starting with the amount of the 500GB it is 75-80% of stuff i can throw away and reinstall. I just didn't want the hassle, but if its what I have to do that's fine. Moving on, I don't want to buy a new Windows 10 since I already paid for one that I happen to put on the HDD not too long ago. (I think that's what you meant by clean install of Win10. Correct me if wrong.)

A new install, on a new drive, in the same system does not require a new Win 10 license.

For the cloning operation, get the actual used space on that drive to well below 200GB. Uninstall, delete, save elsewhere...whatever.

Then, do this:
-----------------------------
Verify the actual used space on the current drive is significantly below the size of the new SSD
Download and install Macrium Reflect (or Samsung Data Migration, if a Samsung SSD)
Power off
Disconnect ALL drives except the current C and the new SSD
Power up
Run the Macrium Reflect (or Samsung Data Migration)
Select ALL the partitions on the existing C drive
Click the 'Clone' button
Wait until it is done
When it finishes, power off
Disconnect ALL drives except for the new SSD
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 as necessary.
Delete the original boot partitions, here:
https://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/windows/en-US/4f1b84ac-b193-40e3-943a-f45d52e23685/cant-delete-extra-healthy-recovery-partitions-and-healthy-efi-system-partition?forum=w8itproinstall
-----------------------------

/
Before I go off and clone, can you explain how the new install on a new drive works without having to buy anything? Thanks for all your help by the way.

 

[USAFRet]

/
Before I go off and clone, can you explain how the new install on a new drive works without having to buy anything? Thanks for all your help by the way.

For a new install, in the same system, it does NOT require a new license key.
Same drive or different drive.

Create your Win 10 install media, here:
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows10
Boot from that, install.
When it asks for the license key, at the bottom of that window it says "I don't have a Product key"
Click that.

Next time the system goes online, it will activate itself.

Or, if you purchased Win 10 on its own, enter the license key you got when you purchased it.


If you changed major hardware, that is a whole different thing. But probably not a fatal issue.
Just changing the drive? No problem at all.

 

[Bananaslu]

/
Before I go off and clone, can you explain how the new install on a new drive works without having to buy anything? Thanks for all your help by the way.

For a new install, in the same system, it does NOT require a new license key.
Same drive or different drive.

Create your Win 10 install media, here:
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows10
Boot from that, install.
When it asks for the license key, at the bottom of that window it says "I don't have a Product key"
Click that.

Next time the system goes online, it will activate itself.

Or, if you purchased Win 10 on its own, enter the license key you got when you purchased it.


If you changed major hardware, that is a whole different thing. But probably not a fatal issue.
Just changing the drive? No problem at all.

Sorry, I forgot to mention I am planning on changing hardwear: CPU, Motherboard and RAM, so the above process would not work I am guessing. I will stick with your guide on cloning then.

 

[USAFRet]

Sorry, I forgot to mention I am planning on changing hardwear: CPU, Motherboard and RAM, so the above process would not work I am guessing. I will stick with your guide on cloning then.

OK...changing hardware! (kinda necessary info)
Read and do this first
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/20530/windows-10-reactivating-after-hardware-change
http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/id-3164428/windows-build-1607-activation.html

This links your current Win 10 license to your Microsoft account, rather than to specific hardware.

And changing hardware, a clean install is always recommended, sometimes required.
It may well not boot up upon seeing the new hardware.
Prepare for that possibility.

 

[Bananaslu]

Sorry, I forgot to mention I am planning on changing hardwear: CPU, Motherboard and RAM, so the above process would not work I am guessing. I will stick with your guide on cloning then.

OK...changing hardware! (kinda necessary info)
Read and do this first
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/20530/windows-10-reactivating-after-hardware-change
http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/id-3164428/windows-build-1607-activation.html

This links your current Win 10 license to your Microsoft account, rather than to specific hardware.

And changing hardware, a clean install is always recommended, sometimes required.
It may well not boot up upon seeing the new hardware.
Prepare for that possibility.

Another problem just arose... I noticed I did not have the "add an account" feature so I checked on my windows update and.....

https://gyazo.com/952551e24b37f236f695ce969fc12ee1

 

[USAFRet]

Another problem just arose... I noticed I did not have the "add an account" feature so I checked on my windows update and.....

https://gyazo.com/952551e24b37f236f695ce969fc12ee1

The system must be upgraded to the 1607 release before you can do this.
Keep trying.

 

[Bananaslu]

Another problem just arose... I noticed I did not have the "add an account" feature so I checked on my windows update and.....

https://gyazo.com/952551e24b37f236f695ce969fc12ee1

The system must be upgraded to the 1607 release before you can do this.
Keep trying.

I have upgraded my computer to 1607 and I have It linked, should I just plug in my SSD as you stated before?

 

[USAFRet]

Another problem just arose... I noticed I did not have the "add an account" feature so I checked on my windows update and.....

https://gyazo.com/952551e24b37f236f695ce969fc12ee1

The system must be upgraded to the 1607 release before you can do this.
Keep trying.

I have upgraded my computer to 1607 and I have It linked, should I just plug in my SSD as you stated before?

Assuming you have created the Win 10 install DVD or USB, and you are going to do a fresh install on the new drive...
Plug the SSD in and install.

After, when/if it fails to activate, run through the Activation Troubleshooter.