Question Transferring storage from Old Build to New Build ?

[Buhlickatoy]

Hi everyone. I've got some questions that pertain mainly to storage and its transfer from one (old) PC build to another (new) PC build. Before I get to the questions, my current plan is to take ALL of my storage devices in my current build and use them in my new build. I haven't built the new PC yet, but am trying to answer any questions I can think of before doing so. I have a good idea on the new parts that I am going to be getting (https://pcpartpicker.com/list/scNXsh), if those are needed to answer any questions. If you all need to know any components in my current PC build I can happily provide them as well.

My current storage items include:
Samsung 850 EVO 500GB SSD (Windows 10 installed here)
Seagate 2TB Hard Drive
Samsung 970 Evo Plus 500GB NVME SSD

In addition to these, I will also be installing a Samsung 990 Pro 1TB NVME SSD into my new build, but that isn't in my current build. With this information in mind, I was wondering if there are any steps or complications I would need to go through if I were to simply transfer all of these storage items from my old PC into the new one. Will Windows 10 work fine, or will I need to reinstall it somehow? What files will I be keeping/losing if I transfer from the old to the new, if any? Desktop files (word, excel, etc.)?

Again, all components of the new build will be new other than the storage items and my CPU cooler. I wasn't sure if everything would run similar to how it does now only better, or not, considering everything storage wise should be the same as it is now with new and improved components. If there are any other concerns I should be aware of or think about, please let me know! Thanks in advance!

 

[punkncat]

Take everything you want to keep and move it to the HDD before taking out of the old system. I would personally use the installer to delete the current C drive and then do a clean install on the new, faster one you are buying for the new rig.

Don't leave any of the transferred/old drives hooked up while you do the clean install.

 

[USAFRet]

Will Windows 10 work fine, or will I need to reinstall it somehow?

Given a whole new system, full OS reinstall.
On whichever drive you desire.

Install the OS on either the 970 EVO or the 990 Pro.

Do this install with ONLY that one drive connected.
Install the others later.

How To - Windows 10 clean install tutorial

If you are looking for the Windows 11 Clean install tutorial, you can find that here: Windows 11 Clean install tutorial (Click here) Otherwise, welcome to the Windows 10 Clean install tutorial This tutorial is intended to help you, step by step, to perform a clean install of Windows...

forums.tomshardware.com

 

[USAFRet]

For your personal data that lives in the Libraries on the current OS drive, the 850 EVO.....
Find those now and copy those files to the HDD. Just the files, not the whole Libraries (Document/Music/Video....)
Same with what might be in your Downloads folder.

 

[kizo]

Given a whole new system, full OS reinstall.
On whichever drive you desire.

Install the OS on either the 970 EVO or the 990 Pro.

Do this install with ONLY that one drive connected.
Install the others later.

How To - Windows 10 clean install tutorial

If you are looking for the Windows 11 Clean install tutorial, you can find that here: Windows 11 Clean install tutorial (Click here) Otherwise, welcome to the Windows 10 Clean install tutorial This tutorial is intended to help you, step by step, to perform a clean install of Windows...

forums.tomshardware.com

why 990Pro?
What about 980Pro?
Much cheaper,still awesome

 

[Buhlickatoy]

Given a whole new system, full OS reinstall.
On whichever drive you desire.

Install the OS on either the 970 EVO or the 990 Pro.

Do this install with ONLY that one drive connected.
Install the others later.

How To - Windows 10 clean install tutorial

If you are looking for the Windows 11 Clean install tutorial, you can find that here: Windows 11 Clean install tutorial (Click here) Otherwise, welcome to the Windows 10 Clean install tutorial This tutorial is intended to help you, step by step, to perform a clean install of Windows...

forums.tomshardware.com

Sorry for such a late response. Windows wasn't allowing me to link my Microsoft account to my Windows 10 because apparently my windows user profile was corrupted or something. Ended up making a new one, copying everything over, and linking Microsoft to windows with the new profile.

I appreciate the link to the article, I'll definitely use it when I build my new setup. After reading through it, I do have a few questions if you may have any answers to them:

1. Is section 1 of the article (Creating installation media) done on my current computer with a USB/DVD?

2. Is section 2 of the article (Installing windows 10) done on my new computer, essentially reinstalling windows from the USB/DVD in section 1?

3. I'm planning on installing windows on my 990 like you recommended, but I was keeping it brand new until I built my new setup, so it isn't even formatted yet. Should I install the 990 into my current computer and format it now, or does the windows installation process format the SSD itself? I'm not really educated on the whole "partitions" situation/knowledge parts from the article.

4. During the installation part in section 2, step 6 says to choose "Install windows only" as in don't keep files, settings, apps, etc. Is this why you had also mentioned to move all the files I want to keep to my hard drive, so I keep them there when I transfer it over?

5. Since I already have windows installed on my 850 EVO now, what do I do about moving that over to the new build since windows is going to then be on my 990 too? Do I somehow remove it before moving it over?

Thanks again for the help!

 

[Lafong]

The installation procedure using the USB flash drive will do all necessary formatting and partitioning. You don't have to prepare the new drive at all.

Install to the new drive WITH ONLY THE NEW DRIVE CONNECTED.

When that installation process is finished, re-connect your old drive and do as you wish with it (copy stuff, delete stuff, format it, whatever). It will appear as D, E, or F, etc.

 

[USAFRet]

Sorry for such a late response. Windows wasn't allowing me to link my Microsoft account to my Windows 10 because apparently my windows user profile was corrupted or something. Ended up making a new one, copying everything over, and linking Microsoft to windows with the new profile.

1. Yes

2. Yes

3. No. The installation process does all that.

4. Yes, but there is nothing on that drive anyway.

5. You can delete all existing partitions on the 850 after everything is rnning on the new drive.