Moving existing Windows 10 m.2 ssd to new computer without re-install?

Maastonakki · February 27, 2019

Hello everyone,

I'm pretty sure that someone has asked about this before, but couldn't find any other kind of "Windows 10 move" topics, than going from HDD->SSD or replacing disk with bigger one.

But I'm planning to upgrade my computer during the spring (going from i7-6800k to i7-9900k) which would mean replacing mb and cpu. My current windows installation is on m.2 drive, and I wonder does windows nowadays support if I just take that m.2 and move it to new motherboard, or do I have to go through whole windows install process again?

Enderman · February 27, 2019

You should ALWAYS clean install windows, especially when moving to new hardware.

It's not hard.
https://www.howtogeek.com/224342/how-to-clean-install-windows-10/

Make sure you do this first: https://support.microsoft.com/en-ca/help/20530/windows-10-reactivating-after-hardware-change

homeap5 · February 27, 2019

You can move your m.2 and boot without problem. Do not listen that you "must reinstall system every hardware change (even mouse)".

Good luck.

LogicalDrm · February 27, 2019

Most likely it will just boot without issues. That's with SATA SSDs and HDDs. There are very few situations where something doesn't work as it should. But overall Win10 is much better in this than previous version.

PS. You must have very weak search terms, this is almost daily topic in here.

matt-fr · March 1, 2019

On 2/27/2019 at 3:23 PM, homeap5 said:

You can move your m.2 and boot without problem. Do not listen that you "must reinstall system every hardware change (even mouse)".

Good luck.

This. Windows 10 detects the new hardware and goes through a preparation before booting.

You'll still need to look at the drivers and maybe update some.