SSD Migration

[Purush_10]

I have a 1TB hdd in my laptop and I'll be upgrading to a 275GB ssd. The problem is that I only have a single partition on the hdd and it has almost 600GB of total data. What should be the best course of action for me considering that I plan to use the ssd primarily as a Windows boot drive. I don't have any problem reinstalling the softwares

[Guest]

2 minutes ago, Purush_10 said:

I have a 1TB hdd in my laptop and I'll be upgrading to a 275GB ssd. The problem is that I only have a single partition on the hdd and it has almost 600GB of total data. What should be the best course of action for me considering that I plan to use the ssd primarily as a Windows boot drive. I don't have any problem reinstalling the softwares

save important files, and clean install Windows onto your SSD

[openthatchest]

1 minute ago, Purush_10 said:

I have a 1TB hdd in my laptop and I'll be upgrading to a 275GB ssd. The problem is that I only have a single partition on the hdd and it has almost 600GB of total data. What should be the best course of action for me considering that I plan to use the ssd primarily as a Windows boot drive. I don't have any problem reinstalling the softwares

reinstall windows, but do it by the option that allows you to keep most of your files. some might get deleted. I have not tried it. but, it should allow you to install windows on the ssd and move your files over after the os install

 

Don't entirley quote me on this one though: I have not tried this method and i'm not aware of how well it works

[Radium_Angel]

Insert new SSD into laptop. Reinstall.

Then put old drive into USB enclosure and attach to new laptop. Best of both worlds

[Purush_10]

Just now, NovaMan01 said:

save important files, and clean install Windows onto your SSD

Won't it be better if I uninstalled all my softwares and move all the data (docs, pics, music, iso images) to an external hard disk and then migrate using a cloning software? Because a fresh installation will also require reinstalling all the Windows updates, right?

[m0k]

9 minutes ago, Purush_10 said:

I have a 1TB hdd in my laptop and I'll be upgrading to a 275GB ssd. The problem is that I only have a single partition on the hdd and it has almost 600GB of total data. What should be the best course of action for me considering that I plan to use the ssd primarily as a Windows boot drive. I don't have any problem reinstalling the softwares

move all your personal documents, downloads, music, photos and videos to another drive (external)

and then use the migration software that comes with your ssd

 

if youre getting a 275gb ssd youre most likely getting a crucial mx300? i bought a mx300 and it comes with a copy of acronis. thats what i used to clone my drive and it works just fine

 

 

 

OR do a clean installation of windows on your new ssd

[Purush_10]

Just now, mok said:

move all your personal documents, downloads, music, photos and videos to another drive (external)

and then use the migration software that comes with your ssd

 

if youre getting a 275gb ssd youre most likely getting a crucial mx300? i bought a mx300 and it comes with a copy of acronis. thats what i used to clone my drive and it works just fine

yes exactly, MX300 it is
and that is what I had planned but I wanted to know is there any other more efficient way tried out by someone
 

[Purush_10]

3 minutes ago, Radium_Angel said:

Insert new SSD into laptop. Reinstall.

Then put old drive into USB enclosure and attach to new laptop. Best of both worlds

In that case the product key would get activated automatically?
and what about the already installed Windows on the HDD?  

[TheGlenlivet]

Just now, Purush_10 said:

In that case the product key would get activated automatically?
and what about the already installed Windows on the HDD?  

Copy your files off of it, reformat it and use it as storage.

[MrDrWho13]

With any of these methods, Windows 10 will automatically activate.

Personally, I would install Windows fresh on the SSD to ensure it's optimised and doesn't carry over any junk/viruses from your old install. Then you can reinstall software and put your files back where you want them.

[m0k]

3 minutes ago, Purush_10 said:

yes exactly, MX300 it is

just a heads up - the actual formatted capacity is going to be around 226ish gb

i bought the 750gb ssd when it was on sale for $130 and the formatted capacity was "only" 699gb 

[Purush_10]

2 minutes ago, MrDrWho13 said:

With any of these methods, Windows 10 will automatically activate.

Personally, I would install Windows fresh on the SSD to ensure it's optimised and doesn't carry over any junk/viruses from your old install. Then you can reinstall software and put your files back where you want them.

Okay, thanks for the advice 
But since I didn't get any Windows installation media, should I go ahead and use the Microsoft's Media Creation Tool for the fresh installation? And if so, should this be done in the pre-boot phase?

[Purush_10]

3 minutes ago, mok said:

just a heads up - the actual formatted capacity is going to be around 226ish gb

i bought the 750gb ssd when it was on sale for $130 and the formatted capacity was "only" 699gb 

Thanks a lot for the info  

And did you go for cloning or a fresh install? Either way, what would you recommend as the best?

[MrDrWho13]

3 minutes ago, Purush_10 said:

Okay, thanks for the advice 
But since I didn't get any Windows installation media, should I go ahead and use the Microsoft's Media Creation Tool for the fresh installation? And if so, should this be done in the pre-boot phase?

You need to use that tool to burn either a USB drive (4GB+) or a DVD-R to be your Windows installer. It guides you through the process either way.  

 

BTW- this will wipe the USB drive to backup any important files.

[Purush_10]

1 minute ago, MrDrWho13 said:

You need to use that tool to burn either a USB drive (4GB+) or a DVD-R to be your Windows installer. It guides you through the process either way.  

Oh thats a relief then
Just one more thing, after setting up the ssd with a fresh installation, attaching my hdd with the old Windows installation already present wouldn't interfere in any way, would it? And will I need to configure the boot sequence in the BIOS of my laptop or will it be taken care of automatically by the system?

Excuse me for pestering you with all these questions 

[m0k]

6 minutes ago, Purush_10 said:

Thanks a lot for the info  

And did you go for cloning or a fresh install? Either way, what would you recommend as the best?

best would be to do a fresh re-install of windows 10

 

even after cloning i had to do a clean reinstall due to some driver issues carrying over to the new drive (but it was very specific to my system - using very old mobo etc.)

[MrDrWho13]

Just now, Purush_10 said:

Oh thats a relief then
Just one more thing, after setting up the ssd with a fresh installation, attaching my hdd with the old Windows installation already present wouldn't interfere in any way, would it? And will I need to configure the boot sequence in the BIOS of my laptop or will it be taken care of automatically by the system?

Excuse me for pestering you with all these questions 

Your SSD should be kept as default if it's installed in the same position that the HDD was in before. Once you've booted into the SSD Windows, it should automatically mount your HDD so you can copy files off it as if it were a USB drive.

[Purush_10]

Just now, mok said:

best would be to do a fresh re-install of windows 10

 

even after cloning i had to do a clean reinstall due to some driver issues carrying over to the new drive (but it was very specific to my system - using very old mobo etc.)

Okay
Thanks a lot  

[Purush_10]

3 minutes ago, MrDrWho13 said:

Your SSD should be kept as default if it's installed in the same position that the HDD was in before. Once you've booted into the SSD Windows, it should automatically mount your HDD so you can copy files off it as if it were a USB drive.

Oh okay, I got it finally
Thanks a lot