Upgrading HDD to SSD - But keeping HDD for storage

[EricTheRed]

Hi all,

I recently got a brand new Sandisk Ultra II 480GB SSD.
I currently am running a 1TB HDD, which has 540GB used.

I would like to use the SSD for my operating system (Win10) and games only. I will then use the 1TB HDD for storing anything else such as movies, music, some games, software, etc.
Sandisk SSD came with a cloning software, but it is telling me that it cannot clone to SSD because the amount of space needed exceeds limits (540GB vs. 480GB)...

It is now asking me if I want to exclude anything from the clone. In this case, is it safe to exclude files that I do not care to have on the SSD? such as movies, music, some games, etc?
Or will this confuse my computer or mess anything up?

 

[USAFRet]

First, you really, really need to examine your drive, and see exactly what is taking up your space.
WinDirStat will assist with this.

You can exclude things just as video, music, docs.
Static files...not applications. I know the Samsung Data Migration does this...Does the included Sandisk application?

You need to get the total used space to below 400GB or so.

So, once you at enough free space to perform the clone...then you still have "issues"
Those files you deselect will be left in their original locations.

Do you have another drive you can use temporarily? If so, that is a FAR better way ahead.
Move some static files off the current HDD. Get the actual used space to below 400GB.
Also, there is probably a lot of old junk you forgot about, that can be deleted.

Report back here once you've run and investigated the WinDirStat output.

 

[corroded]

+++ to what USAFRet says... Get your used space below 75% of the available space on the SSD before attempting to clone it.

I normally move user files onto another drive to make space and then set the location onto the HDD post migration and copy the files there.

 

[leoscott]

I don't know how the cloning software works but if you can try excluding your Documents, Music, Video, Pictures and Downloads folders. That might give you the room you need. Then after cloning you can point those folder locations to the HDD in any MS OS 7 and above. Google "move my Documents folder to another drive". It is simple.

 

[EricTheRed]

First, you really, really need to examine your drive, and see exactly what is taking up your space.
WinDirStat will assist with this.

You can exclude things just as video, music, docs.
Static files...not applications. I know the Samsung Data Migration does this...Does the included Sandisk application?

You need to get the total used space to below 400GB or so.

So, once you at enough free space to perform the clone...then you still have "issues"
Those files you deselect will be left in their original locations.

Do you have another drive you can use temporarily? If so, that is a FAR better way ahead.
Move some static files off the current HDD. Get the actual used space to below 400GB.
Also, there is probably a lot of old junk you forgot about, that can be deleted.

Report back here once you've run and investigated the WinDirStat output.

Just ran WinDirStat. The vast majority of storage is being used by "Users" folder (almost 200gb) and Program Files x86 (120GB). The rest are all under 50GB and are things like GOG Games (Witcher 3).

I will do my best to get the total space under 400GB by uninstalling or deleting games that I played a long time ago, or backing things up onto cloud (I have 1TB on OneDrive) and deleting them off HDD. It seems like that is easiest

 

[USAFRet]

Exactly.
Old gunk you can uninstall or delete.

Under 400GB, and then these steps:
-----------------------------
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
-----------------------------

 

[EricTheRed]

Thanks very much, just to confirm; the free version of Macrium is OK?
Is switching SATA cables around absolutely necessary? They are both SATA 6G identical cables

 

[USAFRet]

Thanks very much, just to confirm; the free version of Macrium is OK?
Is switching SATA cables around absolutely necessary? They are both SATA 6G identical cables

Yes, the free Macrium works.
Switching around SATA cables is for the motherboard port, not the cable.

 

[EricTheRed]

Thanks very much, just to confirm; the free version of Macrium is OK?
Is switching SATA cables around absolutely necessary? They are both SATA 6G identical cables

Yes, the free Macrium works.
Switching around SATA cables is for the motherboard port, not the cable.

that is way easier. Thanks so much for your help !!!

 

[EricTheRed]

Thanks very much, just to confirm; the free version of Macrium is OK?
Is switching SATA cables around absolutely necessary? They are both SATA 6G identical cables

Yes, the free Macrium works.
Switching around SATA cables is for the motherboard port, not the cable.

Sorry to bother you again - I have got my HDD down to 310GB - well below the available 450 GB on the SSD.
But when I try to copy all partitions in Macrium it is telling me "insufficient space". Do I need to shrink my HDD to 450GB using Disk Manager?

edit: apparently disk manager is saying I can only shrink 15gb, even though I have 630GB available...

 

[USAFRet]

Thanks very much, just to confirm; the free version of Macrium is OK?
Is switching SATA cables around absolutely necessary? They are both SATA 6G identical cables

Yes, the free Macrium works.
Switching around SATA cables is for the motherboard port, not the cable.

Sorry to bother you again - I have got my HDD down to 310GB - well below the available 450 GB on the SSD.
But when I try to copy all partitions in Macrium it is telling me "insufficient space". Do I need to shrink my HDD to 450GB using Disk Manager?

edit: apparently disk manager is saying I can only shrink 15gb, even though I have 630GB available...

Can you show a screencap of your current Disk Management window?

Given those numbers, this should work. You don't have to shrink actual partitions.

 

[EricTheRed]

I think I figured it out. Macrium was automatically creating only two partitions on the clone drive, with the main partition being 450GB. Therefore not allowing enough space for the third (only 50MB) partition.

I adjusted the size of the main partition on the SSD to be 400GB (only needed 350 or so) and added in the third. Everything seems to work now.

 

[USAFRet]

OK.