Very new to PC building/upgrading, Want to purchase an SSD to set as boot drive but don't know specifics surrounding setup

[jeckh21]

I want to purchase an SSD (Specifically a Samsung 860 EVO 500GB) to set as my boot drive to help overall speed up my pc. After looking around YouTube for a bit, a good amount of the videos I have seen surrounding the topic include the process of cloning a hard drive onto the newly purchased solid state drive. Is is necessary to do this in order to set the SSD as my boot drive, or can I just hook it up and go to town? Also, is there any major performance difference between the Samsung 860 EVO 500GB and the 250GB?

 

[USAFRet]

Is this a whole new PC? Or are you adding an SSD to an existing system?

 

[jeckh21]

Is this a whole new PC? Or are you adding an SSD to an existing system?

I am adding an SSD to my existing system.

 

[USAFRet]

Is this a whole new PC? Or are you adding an SSD to an existing system?

I am adding an SSD to my existing system.

OK - You want the OS and applications on this drive.

2 ways to get there:

1. Clean install. This always works, but is more work.
You're starting from a clean slate. All your applications also need to be installed again.

2. Cloning. This usually works, when done correctly.
This requires that the used space on the current drive be significantly smaller than the size of the SSD>
For a 500GB drive, no more than 400GB actual consumed space.


1. How much space is consumed on your current drive?
2. What exactly, consumes this space?
3. Do you have (or can borrow) another drive, even just an external USB drive?

 

[jeckh21]

Is this a whole new PC? Or are you adding an SSD to an existing system?

I am adding an SSD to my existing system.

OK - You want the OS and applications on this drive.

2 ways to get there:

1. Clean install. This always works, but is more work.
You're starting from a clean slate. All your applications also need to be installed again.

2. Cloning. This usually works, when done correctly.
This requires that the used space on the current drive be significantly smaller than the size of the SSD>
For a 500GB drive, no more than 400GB actual consumed space.


1. How much space is consumed on your current drive?
2. What exactly, consumes this space?
3. Do you have (or can borrow) another drive, even just an external USB drive?

1. I currently have two drives: The 1TB drive that came with my pc, which currently has 643 GBs, and a second 2TB drive, which is only using about 100GBs. Both are HDDs
2. My 1TB drive consists of my OS, all of my games and applications, and some miscellaneous videos and pictures. The second 2TB drive consists solely of videos.
3. I hope that the second 2TB drives counts as 'another drive', as I don't see why it wouldn't.

 

[USAFRet]

1. I currently have two drives: The 1TB drive that came with my pc, which currently has 643 GBs, and a second 2TB drive, which is only using about 100GBs. Both are HDDs
2. My 1TB drive consists of my OS, all of my games and applications, and some miscellaneous videos and pictures. The second 2TB drive consists solely of videos.
3. I hope that the second 2TB drives counts as 'another drive', as I don't see why it wouldn't.

OK then...this is a potential clone candidate.

From the 1TB OS drive, if you can move some stuff off to the 2TB, to get to below 400GB...we can clone the whole thing over to a new 500GB SSD.

Things to consider moving or deleting:
Pics/doc/video
Junk you've downloaded and no longer need.
Uninstall some applications you no longer use.
Steam games can easily be moved to the 2TB drive.
------------------
To move an already installed game
Games library
Right click the game
Properties
Local Files
Move Install Folder
------------------

If you can get to that 400GB used space point..clone it over to the new SSD.
Just like this:
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
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.
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
-----------------------------

 

[ngoodacre]

I followed this path exactly as jechk21 describes, on two machines using Macrium Reflect and it worked perfectly. Only one word of caution to add: don't use the cloning option when subsequently backing up your system- as I discovered; use the option - 'Create an Image of the Partitions Required to back up and restore your computer' .