Upgrading hard drive

[marioman99878]

I'm going to upgrade my hard drive from 250 gb to 500 gb, but I wanted to know if you needed to re install the os or if you can copy and paste the files from the first one to the other and be set to go.
Thank you!
All answers are appreciated.

 

[Boogieman_WD]

Hey marionman99878. You should never copy - paste an OS. You can use cloning software to "move" your OS on the new drive, but it's always recommended that you do a fresh install.

Hope that helps.
Boogieman_WD

 

[IntroGamer]

I'm going to upgrade my hard drive from 250 gb to 500 gb, but I wanted to know if you needed to re install the os or if you can copy and paste the files from the first one to the other and be set to go.
Thank you!All answers are appreciated.

Technically speaking, you could copy and paste. Would this work? No. There are programs to mirror an entire drive onto another, but they can be a LONG process. What I recommend is back up important files (pictures, music, movies, etc) onto a flash drive, or something else. I dont see you having more than 32gb of needed backups, so you can grab one of these for $20, and backing everything you need onto it, then go and make a windows install disk (assuming you still have your key somewhere, which you should), and reinstall windows onto the new drive, and copy over the backups. The ISO can be gotten for free from Microsoft and then burnt to a disk of correct size (or another USB if theyre cheaper).

If you NEED to clone/mirror the drive, then I'd say look into the software. Im no expert on the topic of cloning, so this would be what I'd do, and it may take a shorter amount of time. Fresh installs also feel nice and will improve speed from programs youve downloaded and no longer use, with them gone you will notice a speed boost. Thats what I did with my new SSD, just reinstalled windows and it's a much cleaner process in my opinion.