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How to move OS to SSD

4M4D3U5

Hey, I just got an 850 Evo and I've installed it, but I don't know how to move my os and some games from my hard drive onto it, can anyone help me?

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Hi,

 

Paragon disk manager can migrate the OS from one drive to another, and it has a 30 day free trial. Czech it out.

Quote and/or tag people using @ otherwise they don't get notified of your response!

 

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well the Evo comes WITH a disk, on that disk are 2 programs, one is the Samsung Magician Software, the other is the software for cloning the old drive to the new SSD, I've used it before, but I would personally suggest REINSTALLING WINDOWS and your programs on the new drive then just copying the other files over, you get better performance this way in my personal experience.

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Thanks, but I would still like the keep the hard drive, I just want the os and a few games on the ssd, also when I save stuff to documents, etc will it save to the ssd or hard drive if the os is on the ssd?

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2 minutes ago, 4M4D3U5 said:

Thanks, but I would still like the keep the hard drive, I just want the os and a few games on the ssd, also when I save stuff to documents, etc will it save to the ssd or hard drive if the os is on the ssd?

nothing would stop you from not keeping the HDD after cloning to the SSD or Installing clean Windows on the SSD, provided you have space for both drives in the machine, I did this for 2 years until my HDD went out on me a few weeks ago, by default windows will save everything to the drive Windows is on (the C drive which will be the SSD once you get Windows on it), if you want to keep the HDD for data storage (which is what I did) you can "point" the My Documents, Music and other folders to a place on the HDD, Linus has a video on how to do this. Cloning the HDD to an SSD or doing a clean Windows install on the SSD WON'T DO ANYTHING to the data that is ON the HDD, it will still be there when you are done, if you want to be paranoid (like I do when I do clean installs) you could simply unplug the HDD while you are doing the clean install on the SSD then when you are done plug the HDD back in.

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Always format SSD when moving to a new OS

 

or use acronis image bit to bit copy

 

 

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Hi @4M4D3U5!

You can either clone the drive or make a fresh OS installation.

My personal preference is to clean install the OS because it will basically ensure that no junk, redundant and temp files get cloned to the drive. Just make sure you unplug the HDD, while installing Windows on the SSD, otherwise you might encounter an OS confusion that might result in boot issues later on. Another important thing to do before beginning is backing up the data from the HDD somewhere else so it could be safely secured.

If you decide to go with cloning though, then do have in mind that most of the manufacturers have their own versions of such tools which should be available in the official website - for instance, if at least one of the drives involved is WD you can download and use Acronis True Image WD Edition from here:

http://products.wdc.com/support/kb.ashx?id=XUC1Ze

Additionally, you can follow the steps in this KB article as well in order to complete the process:

http://products.wdc.com/support/kb.ashx?id=liXn4L

Hope this helps and feel free to ask any questions you may have. :)

If this post helped you, please like and choose it as a best answer.   :)
http://www.wdc.com/en/

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Do a clean install of your OS and transfer your files over from your harddrive. re-download programs. Or use EaseUS to clone your hard drive. Its by far the best one I've used.
Used it to migrate my ssd to a bigger one. Worked like a charm.

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 2/9/2017 at 9:35 AM, Mighty_Miro_WD said:

Hi @4M4D3U5!

You can either clone the drive or make a fresh OS installation.

My personal preference is to clean install the OS because it will basically ensure that no junk, redundant and temp files get cloned to the drive. Just make sure you unplug the HDD, while installing Windows on the SSD, otherwise you might encounter an OS confusion that might result in boot issues later on. Another important thing to do before beginning is backing up the data from the HDD somewhere else so it could be safely secured.

If you decide to go with cloning though, then do have in mind that most of the manufacturers have their own versions of such tools which should be available in the official website - for instance, if at least one of the drives involved is WD you can download and use Acronis True Image WD Edition from here:

http://products.wdc.com/support/kb.ashx?id=XUC1Ze

Additionally, you can follow the steps in this KB article as well in order to complete the process:

http://products.wdc.com/support/kb.ashx?id=liXn4L

Hope this helps and feel free to ask any questions you may have. :)

I hope you still use this forum, 'cause I need a wee bit of help. If I have my Windows Key, can I install Windows on the SSD? Or do I have to repurchase Windows? Also, do I have to "deactivate" the copy of Windows on my old HDD to install it on my SSD? Thanks in advance! ;) ??

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Definitely do a clean install if you want to get the most performance out of the box. Cloning the HDD to the SSD is fine only "if you don't have the time to reinstall and transfer all the files onto the SSD."

 

As others suggested, I would say the following steps are pretty much safe and sound to do before either a clean install or cloning.

 

  1. Backup, *copy*  all the files you need to a separated healthy working drive (not "CUT" because if any error occurred, you still have the working file on the source drive.)
  2. Make sure your SSD is at least the same or higher storage capacity than the HDD partition(s) you are cloning from.
  3. Deactivate any software(s) that only allowed to be used on one activated machine. (If you have any)
  4. Shut down the computer, disconnect all internal and portable storage drives from the computer. Connect the new SSD to the computer. ( If you are doing a clone, leave the OS or source drive connected. )
  5. Double check no other unnecessary storage drive(s) connected ( If you are really paranoid)
  6. Go to the Bios see is the SATA setting is on ACHI, change IDE to ACHI if it isnt'.
  7. Do a clean install or follow the instructions on the cloning software to continue.

Note: If you are creating partitions for the SSD, I strongly suggest you at least give a minimum of 256GB for the OS partition because windows updates, all your utility software will be installed on C: (or the OS partition) as default and might not be able to change during or after installation. So leave a plenty of space for that, if your SSD is 256GB or less, don't bother to do a partition. It will kick your "ass" so hard when the files filled up by those updates and software that doesn't allow relocation.

 

 

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4 hours ago, yb4zombeez said:

I hope you still use this forum, 'cause I need a wee bit of help. If I have my Windows Key, can I install Windows on the SSD? Or do I have to repurchase Windows? Also, do I have to "deactivate" the copy of Windows on my old HDD to install it on my SSD? Thanks in advance! ;) ??

It depends on your type of  windows license, if it is an OEM version, you are likely have to buy a new one if you changed your motherboard (As reminded by Daniel). But if you are using a "box" version, I would just install normally on the new drive, but not to use the old HDD anymore to prevent the Microsoft server detect multiple activation of the windows you are using. If you are sure your license is using on the "same" computer, you are fine.

MY SETUP
CPU: Intel i7-4771 , RAM: Team Xtreem DDR3 1600MHz 8GB x 4 , MB: Intel DZ87KLT-75K , GPU:Asus OC GTX760, SSD: Plextor M5P 256GB , HDD: 1TB WD Black , PSU: Antec HCG520M

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4 hours ago, yb4zombeez said:

I hope you still use this forum, 'cause I need a wee bit of help. If I have my Windows Key, can I install Windows on the SSD? Or do I have to repurchase Windows? Also, do I have to "deactivate" the copy of Windows on my old HDD to install it on my SSD? Thanks in advance! ;) ??

as long as the Key is the key for that machine you are fine, even with OEM's, the only time you might need a new key is if you replace the motherboard, infact if it' Windows 8 or newer the key is stored in the mobo bios and you won't even be prompted to type it during install.

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Partition clone or system clone. Or you can do fresh install and reinstall these games on SSD. 

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On 08/02/2017 at 7:25 PM, 4M4D3U5 said:

Hey, I just got an 850 Evo and I've installed it, but I don't know how to move my os and some games from my hard drive onto it, can anyone help me?

I would just reinstall everything, SSD's are smaller than hard drives most of the time so reinstall everything and forgetting about all the junk is a good idea

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Firstly, a huge thanks to everyone who replied.

Secondly: I ended up installing a fresh copy of Windows on the SSD, and like @KarsonC and @Daniel644 said, it automatically entered the product key. I formatted the old SSHD and used the NCIXTechTips video that Linus did to put the Desktop, Documents, Videos, Music, Downloads and Images folders onto the SSHD, along with the program_files folders.

Something that I didn't expect, or rather didn't consider was that since the SSHD doesn't have to deal with all the data transfers concerning the OS, it loads games and files much faster than it did when it was the OS Drive. 

 

Once again, thank you all for your replies, and although I didn't use them, someday someone with this same problem will probably use them.

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