Windows 10 on two drives

[1066060mudkipmi]

Is it possible to have two seperate windows 10 boots on an SSD and HDD and too boot with the SSD and still able to access and use files/apps on the HDD? Also can this be done without deleting or causing damage to anything on the SSD?

 

[1066060mudkipmi]

The SSD only has less than 10 applications or files so I think I can move that through files manager and the SSD has 500gb while the HDD has 1tb

Actual consumed space on the HDD. Not what size it is...

About 900

 

[USAFRet]

The SSD only has less than 10 applications or files so I think I can move that through files manager and the SSD has 500gb while the HDD has 1tb

Actual consumed space on the HDD. Not what size it is...

About 900

500GB SSD.
900GB consumed space on the HDD.

And here we have a problem.
Obviously, we can't squeeze 900GB of data into a 500GB drive.

For a clone operation into that drive, that consumed space needs to be below 400GB.

 

[1066060mudkipmi]

The SSD only has less than 10 applications or files so I think I can move that through files manager and the SSD has 500gb while the HDD has 1tb

Actual consumed space on the HDD. Not what size it is...

About 900

500GB SSD.
900GB consumed space on the HDD.

And here we have a problem.
Obviously, we can't squeeze 900GB of data into a 500GB drive.

For a clone operation into that drive, that consumed space needs to be below 400GB.

My bad I meant 100gb used space on my HDD also i don’t need to clone I can move the files through file manager

 

[USAFRet]

My bad I meant 100gb used space on my HDD also i don’t need to clone I can move the files through file manager

OK, 100GB.

But...move *what files* through file manager?

We're talking about cloning from the HDD to the SSD.
OS, applications, everything.

 

[DSzymborski]

To be blunt, you're already at least partially in the situation you are because you wanted to skip steps when installing Windows onto your PC, choosing to slap a hard drive with an existing Windows install in instead of a fresh install. And now you're trying to fix this situation by taking more lazy shortcuts, dragging installed applications to and fro as if they were Lego.

Doing it right the first time is the best way to only have to do something the first time. Just do a fresh install like you should have in the first place.

 

[1066060mudkipmi]

To be blunt, you're already at least partially in the situation you are because you wanted to skip steps when installing Windows onto your PC, choosing to slap a hard drive with an existing Windows install in instead of a fresh install. And now you're trying to fix this situation by taking more lazy shortcuts, dragging installed applications to and fro as if they were Lego.

Doing it right the first time is the best way to only have to do something the first time. Just do a fresh install like you should have in the first place.

That’s what I’m trying to do, but the first time I was on a budget and didn’t have enough for windows at the time. Right now I’m not trying to do any shortcuts but what I’m saying is that I need to transfer all my files from the SSD into the HDD because according to the other guy he says that everything on it will be gone and I need to reinstall.

 

[1066060mudkipmi]

My bad I meant 100gb used space on my HDD also i don’t need to clone I can move the files through file manager

OK, 100GB.

But...move *what files* through file manager?






We're talking about cloning from the HDD to the SSD.
OS, applications, everything.

Ok so basically ignore the file stuff I know how to manage that side, but for installing windows I shouldn’t have anything on the SSD and I should disconnect my HDD and then install windows through a USB

 

[DSzymborski]

To be blunt, you're already at least partially in the situation you are because you wanted to skip steps when installing Windows onto your PC, choosing to slap a hard drive with an existing Windows install in instead of a fresh install. And now you're trying to fix this situation by taking more lazy shortcuts, dragging installed applications to and fro as if they were Lego.

Doing it right the first time is the best way to only have to do something the first time. Just do a fresh install like you should have in the first place.

That’s what I’m trying to do, but the first time I was on a budget and didn’t have enough for windows at the time. Right now I’m not trying to do any shortcuts but what I’m saying is that I need to transfer all my files from the SSD into the HDD because according to the other guy he says that everything on it will be gone and I need to reinstall.

He's saying your data/personal files, not your applications. You *want* the applications to be gone so you can install them correctly, not simply dragged to the new drive.

 

[1066060mudkipmi]

To be blunt, you're already at least partially in the situation you are because you wanted to skip steps when installing Windows onto your PC, choosing to slap a hard drive with an existing Windows install in instead of a fresh install. And now you're trying to fix this situation by taking more lazy shortcuts, dragging installed applications to and fro as if they were Lego.

Doing it right the first time is the best way to only have to do something the first time. Just do a fresh install like you should have in the first place.

That’s what I’m trying to do, but the first time I was on a budget and didn’t have enough for windows at the time. Right now I’m not trying to do any shortcuts but what I’m saying is that I need to transfer all my files from the SSD into the HDD because according to the other guy he says that everything on it will be gone and I need to reinstall.

He's saying your data/personal files, not your applications. You *want* the applications to be gone so you can install them correctly, not simply dragged to the new drive.

Yes but what I’m saying is that I want to move my applications onto the HDD right new so when I reconnect it back after the windows install, I’ll move it back onto the SSD. Is this even possible?

 

[USAFRet]

Yes but what I’m saying is that I want to move my applications onto the HDD right new so when I reconnect it back after the windows install, I’ll move it back onto the SSD. Is this even possible?

No, that is not possible.
You can't move applications like that.

It appears you have applications installed on both the HDD and the SSD?

And the end state you desire is to have the OS and all applications on the SSD, correct?

Given all that..whatever path you choose, it WILL involve reinstallation of some things.

A clean install on the SSD will require reinstallation of all your drivers and applications.
A clone operation will require reinstallation of whatever currently exists on the SSD.

 

[DSzymborski]

To be blunt, you're already at least partially in the situation you are because you wanted to skip steps when installing Windows onto your PC, choosing to slap a hard drive with an existing Windows install in instead of a fresh install. And now you're trying to fix this situation by taking more lazy shortcuts, dragging installed applications to and fro as if they were Lego.

Doing it right the first time is the best way to only have to do something the first time. Just do a fresh install like you should have in the first place.

That’s what I’m trying to do, but the first time I was on a budget and didn’t have enough for windows at the time. Right now I’m not trying to do any shortcuts but what I’m saying is that I need to transfer all my files from the SSD into the HDD because according to the other guy he says that everything on it will be gone and I need to reinstall.

He's saying your data/personal files, not your applications. You *want* the applications to be gone so you can install them correctly, not simply dragged to the new drive.

Yes but what I’m saying is that I want to move my applications onto the HDD right new so when I reconnect it back after the windows install, I’ll move it back onto the SSD. Is this even possible?

Again, applications on Windows aren't meant to just be shuffled around like a deck of cards.

1. Fresh install Windows on SSD.
2. Start Windows.
3. Fresh installs of applications onto SSD.
4. Plug in the HDD and delete everything from the HDD that isn't your personal data files.

 

[USAFRet]

Given this train of events, I would strongly suggest starting over completely, with a clean install on the SSD.

You'll end up with a known good platform, instead of a chain of weird steps that may or may not continue to work.

 

[1066060mudkipmi]

To be blunt, you're already at least partially in the situation you are because you wanted to skip steps when installing Windows onto your PC, choosing to slap a hard drive with an existing Windows install in instead of a fresh install. And now you're trying to fix this situation by taking more lazy shortcuts, dragging installed applications to and fro as if they were Lego.

Doing it right the first time is the best way to only have to do something the first time. Just do a fresh install like you should have in the first place.

That’s what I’m trying to do, but the first time I was on a budget and didn’t have enough for windows at the time. Right now I’m not trying to do any shortcuts but what I’m saying is that I need to transfer all my files from the SSD into the HDD because according to the other guy he says that everything on it will be gone and I need to reinstall.

He's saying your data/personal files, not your applications. You *want* the applications to be gone so you can install them correctly, not simply dragged to the new drive.

Yes but what I’m saying is that I want to move my applications onto the HDD right new so when I reconnect it back after the windows install, I’ll move it back onto the SSD. Is this even possible?

Again, applications on Windows aren't meant to just be shuffled around like a deck of cards.

1. Fresh install Windows on SSD.
2. Start Windows.
3. Fresh installs of applications onto SSD.
4. Plug in the HDD and delete everything from the HDD that isn't your personal data files.

Why delete the Everything but personal files on the HDD

 

[DSzymborski]

Why delete the Everything but personal files on the HDD

Because you'll have fresh, proper installs of your applications on your SSD.

 

[USAFRet]

Why delete the Everything but personal files on the HDD

Because after the clean install on the SSD, anything else on the HDD is of no use and no consequence.

 

[1066060mudkipmi]

Given this train of events, I would strongly suggest starting over completely, with a clean install on the SSD.

You'll end up with a known good platform, instead of a chain of weird steps that may or may not continue to work.

Alright so you want me to delete or clean up everything in the SSD and then unplug the hard drive, install windows onto the SSD and then plug in the HDD again, then install all the applications agian. Also a side question which exact drivers do I need to install and where do I go

 

[1066060mudkipmi]

Why delete the Everything but personal files on the HDD

Because after the clean install on the SSD, anything else on the HDD is of no use and no consequence.

Then why not just disconnect the HDD before installing windows and than reconnecting it after. That’s basically what I did the first time and another time too

 

[USAFRet]

Then why not just disconnect the HDD before installing windows and than reconnecting it after. That’s basically what I did the first time and another time too

Yes, that's what we're suggesting.
To be clear, you'll eventually be deleting everything from the HDD, except for your personal files. Not applications.

The easiest way to do that is:
1. Disconnect the HDD
2. Install the OS and drivers on your SSD
3. Connect the HDD.
4. Locate all your personal files on the HDD. Not applications...personal files.
5. Copy those to the SSD somewhere
6. Delete everything off the HDD. And I mean everything. All partitions, ending with a blank drive
7. Now you can start to install your applications on the SSD.
8. Eventually, you can then start to use the HDD for some stuff like music/video/downloads...

 

[1066060mudkipmi]

Then why not just disconnect the HDD before installing windows and than reconnecting it after. That’s basically what I did the first time and another time too

Yes, that's what we're suggesting.
To be clear, you'll eventually be deleting everything from the HDD, except for your personal files. Not applications.

The easiest way to do that is:
1. Disconnect the HDD
2. Install the OS and drivers on your SSD
3. Connect the HDD.
4. Locate all your personal files on the HDD. Not applications...personal files.
5. Copy those to the SSD somewhere
6. Delete everything off the HDD. And I mean everything. All partitions, ending with a blank drive
7. Now you can start to install your applications on the SSD.
8. Eventually, you can then start to use the HDD for some stuff like music/video/downloads...

Alright thanks I’ll try this tommorow also what drivers do I need to reinstall

 

[popatim]

Are these applications you are talking about games from the likes of Steam, and such?

 

[1066060mudkipmi]

Are these applications you are talking about games from the likes of Steam, and such?

Yea most of them if not all are games

 

[popatim]

Games that use launcher, such as steam, origin, uplay... can be moved off the drive to another location to help you reduce the space. This should allow you to clone the existing drive, if if the space used is now small enough, or install windows from scratch (recommended).

Installing Windows & drivers scratch means you just have to reinstall the launchers and point them to where you moved the library to. Saves you from reinstalling all the games too.

 

[1066060mudkipmi]

Games that use launcher, such as steam, origin, uplay... can be moved off the drive to another location to help you reduce the space. This should allow you to clone the existing drive, if if the space used is now small enough, or install windows from scratch (recommended).

Installing Windows & drivers scratch means you just have to reinstall the launchers and point them to where you moved the library to. Saves you from reinstalling all the games too.

That’s what I was trying to tell the other guys. Thanks!

 

[popatim]

They did not know it was launcher based games.
Other apps, like office, need a complete reinstall as they write information in the registry that often points to hidden files on C: and isn't there anymore.

Make sure you move the games properly. It will take some time. Steam has a built in utility but I don't have any Origin stuff.

 

[USAFRet]

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