Question Windows 10 installed on wrong hard drive ?

[emiels]

After some recent laptop troubles, someone did a clean install of Windows 10 for me.
Some of my issues have been solved, though others remain.

Among them, I just noticed that Windows (and everything else) is installed on the secondary HDD that was supposed to be a backup instead of the SSD that was supposed to be the primary storage.
Is there a way to move the W10 install from one drive to the other, or do I have to resign myself to doing another clean install?

(I hope I posted this in the right forum. It's pretty unique so I didn't find any previous posts that fit this.)

 

[USAFRet]

Please show us a screencap of the Disk Management window.
Both parts fully visible.

(upload your pic to imgur.com, post the link here)

 

[USAFRet]

After some recent laptop troubles, someone did a clean install of Windows 10 for me.
Some of my issues have been solved, though other remain.

"someone" ?

Who was this?
Are you amenable to a whole new install?

 

[emiels]

Please show us a screencap of the Disk Management window.
Both parts fully visible.

(upload your pic to imgur.com, post the link here)

https://imgur.com/a/PDwTSmK

View: https://imgur.com/a/PDwTSmK

"someone" ?

Who was this?
Are you amenable to a whole new install?

IT guys from work. I use my personal laptop so they said they'd have a look at it. I was getting BSODs and crashes frequently.
New install is a hassle but if it's the only option then definitely.

 

[USAFRet]

Do you have somewhere to temporarily hold the contents of the current D drive?

If so, a clone operation from HDD to SSD is possible.

 

[emiels]

Do you have somewhere to temporarily hold the contents of the current D drive?

If so, a clone operation from HDD to SSD is possible.

I do have two external hard drives lying around. I'll have to clear some space and make sure I keep my backups safe.
Could you point me to a reliable guide for the cloning operation?

 

[USAFRet]

I do have two external hard drives lying around. I'll have to clear some space and make sure I keep my backups safe.
Could you point me to a reliable guide for the cloning operation?

-----------------------------
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
Both drives must be the same partitioning scheme, either MBR or GPT
Download and install Macrium Reflect (or Samsung Data Migration, if a Samsung target SSD)
If you are cloning from a SATA drive to PCIe/NVMe, you may need to install the relevant driver for this new NVMe/PCIe drive.
Power off
Disconnect ALL drives except the current C and the new SSD
Power up

Verify the system boots with ONLY the current "C drive" connected.
If not, we have to fix that first.

Run the Macrium Reflect (or Samsung Data Migration)
Select ALL the partitions on the existing C drive

[Ignore this section if using the SDM. It does this automatically]
If you are going from a smaller drive to a larger, by default, the target partition size will be the same as the Source. You probably don't want that
You can manipulate the size of the partitions on the target (larger)drive
Click on "Cloned Partition Properties", and you can specify the resulting partition size, to even include the whole thing
[/end ignore]

Click the 'Clone' button
Wait until it is done
When it finishes, power off
Disconnect ALL drives except for the new SSD. This is not optional.
This is to allow the system to try to boot from ONLY the SSD

(swapping cables is irrelevant with NVMe drives, but DO disconnect the old drive for this next part)
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 all partitions on it.
This will probably require the commandline diskpart function, and the clean command.

Ask questions if anything is unclear.
-----------------------------

 

[emiels]

Thanks for the quick response!

"Download and install Macrium Reflect"
I just wanted to let you know the link is dead, though I found a way to get Macrium Reflect anyway.

"If you are cloning from a SATA drive to PCIe/NVMe, you may need to install the relevant driver for this new NVMe/PCIe drive."
It looks like this is the case. How can I ensure that the relevant drivers are installed?

"Disconnect ALL drives except for the new SSD. This is not optional.
This is to allow the system to try to boot from ONLY the SSD."
Is this something I should do through the BIOS or manually? Do I need to change any BIOS settings to ensure it always boots through the SSD in the future?

"Swap the SATA cables around so that the new drive is connected to the same SATA port as the old drive"
Is this relevant if I am shifting from a SATA to a PCIe drive?

 

[USAFRet]

AH yes, I need to update that link.
Thanks.

"...you may need to..."
You almost certainly don't need to hunt down any particular drivers. That line is there for older systems.

"Disconnect....."
Physical disconnection, not just in the BIOS.

"Swap the SATA cables..."
Does not apply for this particular clone.