Upgrading hdd to ssd without reinstalling windows 7ultimate in desktop pc

hasanu88

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My config :
Motherboard : msi 970A-G43
Due to failure of my board am gonna upgrade it to gigabyte GA-970A-DS3P Motherboard. So while at this upgrade I want to add an ssd as well in the pc
rocessor: amd fx 6300
Ram : 8×2 corsair ddr3
Psu: Antec vp 650
Hdd : Seagate 500 gb ( c for os only is around 90 gb data present and d for personal files like pics E for only games )
Os: win 7 ultimate
SSD IN MY WISHLIST : Kingston SSDNow A400 240GB SATA 3 Solid State Drive (SA400S37/240G)

Requirement :
I want to upgrade my motherboard to gigabyte from msi. And add an ssd for boot only. I do not want to reinstall all my application or games and still play my games from Hdd
 
Solution


OK...should work.

(changes for YOUR situation in RED

Specific steps for a successful clone operation:
-----------------------------
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 (Except the D and E partitions)
Click the 'Clone' button
Wait until it is done
When it finishes, power off
Disconnect ALL drives except for the new SSD
This is to...

kanewolf

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If you don't want to reinstall then don't change motherboards. That is the only surefire answer. Moving your C: to an SSD is very possible. Guaranteeing that you will be able to boot a different motherboard with a windows 7 install -- Nope.
 

hasanu88

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Sep 15, 2018
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Can I upgrade motherboard first without reinstalling os then after it's ready the upgrade to ssd?
Also if I keep my old motherboard and upgrade ssd will I still play my game without reinstalling?
 

kanewolf

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No. There is no guarantee that if you change motherboards you OS install will work. The only safe course is to do a clean OS install after a motherboard change. It doesn't matter if you swap to an SSD before or after the motherboard swap. It is the fact that Windows 7 has drivers and registry entries for your old motherboard hardware. That is why you have to do a clean OS install with a motherboard swap.
 

USAFRet

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At some point during the motherboard change, you'll need to do a reinstall.
Does not matter which drive its on.
 

hasanu88

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I am adding an ssd as master for booting only and keeping the hdd as slave for games only . But current setup is all in hdd. So if i move is to ssd like cloning my drive completely will my games in hdd still work or should I reinstall it all
 

USAFRet

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Please show us a screencap of your current Disk Management window.
 

hasanu88

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I can't now. My mobo is broke. I am waiting for my new mobo to arrive only then I can work with my pc . Am thinking about upgrading an ssd along with it. But I don't want to reinstall all my games so only I want to know before I buy am ssd. Ask me what you want to see in disk management screen. If i know it then I will tell u For now.

 

USAFRet

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A detailed description of what physical drives, what partitions are on each, and what each partition contains.
Also, for the partitions...how large are they and how much actual consumed space is on each.
 

hasanu88

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My c drive is 120 gb of which 90 gb is used
D drive , E drive and F drive is 166 gb and D is for pics and videos , E drive for documents and music and F drive for only game installation.
I am thinking about clone and migrate c drive completely to new ssd.

 

USAFRet

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Physical drives or partitions?
 

hasanu88

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Single drive with partitions
 

USAFRet

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OK...should work.

(changes for YOUR situation in RED

Specific steps for a successful clone operation:
-----------------------------
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 (Except the D and E partitions)
Click the 'Clone' button
Wait until it is done
When it finishes, power off
Disconnect ALL drives except for the new SSD
This is to allow the system to try to boot from ONLY the 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.
You may need to manipulate the drive letters on the HDD so that they are the same as original. D and E.

Delete what used to be the C partition, and merge it with one of the other partitions
Delete the 450MB Recovery Partition, 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
-----------------------------
 
Solution

USAFRet

Titan
Moderator


However...as we've said previously...
New motherboard is almost certainly going to require a clean OS install.
This also has implications for the Windows 7 activation.
 

hasanu88

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Sep 15, 2018
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hasanu88

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First am gonna get the new mobo installed . If i can boot up without reinstalling anything and just install few mobo drivers for new one I will go for cloning c drive . If i have to reinstall os then I will do a clean install of os on my ssd and format c drive. In that case all my games will become obsolete so reinstall mandatory ...
But one thing I want to ask is am buying 240 gb ssd . Do i have to include my game install partition also in ssd to work ?
 

USAFRet

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Moderator


For Steam games, the Steam client should be on your C drive.
The game installs can be on any drive or partition.

Steam games location
In the steam client:
Steam
Settings
Downloads
Steam Library Folders
Add library folder
q24sFfe.png

 

hasanu88

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Sep 15, 2018
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Mine are origin games , fifa and nds, pro evo soccer,
So that should not be an issue I guess. Thanks for the huge help guys . Will inform u guys how it went after installing them soon .
 

hasanu88

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Sep 15, 2018
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hi am back , i did have to reinstall os as new in my ssd and reinstalle dall applications but other data were untouched so happy as much. but now i cant delete my old operating system installed drive . or in other words my past C drive which is now my current D drive. i want to format that partition but i cant
i used disk part as mentioned in one of the answers . all went well until the final deletion step where i get this error :
Delete is not allowed on the current boot, system, pagefile,
crashdump or hibernation volume.
what to do?
 
sounds like D: drive has got a boot partition on it. When you installed win10 again did you have all drives attached?? you are only supposed to have the drive you want windows on attached, delete all partitions on it at install time and let the installer handle the rest. otherwise you can run into this.