Windows 10 "transfer"

p123 · July 4, 2019

Hey everyone

I have recently purchased a PC and I need some help. Right now ,I have a previous used 1TB HDD which includes the OS(windows 10) and all my files and programs. The PC I purchased has an 120GB SSD.So I will use my previous HDD in this new system along with the SSD.My question is will I have to reinstall windows 10 in my new system or not since it already exists in the HDD?

If so, can I somehow "transfer" the OS from the HDD to the SSD?

Thank you

star_pilot475 · July 4, 2019

48 minutes ago, p123 said:

Hey everyone

I have recently purchased a PC and I need some help. Right now ,I have a previous used 1TB HDD which includes the OS(windows 10) and all my files and programs. The PC I purchased has an 120GB SSD.So I will use my previous HDD in this new system along with the SSD.My question is will I have to reinstall windows 10 in my new system or not since it already exists in the HDD?

If so, can I somehow "transfer" the OS from the HDD to the SSD?

Thank you

If you have enough space on the SSD, you could clone the whole thing over, but if you dont have enough space on the SSD, you'll probably just have to reinstall windows.

homeap5 · July 4, 2019

120GB SSD? Wow, that was something... 10 years ago. In theory it's possible to copy Windows to new drive without personal data, but it requires lot of work, so in your case made new install (do not plug hdd during install) use the same user name and then just copy settings files from hdd user directory when needed (like progress in game, browser settings etc.). That means - do not format or remove Windows from your old drive - it can be useful for some time.

DeaconFrost · July 4, 2019

You may have issues cloning from a larger drive to a smaller one. 120 GB is very small for a system partition. SSDs are dirt cheap right now, so I'd try to return it and spring for at least a 500 GB. You could always attempt to boot the 1 TB on the new system, but you may be much better off with a clean install, especially if there's a big change in hardware from old to new.