[Help needed] Installing a fresh install of windows on an SSD

[ElderlyJunior810]

Hello, so first of all, I just joined the forum today! Yay

 

So going straight to the point (so as to not waste anyone's time), I am currently on this rig:-

 

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Motherboard: ASUS P8B75 M/CSM (LGA-1155)

CPU: i7-3770 (non-K)

RAM: DDR3 1600Mhz 16GB

OS: Windows 8.1 (on a 2TB SATA HDD)

 

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Long story short, I got a fantastic deal for a completely new system, which are:-

 

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Motherboard: GIGABYTE Z390 M

CPU: i7-8700

RAM: DDR4 3200MHz 16GB (G.Skill Trident Z RGB)

SSD: M.2 2280 480GB (ADATA XPG SX8200)

 

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For a total of about USD$700 (with the CPU being the most expensive of course.. Sigh).

 

Hence, is my current problem:

 

After reading around the net, I do understand that I need a fresh new installation of windows 8.1 onto my new SSD (due to a completely different motherboard and CPU, so OS migration technique using software like 'easeus' for example, will not be possible) and I have no problem whatsoever for installing the new windows 8.1 on my new SSD. However, I plan to use the HDD as well because all of my games (Steam and non-steam) are located there.

 

Therefore, what will happen to the old Windows 8.1 OS residing in that HDD? Reading somewhere on the internet, a user mentioned that the partition for the C:/ drive where the OS resides will change into something like D:/ and that's definitely a problem because my games are in that partition.

 

So my first few questions;

 

(1) Would the two partition merge together to become a new D:/ ? Can I delete the old OS files there?

(2) What about the non-OS-related files, software and apps in my old C:/ drive? Can it still be used like normal? Do I need to migrate them over to the new C:/ drive on the SSD (like copy paste)?

(3) Would my games (non-steam) inside the D:/ needs to be reinstalled or would they work like normal? (I do know however, that I need to reinstall all the redistributables because it's a fresh OS..)

(4) I have my Steam and its folders installed on the old HDD under D:/ drive as well, so do I need to reinstall it?

(5) Do I need to know anything else that you think might be crucial?

 

To answer some possible questions that you guys may be wondering;

 

(1) Why am I using Windows 8.1? Short answer is, I just prefer it over windows 10, nothing more, nothing less (albeit with some reasons of course.).

(2) What GPU am I using? Currently, a GTX 1060 (6GB), and yes it's a mid range GPU, but I will save up some more money to buy the RTX 2080Ti in the near future (I like that massive VRAM for reasons below)

(3) Why such a major upgrade? Due to my compulsive behavior of modding Skyrim SE (yes, this single game turned modding into a passionate hobby of mine lol).

 

PS: My new PC parts hasn't arrived yet (somewhere 6th of October because I just ordered it yesterday.)

 

Edit: I am planning to move Skyrim and the mods to the SSD for obvious reason lol (to speed things up, hopefully the FPS as well, but am not hopeful on that part because I need a new GPU with large VRAM)

 

 

 

Edited September 21, 2019 by ElderlyJunior810

[WWicket]

28 minutes ago, ElderlyJunior810 said:

(1) Would the two partition merge together to become a new D:/ ? Can I delete the old OS files there?

(2) What about the non-OS-related files, software and apps in my old C:/ drive? Can it still be used like normal? Do I need to migrate them over to the new C:/ drive on the SSD (like copy paste)?

(3) Would my games (non-steam) inside the D:/ needs to be reinstalled or would they work like normal? (I do know however, that I need to reinstall all the redistributables because it's a fresh OS..)

(4) I have my Steam and its folders installed on the old HDD under D:/ drive as well, so do I need to reinstall it?

(5) Do I need to know anything else that you think might be crucial?

 

 

1) No. It should assign new path letters for each partition. Nothing should merge on it's own.

2) Yes, usually, but best practice would be to copy them over to a different partition and reformat in the boot partition (Current C:). You should then be able to merge the empty partition with your current D partition if you wanted.

3) Most applications should work like normal but it depends on how the application is structured.

4) Same as 3.

5) Probably. 

 

[Nord]

(1) Would the two partition merge together to become a new D:/ ? Can I delete the old OS files there?

 -> While installing the new system, keep your current HDD out of it. Once windows is setup in its core functions and you set the SSD as your primary boot drive in the BIOS you can plug the HDD in the system. (Usually) the PC will normally boot up into windows and you'll see your HDD as D; drive. At this point you could access it normally over the file explorer and delete the old windows installation on it.

 

In fact you could even run a "dual system". IDK how well win 8 deals with hardware changes, but in theory you could freely switch between your old & new OS installation by either setting up a dual system boot or changing the boot device. Not that its necessary or recommended in any way or form.. but you could.

 

However sooner or later you should still format your HDD, unless you know exactly what you are doing, which you dont, else you would not be here asking about it ;). Because at some point it is bound to cause issues in some way, especially if you intend to boot programs from the old drive which were previously installed for the old OS.. One will f* the registry sooner or later because it still thinks its on D; or files will "disappear" and similar shenanigans.

 

 

(2) What about the non-OS-related files, software and apps in my old C:/ drive? Can it still be used like normal? Do I need to migrate them over to the new C:/ drive on the SSD (like copy paste)?

-> Depends on the program, for some it will work, for others it wont. There is no real way of knowing which will and won't work however.

You can either paste them over to the new drive or keep them on the current one.

 

(3) Would my games (non-steam) inside the D:/ needs to be reinstalled or would they work like normal? (I do know however, that I need to reinstall all the redistributables because it's a fresh OS..)

-> same answer as for (2). B.net games usualy work, so do (most) epic scam, eh store games.

 

(4) I have my Steam and its folders installed on the old HDD under D:/ drive as well, so do I need to reinstall it?

-> Steam as an application, most likely yes. The game folders can be "located" within steam afterwards

 

(5) Do I need to know anything else that you think might be crucial?

In case you are stuck with slow internet, putting a partition on your HDD might be a worthwhile idea. You can do this right now on your current system, this way you can move the games over to one partition to keep them there and then when the new system arrive simply format partition A , move games over, format partition B and you still got the games “core files” on partition A, so no need to re-download.
Partition can be reversed afterwards. However for a 2 TB HDD this will take a while..

 

 

[ElderlyJunior810]

On 9/20/2019 at 8:42 PM, WWicket said:

1) No. It should assign new path letters for each partition. Nothing should merge on it's own.

2) Yes, usually, but best practice would be to copy them over to a different partition and reformat in the boot partition (Current C:). You should then be able to merge the empty partition with your current D partition if you wanted.

3) Most applications should work like normal but it depends on how the application is structured.

4) Same as 3.

5) Probably. 

 

Thank you for taking your time to reply!

(1) Is that so, glad to know!

(2) I understand the part about moving them over to another partition, but by 'reformat in the boot partition', do you mean the old C:/ drive in HDD should be reformatted after using SSD as the boot drive, and then copying back the files from the HDD into the new C:/ drive of the SSD? Because if (1) is true, then doesn't that mean that it will automatically change the drive letter for the old C:/ drive in the old HDD into something else? Sorry if I sound confused, because this is my first time of doing this. By the way, my current C:/ drive and D:/ drive are actually in the same HDD through previous partition. This was why I am wondering whether the drive letter will change because both drive were actually in one HDD..

(3) Hopefully I don't need to reinstall them

 

[ElderlyJunior810]

On 9/20/2019 at 8:42 PM, Nord said:

(1) Would the two partition merge together to become a new D:/ ? Can I delete the old OS files there?

 -> While installing the new system, keep your current HDD out of it. Once windows is setup in its core functions and you set the SSD as your primary boot drive in the BIOS you can plug the HDD in the system. (Usually) the PC will normally boot up into windows and you'll see your HDD as D; drive. At this point you could access it normally over the file explorer and delete the old windows installation on it.

 

In fact you could even run a "dual system". IDK how well win 8 deals with hardware changes, but in theory you could freely switch between your old & new OS installation by either setting up a dual system boot or changing the boot device. Not that its necessary or recommended in any way or form.. but you could.

 

However sooner or later you should still format your HDD, unless you know exactly what you are doing, which you dont, else you would not be here asking about it ;). Because at some point it is bound to cause issues in some way, especially if you intend to boot programs from the old drive which were previously installed for the old OS.. One will f* the registry sooner or later because it still thinks its on D; or files will "disappear" and similar shenanigans.

 

 

(2) What about the non-OS-related files, software and apps in my old C:/ drive? Can it still be used like normal? Do I need to migrate them over to the new C:/ drive on the SSD (like copy paste)?

-> Depends on the program, for some it will work, for others it wont. There is no real way of knowing which will and won't work however.

You can either paste them over to the new drive or keep them on the current one.

 

(3) Would my games (non-steam) inside the D:/ needs to be reinstalled or would they work like normal? (I do know however, that I need to reinstall all the redistributables because it's a fresh OS..)

-> same answer as for (2). B.net games usualy work, so do (most) epic scam, eh store games.

 

(4) I have my Steam and its folders installed on the old HDD under D:/ drive as well, so do I need to reinstall it?

-> Steam as an application, most likely yes. The game folders can be "located" within steam afterwards

 

(5) Do I need to know anything else that you think might be crucial?

In case you are stuck with slow internet, putting a partition on your HDD might be a worthwhile idea. You can do this right now on your current system, this way you can move the games over to one partition to keep them there and then when the new system arrive simply format partition A , move games over, format partition B and you still got the games “core files” on partition A, so no need to re-download.
Partition can be reversed afterwards. However for a 2 TB HDD this will take a while..

 

 

Thanks for taking the time to reply!

 

(1) Thank you for the tips! By deleting the old windows installation, do you mean the old C:/ drive in the HDD that would be renamed into something else after the new OS is installed on the SSD? If I want to carry over the 'registry' folder from the old C:/ drive on the HDD and copy paste them into the 'new' registry folder of the C:/ drive on the SSD, would this method work? Formatting the old C:/ on the HDD is of no issue to me, however, if its possible, I really don't want to reinstall all the programs there..

(2) Thanks! Thankfully, all my games are currently installed in the D:/ drive partition of my HDD, so that means they won't be affected at all right?

(4) I see, reinstalling steam should be okay, but reinstalling all my games, my bandwidth would be raped in an instant lol. If there is such a way to point to the directory, then all is good!

(5) All my games are on the partition D:/ drive of my HDD, so by "Core files".. I'm not sure I understand..

 

Sorry for being confused, this is my first time!

[Nord]

26 minutes ago, ElderlyJunior810 said:

Sorry for being confused, this is my first time!

 

 

 

1.)  your current C; will be D; in the new system. And the SSD will be C;
Your current D; will be most likely be E;

I would only transfer over single registry entries, which would require manual selection. Simply copy pasting everything is however a fail as half of what you pull will just be useless to your new system and there is a good chance that it will cause issues. Especially if you overwrite OS & driver entries.

 

2.) If you don't format your second partition, aka current D; , than no.
However if the games are still being able to start is a different story. Also you might want to backup appdata & mydocuments from your current C; drive, because of savegames and similar.

 

4.) core files, or rather the files the game needs to be a game are there. However, whether the game is written in a way to re-apply registry entries, create the necessary files needed for windows and such (or basically do, what the installer does) is essentially sheer luck.

IDK what games you are talking about, usually these days you either get your games from a launcher like steam, origin, battlenet, gog etc. In which case you should be able to simply choose the installation folder exactly where you game is already located in, then the launcher will verify the available gamefiles and only download what is needed. Which should usually be faster than a full re-download.
If you mean pirated games, then they will either work or you need to reinstall them fully. Usually however as they don't need to deal with DMR and similar garbage that is only there to fuk over the paying customers, they mostly will work if you boo them directly from the .exe. However they will loose a standard "uninstall" entry in the windows under "install/uninstall programs", so you have to manually uninstall & delete files if you ever choose to uninstall the pirated game.

[ElderlyJunior810]

17 hours ago, Nord said:

 

 

 

1.)  your current C; will be D; in the new system. And the SSD will be C;
Your current D; will be most likely be E;

I would only transfer over single registry entries, which would require manual selection. Simply copy pasting everything is however a fail as half of what you pull will just be useless to your new system and there is a good chance that it will cause issues. Especially if you overwrite OS & driver entries.

 

2.) If you don't format your second partition, aka current D; , than no.
However if the games are still being able to start is a different story. Also you might want to backup appdata & mydocuments from your current C; drive, because of savegames and similar.

 

4.) core files, or rather the files the game needs to be a game are there. However, whether the game is written in a way to re-apply registry entries, create the necessary files needed for windows and such (or basically do, what the installer does) is essentially sheer luck.

IDK what games you are talking about, usually these days you either get your games from a launcher like steam, origin, battlenet, gog etc. In which case you should be able to simply choose the installation folder exactly where you game is already located in, then the launcher will verify the available gamefiles and only download what is needed. Which should usually be faster than a full re-download.
If you mean pirated games, then they will either work or you need to reinstall them fully. Usually however as they don't need to deal with DMR and similar garbage that is only there to fuk over the paying customers, they mostly will work if you boo them directly from the .exe. However they will loose a standard "uninstall" entry in the windows under "install/uninstall programs", so you have to manually uninstall & delete files if you ever choose to uninstall the pirated game.

LMAO! I don't mean my last sentence to be 'that way' LOL LOL!

 

(1) I see, then all is good! But manually selecting the registry entries would be a chore.. I guess re-install is the only viable way then

(2) Oh yeah, almost forgot about that! Thanks!

(4) I do have Steam and gog, and the method to just point at their directory is quite useful (never used it before so I didn't know..), so I think that problem is settled As for what I meant by other games, its not a lot, but some classics like Oldrim, Homeworld, X3 games, AOE, etc which I had also extensively modded before (so if possible, I do not want to reinstall them again even though I rarely played them anymore nowadays due to newrim..) and these were all installed via ROMS

 

 

 

[WWicket]

3 hours ago, ElderlyJunior810 said:

Thank you for taking your time to reply!

(1) Is that so, glad to know!

(2) I understand the part about moving them over to another partition, but by 'reformat in the boot partition', do you mean the old C:/ drive in HDD should be reformatted after using SSD as the boot drive, and then copying back the files from the HDD into the new C:/ drive of the SSD? Because if (1) is true, then doesn't that mean that it will automatically change the drive letter for the old C:/ drive in the old HDD into something else? Sorry if I sound confused, because this is my first time of doing this. By the way, my current C:/ drive and D:/ drive are actually in the same HDD through previous partition. This was why I am wondering whether the drive letter will change because both drive were actually in one HDD..

(3) Hopefully I don't need to reinstall them

 

I feel like you are getting too caught up in drive letter assignments. Each drive/storage volume Windows can see (including partitions/ optical drives/ removable media/ etc.),  gets assigned a drive a letter, with A and B being reserved for floppy disks and the Boot drive defaulting to C. The assignments are not persistent across Window's installs. You can change the letter assignments whenever you want.

 

When you install Windows on the new SSD and boot to that drive, Windows will automatically call that drive C. You're old C/D partitions will get assigned new drive letters, likely D and E.

 

After copying over everything you want from the 'old C partition' (which could be E or D now), you can use  your preferred disk partition table utility (for example, GParted), to delete the 'old C partition' and add the now unused space to 'the old D partition'. This isn't essential to do, but is the preferred practice so you don't have a bunch of old Windows system files being stored on your secondary drive. This won't get rid of anything from 'the old D partition'... it will just increase the size of that partition to include the now empty space of the 'old C partition'. You can assign this enlarged 'old D partition' whatever drive letter you want, D-Z. Really the only thing it matters for is absolute pathing.