Transferring os from hdd to ssd help

[hattuseigoareruya]

I wasn’t thinking of getting a ssd because people tell me that ssd’s make your pc much more faster but I have game files that took forever to download on my hdd and I want to keep it on the hdd but take out the os from the hdd. So how would I do that? Can I just transfer the os(os only) from the hdd to ssd?

 

[Paul NZ]

No

 

[SchizTech]

You can either clone the whole drive (provided the SSD is big enough) or do a fresh install of Windows on the SSD. There's no middle ground with a selective transfer.

 

[smorizio]

with a clean install for the ssd all you need is a 8g usb stick and the free microsoft media creation tool to make a new windows 10 bootable ubs stick. all you need to do is unplug the hard drive so that all windows installer see is the ssd so it wont change any files on the hard drive. after windows 10 boots it pull in your old windows code so when you install from the ubs stick click skip. if your game files are all steam games then all you have to do is reinstall steam and point to the old steam folder. you have to reinstall other games and programs as the old registry file on the hard drive.

 

[geofelt]

You can not do as you say.
But, there may be a relatively painless way to do what you want.
All it takes is money.

Buy a Samsung ssd of sufficient size to hold windows and other apps. You can exclude large folders such as videos.
Samsung has a ssd migration aid that is a windows C drive mover as opposed to a bit for bit clone.
download and read the user instructions and app here:
http://www.samsung.com/semiconductor/minisite/ssd/download/tools/
It works only with Samsung ssd's, but they make the best ones anyway. A tad more expensive, but worth it.

If your games are steam games, I think there is a procedure to move them around, but I do not know how that works.

 

[SundownEditing]

You can get your OS onto your SDD for sure but you won't be able to get it off of your HDD without cleaning it, sadly. You can't have your cake and eat it too 🙁

If you don't mind reinstalling the games, however, you can just clean install both drive then reinstall onto your SSD. Then make your desired drive your primary for downloads and install your games back onto the HDD. That's the simplest and cleanest way to do it.

So, you CAN have your cake and eat it too, but it requires a fork, so to say. And that fork is your willingness to reinstall the games even though it may take some time...

The only other way I could think of this working out is expensive, however. You either get a huge flashdrive or a backup drive and throw the desired files you want to save on there or maybe even invest in another SSD/HDD for essentially the same thing, throwing all your files onto there. You can have your cake and eat it too, but you'll need to purchase the cake box first.
(Sorry I'll stop with the stupid metaphor....)

 

[tiernangeary]

You can get your OS onto your SDD for sure but you won't be able to get it off of your HDD without cleaning it, sadly. You can't have your cake and eat it too 🙁

If you don't mind reinstalling the games, however, you can just clean install both drive then reinstall onto your SSD. Then make your desired drive your primary for downloads and install your games back onto the HDD. That's the simplest and cleanest way to do it.

So, you CAN have your cake and eat it too, but it requires a fork, so to say. And that fork is your willingness to reinstall the games even though it may take some time...

The only other way I could think of this working out is expensive, however. You either get a huge flashdrive or a backup drive and throw the desired files you want to save on there or maybe even invest in another SSD/HDD for essentially the same thing, throwing all your files onto there. You can have your cake and eat it too, but you'll need to purchase the cake box first.
(Sorry I'll stop with the stupid metaphor....)

How would I wipe my hdd tho? I know installing win10 on my ssd will wipe what ever was on it but how would I wipe my hdd?

 

[geofelt]

Why do you want to wipe your hard drive?
Any folders that are on the hard drive will be perfectly readable after you reattach the hard drive.
One of those folders will be the windows folder which you can simply delete.

Look at the usage of space now on your C drive.
You can exclude large folders such as videos or photos and such.
They can stay on the hard drive.

Then buy a Samsung EVO large enough to hold windows and your games.
If you have games you no longer play, it is time to prune them out.
The ssd migration aid will move all that to the new ssd.
Move the ssd to the original sata port and you are done.

If you have a 2tb hard drive filled, that can be an expensive proposition.
But, something more modest like 240-500gb should not be too hard.