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How to transfer just my OS from my HDD to my SSD

★ Coups ★
Just now, ★ Coups ★ said:

My HDD has 1TB of data, my SSD is 500GB of storage. 

There's more data on my HDD than my SSD. I'm a bit confused. 

The problem is that I can't transfer data because my SSD is too small. So it won't work and I'm confused. It's all working and the drive is there, I just want to transfer my OS

When you just start the transfer it should prompt you to select what data you want to transfer. 

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1 minute ago, W-L said:

When you just start the transfer it should prompt you to select what data you want to transfer. 

Where is my OS located? That is all I want to transfer. 

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1 minute ago, ★ Coups ★ said:

Where is my OS located? That is all I want to transfer. 

It will automatically transfer Windows once you select the drive you just need to choose what data you want and not want to move over. 

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2 minutes ago, W-L said:

It will automatically transfer Windows once you select the drive you just need to choose what data you want and not want to move over. 

I don't want any data, just my OS... lol

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2 minutes ago, ★ Coups ★ said:

I don't want any data, just my OS... lol

If your just doing that then go for a fresh reinstall that would save so much trouble. 

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19 minutes ago, ★ Coups ★ said:

The problem is that I can't transfer data because my SSD is too small. So it won't work and I'm confused. It's all working and the drive is there, I just want to transfer my OS

Some programs transfer based on the total space used, while others transfer based on the physical size of the drives.

What is the brand of your HDD? WD, then try WD achronis software and see if that will let you transfer it over.

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48 minutes ago, W-L said:

If your just doing that then go for a fresh reinstall that would save so much trouble. 

Is that with Windows Creation Media? 

 

16 minutes ago, NumLock21 said:

Some programs transfer based on the total space used, while others transfer based on the physical size of the drives.

What is the brand of your HDD? WD, then try WD achronis software and see if that will let you transfer it over.

 

That honestly means nothing to me :( I'm very new to this storage stuff, especially SSDs. 

 

I think my HDD is Seagate and my SSD is Samsung. 

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2 minutes ago, ★ Coups ★ said:

Is that with Windows Creation Media? 

That honestly means nothing to me :( I'm very new to this storage stuff, especially SSDs. 

I think my HDD is Seagate and my SSD is Samsung. 

Yes you can basically make a bootable USB for windows and so a complete fresh install. Previously didn't you want to keep the steam games however on the SSD? 

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1 minute ago, W-L said:

Yes you can basically make a bootable USB for windows and so a complete fresh install. Previously didn't you want to keep the steam games however on the SSD? 

Want to put OS and a few games onto it. 

 

Im currently on this screen: 

a61f82ac77670b3c35795a458171a287.png

 

This will install it to my SSD right? I'm slightly confused. I feel like an idiot to be honest

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Just now, ★ Coups ★ said:

-SNIP-

Pull the HDD out of the system, I always recommend to do that since I've had windows installs do weird things like install the boot files on the HDD when you select the SDD for the OS. 

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Just now, W-L said:

Pull the HDD out of the system, I always recommend to do that since I've had windows installs do weird things like install the boot files on the HDD when you select the SDD for the OS. 

 

Basically unplug the HDD, so windows installs from the USB? 

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2 minutes ago, ★ Coups ★ said:

Basically unplug the HDD, so windows installs from the USB? 

Yep it should detect the SSD and put all the right stuff onto there. 

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1 minute ago, W-L said:

Yep it should detect the SSD and put all the right stuff onto there. 

Do I need to do anything or does it to it automatically? Will it boot into BIOS? 

 

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Just now, ★ Coups ★ said:

Do I need to do anything or does it to it automatically? Will it boot into BIOS? 

Yes it should detect it as the main boot drive after, but not a bad idea to check in the boot menu to make sure that is the case one you reinstall the HDD. 

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1 minute ago, W-L said:

Yes it should detect it as the main boot drive after, but not a bad idea to check in the boot menu to make sure that is the case one you reinstall the HDD. 

 

So all in all, I leave the USB in (Directly in the motherboard?) and once turning it back on, it will automatically boot Windows? 

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4 minutes ago, ★ Coups ★ said:

So all in all, I leave the USB in (Directly in the motherboard?) and once turning it back on, it will automatically boot Windows? 

Yes it should be fine leaving the USB in for the whole process if you do get an error during the install which can occur sometimes, you can pull out the USB after all the files have transferred and let the rest of the install progress.  

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Just now, W-L said:

Yes it should be fine leaving the USB in for the whole process if you do get an error during the install which can occur sometimes, you can pull out the USB after all the files have transferred and let the rest of the install progress.  

 

Does the HDD have to be unplugged? It's a bit of an inconvenience because the wiring at the back of my computer makes it hard to get the panel back on D: 

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1 minute ago, ★ Coups ★ said:

Does the HDD have to be unplugged? It's a bit of an inconvenience because the wiring at the back of my computer makes it hard to get the panel back on D: 

It's not a bad idea to leave it unplugged like I said just to ensure it doesn't put the boot files elsewhere. 

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Just now, W-L said:

It's not a bad idea to leave it unplugged like I said just to ensure it doesn't put the boot files elsewhere. 

Can you not select the place it saves? 

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2 minutes ago, ★ Coups ★ said:

Can you not select the place it saves? 

Yes you do choose the drive but the OS install can sometimes do weird things, just talking from experience since I've had it happen a couple of times and I just do it as a precautionary measure now. An easy way to tell if that has happened and the boot files are no on the SSD is if you pull the HDD after the install it won't be able to boot via the SSD alone. 

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4 minutes ago, W-L said:

Yes you do choose the drive but the OS install can sometimes do weird things, just talking from experience since I've had it happen a couple of times and I just do it as a precautionary measure now. An easy way to tell if that has happened and the boot files are no on the SSD is if you pull the HDD after the install it won't be able to boot via the SSD alone. 

 

Alright, please can u give me a step by step of how to do it without removing the HDD please? :)

(Why do they make it so complicated?!) 

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1 minute ago, ★ Coups ★ said:

Alright, please can u give me a step by step of how to do it without removing the HDD please? :)

(Why do they make it so complicated?!) 

It's fairly straight forward once you have the bootable USB, I do still suggest to pull the HDD data or power cable as a precautionary measure, to make that you can go to Microsoft's creation kit and mount the USB with WIndows:

https://www.microsoft.com/en-ca/software-download/windows10

 

After you get that all done and ready you can install the new SSD into the system once ready, boot up and go into the boot menu and select the bootable USB. From there you can follow the instruction for a brand new install of windows onto the SSD.

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1 minute ago, W-L said:

It's fairly straight forward once you have the bootable USB, I do still suggest to pull the HDD data or power cable as a precautionary measure, to make that you can go to Microsoft's creation kit and mount the USB with WIndows:

https://www.microsoft.com/en-ca/software-download/windows10

 

After you get that all done and ready you can install the new SSD into the system once ready, boot up and go into the boot menu and select the bootable USB. From there you can follow the instruction for a brand new install of windows onto the SSD.

 

Alright, I'll give it a go. If it works and loads to desktop, do I then plug in the HDD? If so, how do I remove the HDD copy of Windows, and all that stuff? 

 

I also got an OEM key for Windows 10. Will it still work or do I need to rebuy it? 

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2 minutes ago, ★ Coups ★ said:

Alright, I'll give it a go. If it works and loads to desktop, do I then plug in the HDD? If so, how do I remove the HDD copy of Windows, and all that stuff? 

I also got an OEM key for Windows 10. Will it still work or do I need to rebuy it? 

Yep after it all works you can plug the HDD back in place, and reformat the drive directly in the new install of windows to clear all the data from it. As for the key OEM keys can be a bit of a hassle since usually don't let you do a clean install unless you use their disk or recovery software so it potentially may ask you to buy a new key.

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Just now, W-L said:

Yep after it all works you can plug the HDD back in place, and reformat the drive directly in the new install of windows to clear all the data from it. As for the key OEM keys can be a bit of a hassle since usually don't let you do a clean install unless you use their disk or recovery software so it potentially may ask you to buy a new key.

 

 

When you boot from USB to reinstall, does it let you decide what storage you want it to save to, or is it a hit or miss? 

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