Planning to clean-reinstall Win10 (upgrading to 1TB SSD), any tips?

[PianoPlayer88Key]

Hi all,

 

I just ordered a 1TB Crucial MX300 (2.5") SSD from Amazon, and once it arrives, I'm planning to do a clean reinstall of Windows 10 Pro on my desktop PC.  (I had 7 Professional, then got the free upgrade to 10.)  Some things are kind-of jumbled up, like installed on other drives, some program shortcuts pointed to folders on other drives (including previous installs that I had moved so Windows wouldn't delete those files, cause it uninstalled some programs with some updates), etc.  So, I think it's time for a clean install.

 

What would be some tips to make things go as smoothly as possible?

 

A couple things I've thought of right off the bat ...

 

• Do I need to dig up my Windows 7 key?  Or is it likely tied to my motherboard (ASRock Z97 Extreme6)?
  • Also a side note on that - when I get a new system in maybe 3-5 years or so, what Windows license would I need to be able to transfer it to new systems in the future?  Retail?  Or is Windows 10 not going to be the "last ever version" of Windows?
• Should I make / find a list of programs I've installed, shortcuts, etc, so I can reinstall them?
  • Also do the same for Steam?  (Right now my steam library is on spinning drives but I'm thinking of moving it to the SSD, depending on space.  I do have quite a few games so there's a chance it won't all fit.)
  • Also I presume I should get the installers ready?

 

Also I don't have any USB flash drives *at all*, just a few SD cards of various sizes.  I think I used one to install Windows 10 on my laptop (which lacks an optical drive, although I've since gotten an external DVD writer, and my desktop has a Blu-Ray writer.)

Any recommendations for a good USB flash drive at a reasonable size and price?  (If I could get something with the same $/GB, sequential & random speeds, endurance, etc. as a Crucial MX300 or Samsung 850 EVO, but 8GB or so, that'd be nice.)

Or should I use an SD card or burn a DVD for the Windows 10 ISO?  I'd most likely be downloading a fresh ISO.  I'm thinking I'd do the creator's update, although caveat:  I haven't gotten the popup on my current Windows 10 install that it's ready for my system yet.

 

And any other tips / gotchas I should watch out for?

[dapredator]

Under the settings you can get the current windows 10 key and re-use it. Just be aware that for w/e reason, atleast with me, the activation stopped working. I did a clean install as well at one point when upgrading to a 500GB SSD.

 

Other than that, be patient. The best thing I found was deleting everything like game installs from the drives and setting everything up as if it was all new. Be patient and do 1 thing at a time. 

 

GL

[Mira Yurizaki]

20 minutes ago, PianoPlayer88Key said:

• Do I need to dig up my Windows 7 key?  Or is it likely tied to my motherboard (ASRock Z97 Extreme6)?
  • Also a side note on that - when I get a new system in maybe 3-5 years or so, what Windows license would I need to be able to transfer it to new systems in the future?  Retail?  Or is Windows 10 not going to be the "last ever version" of Windows?

If it's an OEM key, it's tied to the board.

Quote

• Should I make / find a list of programs I've installed, shortcuts, etc, so I can reinstall them?
  • Also do the same for Steam?  (Right now my steam library is on spinning drives but I'm thinking of moving it to the SSD, depending on space.  I do have quite a few games so there's a chance it won't all fit.)
  • Also I presume I should get the installers ready?

Steam games you don't have to reinstall. You can also create libraries on different drives so you don't have to decide which to keep and which to toss.

 

For your other programs, you should find the installers. Though I would look to see if Ninite has what you use to streamline the install process. And you should obviously get the latest drivers.

Quote

Any recommendations for a good USB flash drive at a reasonable size and price?  (If I could get something with the same $/GB, sequential & random speeds, endurance, etc. as a Crucial MX300 or Samsung 850 EVO, but 8GB or so, that'd be nice.)

Any USB thumb drive at least 4GB in size should do. You're also not going to find USB thumb drives that perform that fast without spending more money than a USB thumb drive should be asking for. Most USB 3.0 thumb drives can go up to 100MB/s or higher, which is plenty.

 

20 minutes ago, PianoPlayer88Key said:

And any other tips / gotchas I should watch out for?

Disconnect all the other drives except the one you want to install Windows on just to be safe.

[GoodBytes]

6 minutes ago, PianoPlayer88Key said:

• Do I need to dig up my Windows 7 key?  Or is it likely tied to my motherboard (ASRock Z97 Extreme6)?
  • Also a side note on that - when I get a new system in maybe 3-5 years or so, what Windows license would I need to be able to transfer it to new systems in the future?  Retail?  Or is Windows 10 not going to be the "last ever version" of Windows?

Nope.

• If you have a Microsoft linked account, the product key follows that account with your system.
• If you have a local account, the product key is stored on Microsoft activation servers. It may require to pull your old Windows key due to hardware changes.

You can convert your account from local to Microsoft linked one at any time.

 

When you install Windows 10, during the setup, Windows will ask you for a product key, you'll have the option "I don't have one" (or something like it. I am going by memory), which will be a blue link. Click on it, setup will resume, and once in Windows 10, check for updates, and by that time, your Windows should be activated. If it's not, then you can start a troubleshooter tool and use your Windows 7 key.

 

Microsoft claims that Windows 10 is the "last version", but the future cannot be predicted, I am sure this is their intention, but market and economic changes of the company and environment, can change things, not to mention a new CEO in the future usually means a new direction.

 

Only Retail license of Windows are transferable to new systems.

 

6 minutes ago, PianoPlayer88Key said:

• Should I make / find a list of programs I've installed, shortcuts, etc, so I can reinstall them?
  • Also do the same for Steam?  (Right now my steam library is on spinning drives but I'm thinking of moving it to the SSD, depending on space.  I do have quite a few games so there's a chance it won't all fit.)
  • Also I presume I should get the installers ready?

Up to you. Steam game list is stored with your account. So when you'll re-install Steam, and login, you'll have your purchased games listed. Ready to be re-downloaded. What I do when I do a drive change, is on my clean install of Windows, I plug the old drive, transfer the whole Steam folder over where I want ti installed, and then Install Steam over it. Steam will be installed, and your games will be re-detected and no need to download them. Some games needs additional setup files, like Visual C++ Runtime library files or DirectX libraries, as you'll launch you game, Steam will detect that, fetch what the game needs, install it, scan the game to see if all files are there, compare with the servers ensure you have the latest version, and done. While it would look like it is re-downloading the game, you'll see that the process will be super fast in comparison and the game will run after.

 

6 minutes ago, PianoPlayer88Key said:

Also I don't have any USB flash drives *at all*, just a few SD cards of various sizes.  I think I used one to install Windows 10 on my laptop (which lacks an optical drive, although I've since gotten an external DVD writer, and my desktop has a Blu-Ray writer.)

Any recommendations for a good USB flash drive at a reasonable size and price?  (If I could get something with the same $/GB, sequential & random speeds, endurance, etc. as a Crucial MX300 or Samsung 850 EVO, but 8GB or so, that'd be nice.)

SanDisk Extreme USB 3.0 is what I have and like very much. Quality isn't the best in terms of plastic casing thickness, but it holds up. My only complain is that it is a slide out USB plug system on a spring, so you just need to pull it out first fully, and then you can plug it, you can't do it at the same time as you plug it. Anyway, read Amazon review. For me, I knew about it before buying it, but the low price for the read/write speed at the time was good.

 

Mine is over 2 years old. Still going strong, and I use it a lot.

 

6 minutes ago, PianoPlayer88Key said:

Or should I use an SD card or burn a DVD for the Windows 10 ISO?  I'd most likely be downloading a fresh ISO.  I'm thinking I'd do the creator's update, although caveat:  I haven't gotten the popup on my current Windows 10 install that it's ready for my system yet.

I don't recommend SD cards as you don't know the implementation of the SD card reader and your motherboard. It might work or not. I recommend by DVD if you don't want to buy a USB flash drive.

 

6 minutes ago, PianoPlayer88Key said:

And any other tips / gotchas I should watch out for?

While you are doing a clean install with a new drive.

• If your computer is fully UEFI ready, make sure your are set to UEFI mode and not legacy mode (BIOS emulation) in the UEFI setup
• Enable Fast Boot

[Elerek]

9 minutes ago, M.Yurizaki said:

Though I would look to see if Ninite has what you use to streamline the install process.

Huh, I'd never heard of them. They don't support a huge number of programs but that does still look helpful assuming they're trustworthy.

 

edit: Also, the basic version only supports default location installs  I almost never install things in the default directory, I install them on separate drives sorted into different folders...

[Mira Yurizaki]

Just now, Elerek said:

Huh, I'd never heard of them. They don't support a huge number of programs but that does still look helpful assuming they're trustworthy.

https://ninite.com/press

 

Well considering a lot of big names vouch for it, I'd say they're fine.

[PianoPlayer88Key]

Thanks for the advice, all.   Sorry I haven't been back to the thread in over a week, have had things going on so I couldn't do much with this.  Also, the SSD just shipped today (yesterday for those of you on the other side of midnight), and is expected to arrive tomorrow by 8pm PT.

 

Side note,

Spoiler

Amazon takes its time shipping things to me, apparently even if I order a single item.  I don't yet have Prime.  Newegg usually gets it to me the next day, or the day after.  Even B&H & Adorama, across the country, gets things to me in like 3 or 4 days, unless I order on the weekend then it might take almost a week.)

 

 

Now, on to the quotes and my replies.  To "shorten" the post somewhat, I spoilerized the quotes.

 

Spoiler

 

On 6/21/2017 at 10:26 AM, dapredator said:

Under the settings you can get the current windows 10 key and re-use it. Just be aware that for w/e reason, atleast with me, the activation stopped working. I did a clean install as well at one point when upgrading to a 500GB SSD.

 

On 6/21/2017 at 10:35 AM, M.Yurizaki said:

If it's an OEM key, it's tied to the board.

 

I believe it's an OEM key.  I had bought the OEM version (was around $130 or $140 I think) of Win 7 Pro, which came with a disc, COA, etc. (No fancy box.)

 

So I could either go in settings, or it's tied to the board.  (Also I should have the key on the disc sleeve, I believe, I'd just need to find it.  I recently came across the Windows 10 key for my laptop.)

 

Spoiler

 

On 6/21/2017 at 10:41 AM, GoodBytes said:

Nope.

• If you have a Microsoft linked account, the product key follows that account with your system.
• If you have a local account, the product key is stored on Microsoft activation servers. It may require to pull your old Windows key due to hardware changes.

You can convert your account from local to Microsoft linked one at any time.

 

When you install Windows 10, during the setup, Windows will ask you for a product key, you'll have the option "I don't have one" (or something like it. I am going by memory), which will be a blue link. Click on it, setup will resume, and once in Windows 10, check for updates, and by that time, your Windows should be activated. If it's not, then you can start a troubleshooter tool and use your Windows 7 key.

 

I don't currently have it tied to a M$ account.  Question about that ... can I tie multiple windows keys (I have a desktop AND a laptop) to the same Microsoft Account?  (Or... I'd expect this to be less likely, but what about multiple MS accounts on the same key?)

 

Spoiler

 

Quote

Microsoft claims that Windows 10 is the "last version", but the future cannot be predicted, I am sure this is their intention, but market and economic changes of the company and environment, can change things, not to mention a new CEO in the future usually means a new direction.

 

Only Retail license of Windows are transferable to new systems.

 

Ah.  I was thinking ... maybe next time I buy a new PC (I'm thinking around 2020-2022 or so, but that could change), I'd maybe consider getting a retail license.  Hopefully I wouldn't have to buy a license again after that .... but, as you say, there IS the chance that MS could go to a different version of Windows, or maybe even a different OS entirely.

 

If I have a 5 to 15 year upgrade cycle (how often I replace the motherboard, depending on how good it is when new, upgradeable, if it dies, etc), would buying a retail license, then using it for the next 5-10 upgrades (putting it in my will for my great-grandkids whose grandparents haven't yet been conceived) be worth it?  Or would it be too risky, since they could just go to a new version / completely new OS?

 

 

 

 

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Spoiler

 

Quote

Steam games you don't have to reinstall. You can also create libraries on different drives so you don't have to decide which to keep and which to toss.

 

Quote

Up to you. Steam game list is stored with your account. So when you'll re-install Steam, and login, you'll have your purchased games listed. Ready to be re-downloaded. What I do when I do a drive change, is on my clean install of Windows, I plug the old drive, transfer the whole Steam folder over where I want ti installed, and then Install Steam over it. Steam will be installed, and your games will be re-detected and no need to download them. Some games needs additional setup files, like Visual C++ Runtime library files or DirectX libraries, as you'll launch you game, Steam will detect that, fetch what the game needs, install it, scan the game to see if all files are there, compare with the servers ensure you have the latest version, and done. While it would look like it is re-downloading the game, you'll see that the process will be super fast in comparison and the game will run after.

 

Okay.  I might like to move some of the steam game installs to the SSD that are currently on spinning drives.  And those I don't put on the SSD, I'd still like to consolidate to one drive.  (So I'd have 2 libraries - one on SSD, one on a 4TB or 5TB drive.  I have 3 new 8TB drives, but those will be solely for backups.)

 

On games that I've played a bit more (sort by playtime), I want to be sure to retain my settings, configs, downloaded files, etc.  (Also it'd be nice to be able to import stuff from a previous install from like 5-12+ years ago for at least 1 or 2 games, once I find which drive it's on, if I still have it.  One of them at least might be difficult though, since the original wasn't on Steam, but I do have a Steam version of it now.)

 

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Spoiler

 

Quote

For your other programs, you should find the installers. Though I would look to see if Ninite has what you use to streamline the install process. And you should obviously get the latest drivers.

 

On 6/21/2017 at 10:44 AM, Elerek said:

Huh, I'd never heard of them. They don't support a huge number of programs but that does still look helpful assuming they're trustworthy.

 

edit: Also, the basic version only supports default location installs  I almost never install things in the default directory, I install them on separate drives sorted into different folders...

 

On 6/21/2017 at 10:45 AM, M.Yurizaki said:

https://ninite.com/press

 

Well considering a lot of big names vouch for it, I'd say they're fine.

 

Just reading @Elerek's comment, tells me that Ninite most likely wouldn't work for me.

 

 

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Spoiler

 

Quote

SanDisk Extreme USB 3.0 is what I have and like very much. Quality isn't the best in terms of plastic casing thickness, but it holds up. My only complain is that it is a slide out USB plug system on a spring, so you just need to pull it out first fully, and then you can plug it, you can't do it at the same time as you plug it. Anyway, read Amazon review. For me, I knew about it before buying it, but the low price for the read/write speed at the time was good.

 

Mine is over 2 years old. Still going strong, and I use it a lot.

 

Quote

Any USB thumb drive at least 4GB in size should do. You're also not going to find USB thumb drives that perform that fast without spending more money than a USB thumb drive should be asking for. Most USB 3.0 thumb drives can go up to 100MB/s or higher, which is plenty.

 

Ah.  I made a spreadsheet recently (something I often do when trying to decide), and think I've narrowed it down to either a 32GB SanDisk Ultra Flair, or 64GB Sandisk Extreme.  I also haven't completely ruled out an external SSD (or an internal SSD in an enclosure / with a USB to SATA adapter), but I wouldn't get one larger than ~250GB or > $80-100.  It might, alternatively, be nice to find a reasonably fast & durable dual-USB drive, so I could either plug it into my PC or my phone.  (My laptop's the only device I have with a Type C port, btw.)

 

If I had to buy right now, I'd be leaning toward the 64GB SanDisk Extreme.  (Haven't checked stock/prices today, though.)

 

 

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Spoiler

 

Quote

I don't recommend SD cards as you don't know the implementation of the SD card reader and your motherboard. It might work or not. I recommend by DVD if you don't want to buy a USB flash drive.

 

Okay.  I think I used an SD card to install Windows 10 on my laptop (since I didn't have an optical drive for it at the time.) My desktop does have a Blu-Ray writer, but I like the idea of a flash drive better.

 

Also I'd want to use the flash for other things, like shuttling files, a couple Linux installers maybe, etc.  I'm also thinking I might put the installers for my other programs (except Steam games, but including Steam itself) on the USB drive as well.

 

 

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Spoiler

 

Quote

Other than that, be patient. The best thing I found was deleting everything like game installs from the drives and setting everything up as if it was all new. Be patient and do 1 thing at a time. 

 

GL

 

Quote

Disconnect all the other drives except the one you want to install Windows on just to be safe.

 

Quote

While you are doing a clean install with a new drive.

• If your computer is fully UEFI ready, make sure your are set to UEFI mode and not legacy mode (BIOS emulation) in the UEFI setup
• Enable Fast Boot

 

Thanks.  Yes, I'd of course have only the new 1TB SSD connected while I'm installing.

 

I believe I'm in UEFI mode, since I do have the GUI, and can use the mouse, in "bios".  One thing I'm a bit concerned about, possibly ...

I'm guessing it's Secure Boot that I want to leave disabled?  I also want to install Linux on the same SSD.   (My comments in spoiler below.)

Spoiler

 

(If I don't switch distros, it will most likely be the latest LTS version of Ubuntu Studio.)  ('m guessing SB might make it harder to install Linux?)

 

• Since I'm also putting Linux on, should I install that first, leave appropriate unallocated space for Windows, THEN install Windows & let it put it in the unalloc?
• Or should I install Windows first on the clean drive, then Linux?
• Or, maybe boot with a Linux live USB, set up a partition for Linux to reserve its space (including swap) but not yet install, then install Windows, THEN go back & install Linux?
• Or, something else I hadn't thought of?

 

Another thing I'd like to be able to do, is virtualize one OS from the other, in any combination.  Examples: boot Windows & virtualize Linux, then turn around after hibernating / suspending (or shutting down), and boot Linux & virtualize Windows.  I had used VirtualBox for virtualization of Linux in Windows, but that was for separate Linux installs in their own virtual space.  (I couldn't go natively boot those Linux installs straight from POST.)

 

 

A couple things I've heard of, maybe, are VMWare EXSi server, IIRC, or UnRAID.  But idk if those would do what I want.  (Also I was thinking UnRAID would be more like if I was also building a NAS, or a multi-seat server or something, which I'm not.)

 

If I did get a bare metal hypervisor, then install Windows & Linux on top of them, I'd want one that's very light on resources (for example, before loading any other OS on top of it, would run on a 386-16 with 2MB RAM as well as a barebones console-only Linux Kernel 1.x install's text editor runs on an i7-7700K OC'd to thermal throttling under LN2 with 64GB RAM).

Okay, maybe not quite THAT light (or running on hardware that old), but I'd at least like it to take almost no overhead on CPU, disk space & RAM, like maybe 0.1% of a 4790K & 32GB RAM at most on its own.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[PianoPlayer88Key]

Hey quick question ... ( @M.Yurizaki / @GoodBytes / anyone ) ... for the USB flash drive...

 

Instead of the 64GB SanDisk Extreme ...

 

What do you think of a 250GB 2.5" Samsung 850 Evo SSD?  It's on sale at Fry's with promo code for $69 today only.

 

I'd need a USB 3.0 to SATA cable, or a USB 3.0 enclosure. Which would you recommend, if I got the 850 Evo?

 

Or should I maybe consider getting the 850 Evo for my dad, or not bother with it and just go for the SD Extreme?

[Mira Yurizaki]

2 hours ago, PianoPlayer88Key said:

Hey quick question ... ( @M.Yurizaki / @GoodBytes / anyone ) ... for the USB flash drive...

 

Instead of the 64GB SanDisk Extreme ...

 

What do you think of a 250GB 2.5" Samsung 850 Evo SSD?  It's on sale at Fry's with promo code for $69 today only.

 

I'd need a USB 3.0 to SATA cable, or a USB 3.0 enclosure. Which would you recommend, if I got the 850 Evo?

 

Or should I maybe consider getting the 850 Evo for my dad, or not bother with it and just go for the SD Extreme?

Yes yes, get a Samsung!

 

And get a 3.0 enclosure. You can use it as a USB to SATA in a pinch.

[PianoPlayer88Key]

2 hours ago, M.Yurizaki said:

Yes yes, get a Samsung!

 

And get a 3.0 enclosure. You can use it as a USB to SATA in a pinch.

Just now saw this.  Checked, and it's sold out locally.  Closest to me is 150 miles, on the other side of Los Angeles, CA.  

 

 

And, online shipping is unavailable, even though the promo code ad says it's available online.  (Items available in-store only are supposed to say that on the ad, although I did click the one item on the lower right of the screenshot that said in-store only, and its product page showed that it was available to ship.  Hmm....)

 

 

 

They do have a 32GB Samsung Duo USB Flash (MUF-32CB/AM) on promo for $9.99, which appears to be available locally and to ship.

[GoodBytes]

If it is in your budget, this looks like an interesting drive:

 

[PianoPlayer88Key]

Okay ... so I'm working on the project, and ...

 

First, some hiccups in spoiler that are currently semi-resolved.

 

Spoiler

I picked up two 64GB Samsung Duo flash drives from Fry's for about $40 total.  I used the Windows USB creator tool to put Windows 10 ISO on them.  (I also wanted to put Linux on it, and another partition for installers, but I haven't been able to do that. So, it only has Windows for now.  The other flash drive is still unopened.)

 

I calculated the size partitions I wanted for Linux and Windows.  I booted Linux (either from the 256GB SSD, or Ultimate Boot CD / Parted Magic, I forget now), and created the Linux partitions, leaving the space for Windows as unallocated.

Then I installed Windows 10 into the unallocated space.  I might wipe and repartition/reinstall though, as it turned out that I miscalculated a couple of the "system/maintenance" partitons at the beginning of the Windows portion of the drive.

 

I cloned my 256GB SSD (which includes the incumbent Windows install) to a new 8TB drive.  I also cloned my dad's 500GB laptop hard drive to the same 8TB.  (I used gparted for the clones, cloning one partition at a time.)

 

However, I was unable to boot from the 8TB drive to test the installs, and couldn't figure out how to make it bootable.  (My research led me to believe it had something to do with MBR vs GPT, at least partially.)

So, I ended up digging out a 750GB WD Black HDD from 2009, and re-cloning the 256GB SSD to that, this time using Clonezilla.

 

Reboot, and I get a BSOD on bootup with INACCESSIBLE_BOOT_DEVICE.

 

So I booted the new Windows 10 install from the 1TB SSD, found a conflict with duplicate device IDs or something in Disk Management.  One google search result (among others) suggested right-clicking and putting it online, which would change its ID or something like that.  That actually worked.

 

 

Then I went into Programs and Features, and through the Start Menu, taking screenshots of everything there.

 

So right now I'm booted into the existing Windows 10 install off the 750GB HDD, which is a clone from the 256GB SSD.  As you would expect, it is MUCH slower loading.

I'm actually considering doing a benchmark between the two - any suggestions on what I should look for or do with it?

 

One issue with Programs & Features, though, is it doesn't seem to show how often a program is used, or when it was last used.  (I could right-click and tick the "last used on" column, but it's all blank.)  A little googling tells me that the feature has been deprecated.  Is there another way to get this info, without looking at the properties for each of my individual 205 installed programs?

 

Also, I'll want to import my Chrome profile to the new install - not just bookmarks, but also settings, saved passwords, extensions, basically everything.  On extensions, this INCLUDES extentions that I have installed that are no longer available.  If I copy "%localappdata%\Google\Chrome\User Data\Default" to a safe location, then copy it back after the reinstall, would I have everything?  (This would need to be done for each user account - there are 3 accessible from the sign-on screen.)

 

And for steam games, I'll want to preserve my downloaded maps, settings, etc.  In that case, rather than re-downloading the game, I'm guessing I should copy the game folder to the Steam folder on the 1TB SSD (if I decide to put it on the SSD), right?  Then tell Steam that that's where I moved it to, or how does that work?

 

I'm also planning to redo the clone of my dad's 500GB HDD, this time to something that's 2TB or smaller, to get around the MBR vs GPT issue.  I also plan to do the same with my new 1TB SSD (although, it is set up as GPT.)  Which of my older ≤2TB drives should I use?  (a) 750GB WD7500AAKS Black, Sep 2007 (not for 1TB clone, unless resized), (b) 1TB WD10EADS Green, Apr 2009, (c) 1.5TB WD15EADS Green, Sep 2009, have 2, (d) 2TB WD20EADS Green, Sep 2012, or (e) 2TB WD20EZRX Green, Aug 2014?  Btw WD20EZRX I believe temporarily has some things on it, while I'm shuffling stuff around on my other larger drives.

 

Or, is there a way to clone multiple smaller MBR-based installs (like my 256GB SSD and my dad's 500GB HDD) to a single GPT-formatted HDD (like my 8TB drives), and make them bootable / selectable from a menu upon hitting F11 to choose to boot from that drive?  Yes, I realize Windows would not like booting from a different computer, but I would just want to see that it would basically work.  I'd want this as a backup, so that if something fails catastrophically and I need to restore from an image, I could just clone back from this.  (Obviously I can't boot the 8TB drive from my dad's laptop, 1 - it's a 3.5" drive and the laptop has a 2.5" bay, and 2 - the laptop doesn't support GPT or UEFI at all.)

 

My eventual plan once I have everything set up on the new 1TB drive is to make an image of it, so I'll have a clean backup to restore from if things go horribly wrong later.  Also, some suggestions for programs and things that would be good to put on said image would be welcomed, maybe things I haven't thought of.  (Should I share (read-only) the google drive folder where I uploaded the screenshots of start menu & programs & features, and the dir /s start menu/programs > x.txt? Or could there be privacy concerns & if so what?)

 

And once all that's done and confirmed working, THEN I wipe the 256GB SSD, resize the clone of my dad's 500GB HDD to fit on the 256GB SSD, then clone that to the SSD.  If I'm doing that with CloneZilla (to preserve the boot sector), how would I properly do it?  Would just resizing it before I clone be good enough, or would CZ (when working drive -> drive and not partition -> partition (which I doubt includes boot sector)) still balk at cloning it?

 

(I hope @dapredator @M.Yurizaki @Elerek @GoodBytes don't mind me tagging them, since I'm not exactly quoting, just updating the post with a couple new questions.  )

[PianoPlayer88Key]

14 hours ago, PianoPlayer88Key said:

I'm also planning to redo the clone of my dad's 500GB HDD, this time to something that's 2TB or smaller, to get around the MBR vs GPT issue.  I also plan to do the same with my new 1TB SSD (although, it is set up as GPT.)  Which of my older ≤2TB drives should I use?  (a) 750GB WD7500AAKS Black, Sep 2007 (not for 1TB clone, unless resized), (b) 1TB WD10EADS Green, Apr 2009, (c) 1.5TB WD15EADS Green, Sep 2009, have 2, (d) 2TB WD20EADS Green, Sep 2012, or (e) 2TB WD20EZRX Green, Aug 2014?  Btw WD20EZRX I believe temporarily has some things on it, while I'm shuffling stuff around on my other larger drives.

 

Or, is there a way to clone multiple smaller MBR-based installs (like my 256GB SSD and my dad's 500GB HDD) to a single GPT-formatted HDD (like my 8TB drives), and make them bootable / selectable from a menu upon hitting F11 to choose to boot from that drive?  Yes, I realize Windows would not like booting from a different computer, but I would just want to see that it would basically work.  I'd want this as a backup, so that if something fails catastrophically and I need to restore from an image, I could just clone back from this.  (Obviously I can't boot the 8TB drive from my dad's laptop, 1 - it's a 3.5" drive and the laptop has a 2.5" bay, and 2 - the laptop doesn't support GPT or UEFI at all.)

 

My eventual plan once I have everything set up on the new 1TB drive is to make an image of it, so I'll have a clean backup to restore from if things go horribly wrong later.  Also, some suggestions for programs and things that would be good to put on said image would be welcomed, maybe things I haven't thought of.  (Should I share (read-only) the google drive folder where I uploaded the screenshots of start menu & programs & features, and the dir /s start menu/programs > x.txt? Or could there be privacy concerns & if so what?)

 

I was just thinking ... doesn't Clonezilla support working with images?  If so, could I image the MBR-formatted drives as images to the GPT-formatted 8TB drive, then be able to restore from there and have proper MBR-formatted restores (for installs that were originally set up that way)?  Also, for testing purposes, is it possible to boot from an image of an MBR disk, on a GPT drive?

[PianoPlayer88Key]

Okay, an update...  Having trouble reinstalling Ubuntu & Windows on the 256GB SSD.  (2TB Seagate in laptop dying, will be using 1TB SSD as its replacement instead.)  After cloning to 750GB HDD, in the course of events WIndows quit booting from the SSD, so a fresh install is in order.  (Was planned already, just not on that drive originally.)

 

I'm still reinstalling Windows 10, but there's been a slight change of plans - I'm reinstalling it on the existing 256GB SSD.  The 2TB HDD in my laptop is dying, so I decided to replace it with the 1TB SSD I bought, instead of installing Windows on the 1TB & putting the 256GB SSD in my dad's Dell D830.  (He'll continue using his WD5000BPKT.)

 

Brief backstory to why I'm reinstalling on the same SSD (besides above info), and preferred partition scheme:

Spoiler

I was doing some drive cloning, to back up my existing SSD's Windows install before I prepped it to clone my dad's 500GB drive to it.  First, I cloned my SSD & my dad's HDD twice each to a new 8TB HDD with gparted, but it turned out I couldn't get them to boot.  (I think due to the source drives being MBR and target being GPT.)

So, next I cloned the 256GB SSD to a 750GB WD Black I had laying around, this time using Clonezilla.  Of course had some issues starting one due to device ID conflicts, but after marking it online in W10 Disk Management, was able to start.

But, had some other issues, and ended up cloning again on another < 2TB drive.  I forget some of the intermediary steps now as it's been the past week or two, but ...

Now, I was unable to boot the original Windows OS from the SSD (would insta-BSOD on startup with required device not accessible or something like that), BUT, weird thing was, the CLONE booted fine!   (Also, sometimes while having the 256GB SSD in there, along with other HDDs, I tried booting Windows 10 from the Grub loader on the SSD, but it actually ran it off one of the hard drives (either a 750GB, or 8TB, forget which now.)

 

Also, it took a little trial & error & calculation (okay, a lot, thanks OCD), but I figured out what partition sizes I wanted.  The 256GB SSD was set as MBR, so I wiped it and reset it as GPT.  (I really don't want to use MBR on it anymore.)

• 3 MiB = Bios Boot (there's 1 MiB free space preceeding)
• 24,604 MiB = Linux OS (24.027 GiB / 25.8 GB)
• 13,200 MiB = Linux Swap (12.89 GiB / 13.84 GB)
• 450 MiB = Windows Recovery (0.44 GiB / 472 MB)
• 100 MiB = EFI System (0.098 GiB / 105 MB)
• 16 MiB = MS Reserved (0.0156 GiB / 16.8 MB)
• 205,824 MiB = Windows Install (201 GiB / 215.8 GB)

Total capacity is 256,060,514,304 bytes / ~ 244,198 MiB / ~238.475 GiB.  Linux would go in the 24.027 GiB Linux partition, and Windows in the 201 GiB Windows partition.

 

I'm having a heck of a time getting Windows 10 v1703 and Ubuntu Studio 16.04 LTS to play nicely with each other when being installed next to each other.   I tried installing Windows first then Linux, then tried installing Linux first then Windows, wiping the drive each time.  The computer is just either default booting into Windows, or going to the Grub loader (but no WIndows option shows) when I boot, depending on which way I did the installs.

 

In either case I can hit F11 to bring up my boot menu and pick another device (for example Windows Boot Loader for Windows 10, or CT256M550SSD1 for Linux), but I want to have it set up the way I had it before.  In GRUB, there was an entry for Windows 10 (which was set as default), so when I turned on the PC, it'd boot Windows 10 after giving me a couple seconds to interrupt & choose Linux instead.

 

But now, in Grub Customizer, I can't find the Windows 10 entry (except the installer on a USB flash drive).

 

If it's relevant, my hardware includes:

Spoiler

CPU: Intel Core i7-4790K

Motherboard: ASRock Z97 Extreme6, updated to latest firmware as of a few months ago

RAM: 32GB (4x8GB) G.Skill Ares (Red) DDR3-1600 CL9

Intended Install SSD: 2.5" 256GB Crucial M550 (CT256M550SSD1)

GPU: EVGA GTX 1060 SC 3GB

Optical Drive: Pioneer BDR-209DBK Blu-Ray Writer

 

Plus like 16+ other hard drives, but while I'm installing the OS's, they're all disconnected except if I need something off them or otherwise need to connect them.

• 750GB WD7500AAKS
• 750GB WD7501AALS
• 1TB WD10EADS
• 2x 1.5TB WD15EADS
• 2TB WD20EADS
• 2TB WD20EZRX
• 3x 4TB HGST NAS 0s03664
• 3x 5TB HGST NAS 0s03835
• 3x 8TB HGST NAS 0s04012

Also there's an ST2000LM003 (dying - 36 pending sectors, failed SMART test), a new CT1050MX300SSD1 (gonna replace the Seagate 2TB in the laptop instead of being an OS install for the desktop), a nearly dead (clicking, resurrected a few days, clicking again; but suspect it may not be the drive but controller/cable instead) WD800BB, and still-living-last-I-checked WD2500JB.

 

Any ideas what I should be doing differently?  I've done some googling already, searching for how to dual boot Ubuntu and Windows on a UEFI device / etc.  However, pretty much all the hits I get involve adding Linux to an already existing Windows install (even when I add format hard drive/ssd, or, new hard drive/ssd, to the search query).  I'm doing fresh clean installs of BOTH operating systems - Ubuntu Studio 16.04 LTS, and Windows 10 Pro v1703.

 

I have the installers on a USB flash drive that I used YUMI to create.  Also I put Ultimate Boot CD on there, but I can't boot Parted Magic from it - it can't find the image.  I've been able to boot PM from the CD I burned a few months ago, though.