Question Upgrading to an SSD from an HDD

[StarStrikerAA]

For my birthday i have decided to upgrade to an SSD, sadly my pc came with an HDD but no SSD. I would like to have the new SSD as my boot drive, but i also want to keep the HDD as a storage drive for games but im not sure how i go about setting this up, because i already have windows on my HDD installed (the HDD is the original boot drive) p.s i dont care if the HDD is wiped i have nothing important on it!

 

[USAFRet]

Given certain conditions, this is either really easy or really hard.

What OS?
How much space is consumed on the current C drive?
What size/make/model SSD are you considering?

 

[StarStrikerAA]

OS: Windows 10
Currently Consumed: 363 GB (if need be i can reset windows so i have a fresh install with nothing but windows)
The SSD: Inland Professional 240gb SSD

 

[USAFRet]

OS: Windows 10
Currently Consumed: 363 GB (if need be i can reset windows so i have a fresh install with nothing but windows)
The SSD: Inland Professional 240gb SSD

Given 363GB consumed space, and a 240GB SSD....your options are one.
Clean install on the SSD.

Don't bother with "reset" then clone. That does nothing more than a clean install would do.

This clean install requires you to reinstall all your applications as well.

What is your budget for this SSD? 500GB drives are pretty inexpensive. And a 500GB drive would allow you to migrate the entirety of your current drive, no hassle.
And I really would not get an 'Inland'. There are much better drives out there.

Assuming a US purchase, Crucial MX500 500GB for $68.
https://www.newegg.com/crucial-mx500-500gb/p/N82E16820156173

 

[StarStrikerAA]

Given 363GB consumed space, and a 240GB SSD....your options are one.
Clean install on the SSD.

Don't bother with "reset" then clone. That does nothing more than a clean install would do.

This clean install requires you to reinstall all your applications as well.

What is your budget for this SSD? 500GB drives are pretty inexpensive. And a 500GB drive would allow you to migrate the entirety of your current drive, no hassle.
And I really would not get an 'Inland'. There are much better drives out there.

Assuming a US purchase, Crucial MX500 500GB for $68.
https://www.newegg.com/crucial-mx500-500gb/p/N82E16820156173

Ok.... So after i do a clean install of windows on the SSD, i assume i boot onto the SSD, after i boot onto the SSD do i format the HDD? After that what do i need to do set it up as a storage drive for games?

My budget is around $30 USD for the SSD, if you can point me towards the best one in that price range that would be great! If you dont mind me asking what is the diffrence between an inland SSD and a Crucial SSD? Is one just more higher quality?

 

[USAFRet]

Higher quality, reliability, warranty, stable performance.
You'll be living with this drive for several years. This is not the time to cheap out on it.

$30? Your options are severely limited.

 

[USAFRet]

For your clean install, read through this a few times to get familiar with the process:

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

Have all other drives disconnected when you do this install.
Later, reconnect the old HDD and wipe it.

For Steam games, you can designate a folder on that HDD as an install location. Even be the default location if you wish.
Steam games location
In the steam client:
Steam
Settings
Downloads
Steam Library Folders
Add library folder

Other things, you can designate an install location when you install it.

 

[StarStrikerAA]

For your clean install, read through this a few times to get familiar with the process:

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

Have all other drives disconnected when you do this install.
Later, reconnect the old HDD and wipe it.

For Steam games, you can designate a folder on that HDD as an install location. Even be the default location if you wish.
Steam games location
In the steam client:
Steam
Settings
Downloads
Steam Library Folders
Add library folder

Other things, you can designate an install location when you install it.

Ok Thank you very much this seems to help alot! The last question i have is do you have any recommendations for an SSD within my price range? Im willing to stretch to 40 dollars if need be, im also purchasing a graphics card, so im a little tight on money. Once this birthday passes i will be able to get a job and thats what im paying for the graphics card with.

 

[Sagar_20]

250 GB Crucial MX 500. No doubt about it.

Gigabyte SSD, Kingston UV 400 and Kingston A400 good mid-range SSD's, if that is what you want.